Another Common Mistake To Avoid

Stop me if you’ve heard (or said) this one before… “If it’s not in Slate, it didn’t happen.”

Whatever CRM your school utilizes, the ability for it to store and help you search through notes from conversations as well as interactions with students and families is invaluable.

The key is being consistent, no matter how busy you get. If your notes (or the notes and interactions from other campus partners) don’t get inputted in a timely manner, it can cause confusion, frustration, and possibly even extra work.

Uploading everything will allow you to improve your overall customer service because you can take previously learned information and personalize future conversations. It will also guarantee you don’t confuse one student with another.

Here are four additional reasons why adding those notes and interactions every day is essential:

1. It will help your colleagues pick up the conversation. No one is available 100% of the time, so inevitably another staff member (an admissions colleague, a coach, or possibly a financial aid colleague) will have to lead the conversation when a student emails, calls, or visits campus. Without detailed notes, the other person will be unaware of what has and has not been discussed. That can lead to frustration on their part, and on the student’s end if the conversation feels disjointed. On the flipside it will improve collaboration and help promote a more memorable experience.

2. It will help you prioritize future outreach. Engagement is an important metric to use when you run queries or do any sort of predictive modeling. Consistently updating notes allows you to easily determine and segment the students who have interacted with you the most. In turn that will help make you a more efficient territory manager.

3. It will help you advocate for additional resources. Showing data to leadership, or leadership being able to show data to other campus partners, is crucial when it comes to advocating for additional funds or staffing.

4. It will allow leadership to measure and recognize your work and progress. 

   
   

Here are a few additional tips I want you to remember when it comes to entering your notes:

• Avoid writing long paragraphs or messy notes that are difficult to skim through. Be clear and concise.

• Share details that provide context of key action items or important topics that were discussed.

• Use keywords that are easily searchable after the fact.

• Write down any direct questions that typically result in helpful information.

• Share any next steps that were discussed.

  
  

If you found this article helpful, go ahead and forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it. You can also encourage them to sign up for my weekly newsletter.

HERE'S WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW:

You can get more free professional development by listening to my podcast. There are currently 81 episodes to choose from.

You can bring me to your campus to lead an in-person yield workshop or another staff training.