.Edu Lead Management Tips

I recently wrote an article about how lead management is a major component of many industries—including enrollment marketing. A study released by Leads360 showed that converting a lead is 57 percent lead quality and 43 percent an efficient sales process. This bears mentioning because it shows that conversion is not based just on lead quality; it is a combination of lead management and quality.

The following are the 2 most prevalent issues with edu lead management.

Speed to contact
The first problem is a perceived lack of urgency around contacting leads. Education marketers must understand that their potential students are researching several institutions at one time. They probably don’t have an idea of which career college best meets their needs, so they need your help deciding. As a rule of thumb, most users complete 2-3 forms before ending their research. Consider contact speed the most important factor in lead management. Students need to be addressed when their interest is high. A minute later, they may lose interest or, even worse, enroll with another institution.

A study performed by MIT, and recently confirmed by LeadQual, showed that the odds of converting a lead are five times greater when the lead is contacted within five minutes of form completion versus waiting 10 minutes. The worst possible scenario is when students are not called at all. The same survey notes that of a 423 lead sample, 37 percent were never contacted. Edu marketers should use a lead management system to guarantee timely lead delivery.

The rules of lead management are simple: Call your leads, and call them within five minutes. Doing so will greatly affect your bottom line, guaranteed.

Call frequency
Finding a call frequency “sweet spot” is another issue of concern for education marketers.

Another survey by Leads360 proved that contacting a student 6 times is optimal. Calling a lead at a higher frequency than recommended will not improve your chances of making contact. One other thing to note is that marketers have an 87 percent higher chance of contacting the lead on call No. 2 versus call No. 1.

I suggest calling potential students at different times during the day and take note of any trends.

Try not to focus on just lead generation and think about the larger lead management picture. As an edu marketer, it’s your responsibility to process leads effectively. Effectively managing leads needs to be a top priority for education marketers.