I get interrupted quite a bit during an interview because there is no one available to take the call. I hate answering the calls continuously throughout my interview but I am required to. I just let the student in front of me know how busy we are & how much others are trying to get into the college. I am always open to anyway I can make that look better to the student sitting in front of me.
Thanks for sharing your practice, Jessica. It sounds like it's important for you and your team to make sure each student gets your undivided attention. I also get the sense that the team is trained to handle calls in the most appropriate and effective way. How do you find your prospective students respond to this approach?
I imagine it can be frustrating to be interrupted multiple times when meeting with your student, Linda. I think that being honest with your students and letting them know up front that you may be interrupted is a good place to start. One suggestion I might offer is to have materials on hand for the student to look at for more information while you're taking the call. This way the student is occupied and able to gather information on their terms rather than waiting for you to end your call. Is this something that you currently do when taking calls?
When I have a student in my office before we even get started I let them know that their may be a possibility that I may get a call from other students wishing to find out more about our schoool. Once I recieve a call I excuse myself from the initail conversation and give my attention to the call. I think it is good for the student in the office see that there are other students out there just like them loking for a better future.
Making your students aware of possible interruptions during the course of your conversation is a good practice, Germaine. It sounds like you try to be available for the students calling in as well as those who are already on campus, which can be a balancing act for sure! In a "perfect world", what might you do differently to handle inbound calls while you were meeting with a student in your office?
I will usually ask the student to excuse me, and tell the inbound caller that I will call them right back.
Thanks for sharing Carolos. It sounds like you make every effort to attend to your prospective students whether they're in front of you or on the phone. I'm sure they appreciate your attention.
I also ask the person I am interviewing to excuse me a moment, I explain to the caller I am meeting with an interview and either myself or one of my representatives will call them
I also ask the person I am interviewing to excuse me a moment, I explain to the caller I am meeting with an interview and either myself or one of my representatives will call them
Thanks for sharing your practice, Rose. I get the sense that you demonstrate courtesy to both the student in front of you as well as your caller. How do you find your students (in person and on the phone) respond to your approach?
I typically will allow the individual calling in to leave a message and respond as soon as my meeting with the person in my office is complete. If the call coming in is critical, I will excuse myself to the student present and answer and let the person calling know that I am with a student and will call them as soon as I am available.
Nan
Nanette,
Thanks for sharing your approach. It sounds as though you try to give your undivided attention to the person in front of you, except in critical situations. I also get the sense that you set the tone and expectation for those individuals to let them know that you are there to help in a variety of ways. Way to go!
I call my receptionist and ask her to send all of my calls to my voice-mail unless it is an emergency until I'm done with my student.
My school likes us to take inbound calls when we are with appointments. I ask the individual I am with to give me a moment while I take the call but sometimes this can be a problem when you have a caller who wants answers to specific questions and don't want to give you info to call back. I then find myself answering the question and the individual with me may hear things I have not yet covered with them and it throws my presintation off course. What is agood way to handle this?
Marvin,
Thanks for sharing your practice and subsequent challenge. I imagine that can be frustrating when you want to provide exceptional service to both students, without taking away from either one's experience with you. What are some of the ways that you've dealt with this situation in the past that you felt have worked well?
Shannon Gormley
Juanita,
Sounds like you can rely on your receptionist to assist you in dealing with your inbound calls. Teamwork is such an important element to success. How do you find this approach works out for you and your receptionist? What would you do to make it even better?
Shannon Gormley
When a call comes in, the front desk coordinator is the first to answer. She then pages me to let me know I have a call. In the past, I would ask her to take a message for me. But I realized that I was unable to reach them again. I have found it works best to excuse yourself from your current student and explain to the prospect on the phone that I am with a student right now and I would love to talk with them more and get their name and number. They are much more responsive to this. It also helps to apologize to the student in the office. Also, pick up right where you left off...don't say "now what were we talking about" make a note (mentally) of exactly where you were in the conversation. This helps them to re-engage and shows that you are really listening to what they are saying.
Julie,
Great awareness. Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds like you've found an approach that works for both situations. It sounds like you try your best to accomodate your students in a way that demonstrates your sincere interest in learning about them as well as shows that you're paying attention to what's important to them.
Shannon Gormley
When I am interviewing a perspective student and a call for information comes in, I apologize to the student for the interruption and take the call. I, then say hello and give them my name. I then ask them for thier name and phone number and ask them if I could call them back in about 15 minutes, and thank them for their interest in our programs. I, then can proceed with my interview and give the perspective student my full attention.
john,
I get the sense that you do your best to serve all students, which is wonderful. How do you find your students typically respond to your approach?
Shannon Gormley
