4. High School Counselors
• Utilizing high school visits
• Understanding varying roles
• Setting expectations
• Counselor newsletters
• Frequent status updates
• Invitations to campus- fly-ins, dinners,
breakfasts
5. Students
• Be proactive, flexible and persistent in your
methodology
• Have empathy
• Keep detailed notes
• Encourage relationships by remembering
details
6. Parents
• Prepare yourself for a wide range of positive
and negative experiences
• Provide detailed, realistic expectations
• Present yourself as a guide and not a
salesperson
• Empathy
• Phone calls
7. Alumni
• Work with your institution’s alumni relations
office
• Network and educate by inviting to college
fairs, on-campus events and yield events,
“coffee dates” and dinner
• Get them in touch with current students and
parents.
8. Communication
• Emails (students/counselors)
• Phone calls (parents/counselors)
• Ensure that every piece of communication is somehow
documented.
• Correctly and promptly respond
• Postcards, thank-you’s, birthday notes etc.
• Communicate through the funnel, especially during
melt season
• Engaging students and families is key
9. Notes
• Notes make the difference between a good counselor
and a great counselor
• Make notes on inquiry cards and remember to follow
up with them.
• Detailed conversation notes
• When speaking with students or their families, don’t
forget to note what is important to them and anything
that can make their name recognizable.
• “Rockstar” lists
10. Learn your territory
• What are goals?
• How is it divided?
• Travel smart: Where are students coming from?
Which counselors are supportive? OACAC and
non-OACAC fairs.
• It’s easier to build on something that already
exists than to start from scratch.
• Familiarize yourself with the area, more than just
the geography.
11. Events
• Receptions
– Inquiry, yield and “send-offs”
– Plan early
• College-fairs
• Interviews
• Learn what’s best for each territory
