Many of my clients are examining the student experience, starting with their decision to go to college through the enrollment process and into their first day of classes. Some of them create a customer journey map because it allows them to think about the process from both the student’s and the parents’ perspective.
Forbes Advisor has a great overview of the topic, Customer Journey Map: Everything You Need To Know. The author defines a customer journey map as “a visual tool that helps you define your customers’ needs, problems, and engagement with your brand. The map is laid out as a timeline that plots every interaction a customer has with your business from awareness to repeat business. It helps you see what the customer experiences at every touchpoint.”
I was fortunate to be part of a journey mapping exercise with my admissions and financial aid/finance teams when I was COO at a trade school.
The process
We started with a huge whiteboard and sketched out the steps for a sample student. We started with a traditional high school senior, then modified for a veteran, then adapted for an adult student.
The steps started with the student’s junior year in high school and their consideration of majors and colleges, then went through their enrollment process, financial aid, and first day of class. We talked a lot about what type of student was successful at our institution and why they would choose us.
Then, we sent each team back to gather info and print communications and web pages. We layered in the details of the enrollment funnel, including campus tours and online info, emails, and the financial aid process. We asked each team to consider why students chose us (and didn’t choose us) and whether we had included the relevant details to make those decisions. When we all came together to share our part of the student journey, we identified several opportunities to make the process more efficient and responsive to prospective students’ needs.
We realized we could do a much better job communicating information about financial aid support, including links for virtual workshops on how to apply for financial aid.
Time well spent
While customer journey mapping requires an intentional 2-hour block of time for the team for 4-6 weeks, it is well worth it! Everyone on the team had a much better appreciation for the other parts of the pipeline, became somewhat cross-trained and identified a lot of places where we could provide a better experience for our prospective students and their families.
We discovered a way to convert more students with some quick, meaningful changes and to prioritize things we knew we should do but didn’t think we had time or resources to.
Interested in Customer Journey Mapping? Here are a few resources to get started.
- Ideo is one of my favorite resources for inspiration.
- There are also some great templates on Mural.
- Google search Customer Journey Map and you will get a lot of visual ideas.
Did you hear Rebeka Mazzone on Gary Stocker’s This Week in College Viability podcast? Rebeka discussed financial transformation, why turnaround plans take so long, and the recent FAFSA debacle. Listen here if you missed it.
Photo by Jack Anstey on Unsplash