With existing threshold for gainful employment ruled “arbitrary,” what’s next?

By Martin Lind

July 12, 2012 – Only one day before the regulations would have taken effect, a U.S. district judge struck down part of the U.S. Department of Education’s “gainful employment” regulations, federal rules designed to protect career-training school students from being left with limited employment options and overburdened by student loan debt. The judge’s move had private sector schools applauding and most of the industry wondering what happens next.  Here are a few good sources on the subject:

Inside Higher Ed: Down But Not Out

Wall Street Journal: For-Profit Colleges Score a Victory

New York Times: Judge Strikes Main Element of For-Profit College Rules

It appears that there is more ambiguity ahead for an industry that has faced so much uncertainty in recent months.  We encourage readers to keep an eye on this significant issue.

By Alyssa Trenkamp

June 28, 2012 — Are you looking to take your online lead gen and sales efforts to the next level, gain insights about online customer acquisition strategies from more than 2,000 attendees, or connect with your friends from Leads360, Leads Council, DoublePositive, TARGUSinfo and others?

If so, you won’t want to miss LeadsCon East, being held July 24-25 in New York, NY. We hear from our customers and partners every year that LeadsCon isn’t just another business conference, it goes deep into the opportunities and challenges for this unique and growing online lead generation industry. It’s all about working together, to build and grow and hold each other accountable to succeed in an industry that’s constantly changing and evolving for the better.

If you are responsible for online customer acquisition or lead generation, this event is not to be missed. Don’t waste another second, register today, and bonus, if you are a customer of Leads360 you’ll even get an early-bird price if you register through the Leads360′s unique URL before July 6.*

We look forward to seeing you at the show! Look for us at booth 306!

*Discount rate good on new registrations only. Credits or refunds cannot be issued on previous registrations. Discount rate good through July 6, 2012, prevailing rate applies after that.

By Alyssa Trenkamp

June 27, 2012 – I was reading a few articles on CRM in the past couple of days that got me thinking about how unique and flexible the technology world we live in truly is. “There’s an app for that” at the consumer level has bled into the business world giving consumers a menu of cloud-based solutions to chose from to take a broad CRM solution and make it specific to the most important thing a business does. Salesforce.com AppExchange is case in point. There are so many flavors of CRM from social CRM, sales CRM, call-centric CRM, lead management CRM, marketing CRM and the list goes on and on, tailored by vertical, B2C, B2B, and more.

While most CRM systems are broadening their scope and taking on additional capability, when it comes to the most critical thing your business does and fulfilling that perfectly, often a customer needs an additional CRM flavor or two added on. Some systems are focused on doing one thing very well and for Leads360 that one thing is a B2C sales. We are industry experts and leaders in this space with more than 40 million prospects managed through our cloud-based solution. In this post, we’ll talk about how the B2C sales process is so unique and what to look for in a B2C sales-focused CRM solution.

B2B vs. B2C CRM
All CRMs are not created equal, and that’s a good thing for companies that sell to consumers. So what are the differences in the B2B and B2C sale. Seven aspects that are common to both also illustrate the differences.

• Speed of sales process – a B2C sale is typically very fast, weeks or months vs. B2B which is much slower usually months or years.
• Number of decision makers – there are usually one or two decision makers in a B2C sale; there may be a dozen or more involved in a B2B sale.
• Simplicity of Buying Process — A B2C sale is relatively simple; a B2B sale is usually more complex.
• Quantity of Leads — A B2C sale starts with more leads; a B2B sale will have fewer leads to manage.
• Role of Emotion — B2C sales frequently involve emotion on the consumers’ side; a B2B sale is typically driven by a business decision rather than by emotion.
• Value of Sale — The total value of a B2C sale is relatively small — hundreds or thousands of dollars; a B2B sale could be thousands or even millions of dollars.
• Uniformity of Offer — B2C sales are typically a uniform product offering; B2B tend to be a more customized product offering.

What to look for in B2C Sales CRM
So what’s a customer to do when they are looking for that just right flavor? Evaluating your needs is a lot like going into your local ice cream parlor; you really have to try a few flavors to get a sense of what it is that works for you and what works with flavors you know you already love. Here are a few things to look for in a good B2C sales CRM platform:

• Real-time lead source integration, including self generated lead sources
• Automatic rules-based lead distribution
• Automatic call prioritization
• Easily configurable sales workflow
• Key performance metrics tracking
• Automatic lead nurturing including follow-up emails and SMS

Related post:
The Trifecta or: How Marketing Automation Lead Management and CRM are related

June 20, 2012 – Some of the best and brightest will be at this week’s APSCU conference to share insights that can help all of us do a better job of providing prospective students the best experience possible at every touch point.

Want to share your perspective and be part of the APSCU 2012 conversation? We’ve started a list of session speakers on Twitter. If you have additional Twitter contact info, please share it in the comments section below.

Follow the Hashtag #APSCU2012, and be sure to follow @APSCUevents.

Admissions Track Speakers

Martin Lind, Leads360, Inc                                        @leads360, @MartinLindLA

Gregory Gragg, Gragg Advertising                              @GregGragg

Sammy James, Speak2Leads                                   @Speak2Leads

Vince Norton, Norton|Norris, Inc.                                @NortonNorris

Steve Winchester, Datamark                                     @DatamarkInc

Sanaz Pentz, TARGUSinfo                                        @sanaz928, @TARGUSinfo

Akeel Haider, CUnet                                                  @CUnetCo

Jimmy Chin, OfferMobi                                               @offermobi

Daniel Kim, Pontiflex                                                 @pontiflex

Dr. Herbert Greenberg, Caliper Corporation                  @CaliperCorp

Let’s get to work!

 By Martin Lind

June 19, 2012 –  As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, while the theme of APSCU this year is “Working Proud” equally as important is the concept of “Working Together”. With this theme in mind, we are announcing this week at APSCU a joint integration with the industry’s leading compliance monitoring platform – PerformLine.

With compliance a concern for all schools right now, Leads360 schools have seamless access to compliance data to assess and monitor traffic partners for regulatory and brand compliance in real-time.  We think schools will agree this is a must-have tool in attracting the right students and providing student prospects the best possible experience at every touch point.

With Leads360 and PerformLine, education institutions can now:

• Seamlessly access real-time compliance verification data directly through Leads360
• Route inquiries according to the relative compliance of the lead provider, allowing schools to match their most trained admissions advisors with their questionably-compliant inquiries
• Access screen shots and compliance score for each individual inquiry, providing verification and audit trail

Please stop by Leads360 booth # 519 at APSCU for more information about the PerformLine and Leads360 integration.  Or drop us a line at education@leads360.com, follow the conversation on Twitter @Leads360, @MartinLindLA, @APSCUevents, @APSCUnow – hash tag #APSCU2012 or visit us online at leads360.com/edu.

By Martin Lind

June 14, 2012 — We’ve got a lot in store for attendees at this year’s APSCU (Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities) conference, the nation’s largest gathering of private sector schools.  Though the theme of the show is “Working Proud,” we think this will be the year that the concept of “working together” takes center stage. After the uncertainty posed by last year’s regulatory challenges, we’re looking forward to continuing to challenge ourselves, our partners and other industry leaders to not just adapt to meet regulations, but to rise above and be better at what we do:  attract the right students and provide them the best possible experience at every touch point throughout the enrollment process.  By starting their school experience on a positive note, we can give students a leg up on a successful education.

To this end, we’ll be publishing new research at this year’s conference, sharing our perspective on the latest disrupting forces facing the admissions department and connecting with new partners and leaders in the admissions space. In fact, we’ll have a presence on stage at the majority of admissions-focused educational sessions.

I’ll kick off two days of informative educational sessions with Gregg Meiklejohn of Enrollment Resources.  At our session, Maximizing Enrollment Productivity: How Do Your Admissions Counselors Spend Their Day? How Should They? we’ll be sharing new analysis on admission counselor productivity. The study will dissect the typical admissions counselor’s day with an eye on technologies and tips that increase productivity and effectiveness. Ultimately, attendees will get an in-the-trenches perspective on how to give prospective students the best experience possible at every touch point.

We’ve also been invited to share our expertise on Inclined but Inactive? Winning Over Past Prospects panel Thurs at 1:30 pm along with Steve Winchester of Datamark and Sanaz Pentz of TARGUSinfo.  This presentation will focus on how best to deal with inquiries that once expressed interest in your school, but have gone stale.

Our team will be front and center on the show floor, so be sure to stop by booth # 519. And keep an eye out for some goodies hand delivered to your room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel to help you survive the frantic pace of this year’s show, compliments of your friends at Leads360.

This year’s APSCU presents each attendee with the opportunity to learn something new to up their game. We hope attendees will implement the insights and best practices we’ll be sharing so their admissions departments can be the highest performers possible.  High performing companies are generally presented with an opportunity from earthquakes like the one the industry has just experienced. They have the opportunity to learn from their own and others’ successes and failures to make better products and provide services that better meet the needs of those they serve.

We’re looking forward to chatting with schools and complementary solutions at the conference.  However, if you’d like to learn more, but aren’t going to the APSCU conference, drop us a line at education@leads360.com, follow the conversation on Twitter @Leads360, @MartinLindLA, @APSCUevents, @APSCUnow – hash tag #APSCU2012 or visit us online at leads360.com/edu.

Join us on, Wednesday, June 6th 9 AM Pacific / 12 PM Eastern for a live webinar with Leads360 CEO and President, Nick Hedges. Learn how to match your contact strategy with the highly informed connected consumer. Nick will provide proven to convert call strategies that are sure to help you boost your conversion rates.

You can register here for free.

By David Nachman

May 31, 2012 – Driving change that truly has an impact requires an objective look. Objectivity can be obtained in many ways, through data, through observation, through deep probing questions, by talking to someone outside your industry, but often true opportunity for change is in what isn’t being said and done.

I realized this truth in my tenure at a previous technology company at a day in the life visit with a client. We started the program with the idea that we could only learn so much from asking our customers what they needed. Our hypothesis was that through observation of their day-to-day workings we would learn better how they used our software or more importantly when they didn’t use our software.

All the visits were valuable, but one visit in particular shapped our software development direction drastically. The “aha” moment came when I walked into a customers office and saw sticky notes all around his computer screen. I asked him what the sticky notes were for and he mentioned that they were call back reminders, details on candidate status’, etc. As I observed him for a number of hours, I learned that he was using a combination of our software and the sticky notes to effectively do his job. Throughout the day a few sticky notes were taken down and more were added. It was through this observation that we realized that our software could truly replace this manual task of sticky note reminders with automated software.

Through this experience I learned that people don’t often know what they need, they just know what they want. After this epiphany moment, I begin to more actively listen and found that there is so much chatter in the world around us from mainstream media, social media, and casual interactions with co-workers, friends and family. What I noticed is everyone was saying the same thing, and that’s when I realized, finding what is missing, what is not being said in the conversation, is where the real value lies.

There is a message in this concept of the spaces in between for just about any business person. Most of our customers are in a sales role, and in a sales situation, listening to understand is such a critical part of the job. Inside sales associates often go from one conversation to the next, and get so stuck in a scripted conversation they can forget no one customer is the same. Truly asking probing questions and selling in a way that fits into what each unique customer knows they want but also what they might not even know they need, is the secret to successful selling.

About the author: David Nachman was recently appointed to Executive Vice President of Marketing, Product and Business Development. Nachman brings an impressive track record of successful ventures, with more than 20 years of experience executing effective growth strategies, both as a senior executive and as an advisor.

By Martin Lind

May 30, 2012 — As I write this, I’m on a plane flying to the popular annual conference of one of our partners, Jenzabar. I thought it would be an ideal time to take a closer look at how some of our education industry partnerships work and the role alliances play in the enrollment management software ecosystem.

At the 30,000 foot level (yes, pun intended – I am on a plane after all), Leads360 helps get the right student candidates connected to and engaged with the right people in the school’s admissions department. Jenzabar software helps keep those student engaged and successful while attending school and supports the student’s transition to a career once they graduate.

Positive interactions at each touch point
We’ve teamed up with Jenzabar to help meet the growing need for schools to quickly engage prospective students at the point of initial inquiry and effectively support them through the registration fulfillment process. This need has become much more critical with the proliferation of online, adult, professional, and continuing education programs in higher education. Leads360 is integrated with Jenzabar’s continuing education platform, Higher Reach, to help track and manage large volumes of prospects for certificate, workforce development and other continuing education programs whether online or campus-based. Colleges and universities are seeking proven solutions such as Leads360 to reach prospective students quickly and ensure positive interactions at each touch point.

Building a better mousetrap – together
Why are industry alliances like these so important? The tech sector is no different from any other industry – our products are based on intellectual property (IP) and the company that succeeds is the one that correctly anticipates what the market will need next, and then creates the IP and software solution to meet that need. In the enrollment management world, the winners are those who enable admission departments to successfully identify and enroll the right students. So, by partnering with complementary solution providers, we all can provide school decision makers with best-of-breed software.

At Leads360, we’ve always operated under the philosophy that the sum truly can be greater than the parts and that goes for alliances and intelligence. That is why we continually share with the industry our research based on a quantitative analysis of millions of records in our platform and a qualitative info that we learn from partners and customers about evolving trends each year. A good example is our annual Lead Industry Report [link].

Is your product a best-of-breed solution for EDU? Want to talk to us about how an alliance might be mutually beneficial or meet for an idea exchange on trends we’re seeing in enrollment management? I’ll be at JAM this week and at booth 519 at the APSCU conference. Let’s connect. education@leads360.com.