Using Wisr to identify your maybes

Sign-ups within your Wisr Virtual Communities are a great indicator of who your "maybe" students are. 

In Wisr's 2021 Yield Report, we found that students who sign up for Wisr Virtual Communities are 3x more likely to yield than non-Wisr users. In particular, 70% of admitted students who sign up for Wisr ultimately deposit, indicating that a student who signs up has a high level of interest in your institution and intent to deposit. Knowing this, we can infer that the remaining students who sign up, but have not yet deposited, are likely looking at your institution among their top choices—these are your "maybe" students.

EAB’s broader suite of yield support tools (e.g., DepositIQ and YieldIQ) has shown that identifying your “maybe” students and providing them 1:1 attention through personalized outreach based on their areas of concern or interest is what seals the deal. The following article helps to identify who your "maybe" students are from within Wisr and provides tangible ways to get a 1:1 conversation started.

How to Identify Your "Maybes" in Wisr:

Filtering by assigned member types is how you can identify your "maybes". Whether you have a deposited member type in Wisr or need to compare Wisr members against your own CRM's deposit tracking, we've outlined the ways to identify your "maybes" using the Wisr platform. Please find below the scenario that applies to you.

Note: If you have a deposited member type, be sure your member statuses are up to date through a sync with your CRM before you begin. If you have any questions, please reach out directly to wr-adminsupport@eab.com.

1. Go to the Members tab and select “Active”
2. Filter for your admitted student member type and onboarded to true
3. This will populate a list of all members who have onboarded but not yet deposited (based on your deposit tracking within Wisr)
4. Click the download button in the top right corner to populate your list of contacts for outreach

1. Go to the Members tab and select “Active”
2. Filter for your admitted student member type and onboarded to true
3. This will populate a list of all members who have onboarded
4. Click the download button in the top right corner
5. Compare this member list to the deposited student list in your CRM in order to remove students that have already deposited and leave a remaining list of contacts for outreach

How to Connect with Your "Maybe's":

Now that you've identified your "maybes", how do you determine what this student cohort is thinking and feeling? The only way to do this is through true communication that shows you are invested in them and want them to be a student at your institution. It's important to connect 1:1 with this special cohort to better understand what it is that they want and address any outstanding items to ultimately convince them that your institution is the right fit. 

To help prospective students feel cared for, in particular your "maybes", we recommend asking 3 types of student centered questions through personal outreach:

1. Closed ended questions to start the conversation

2. Open ended questions to get information that allows you to address concerns, misconceptions, and/or to make connections with institutional strengths and culture

3. Creative questions to identify values you can use to make the college match

We recommend conducting your direct outreach through Wisr's messaging capabilities in addition to email or SMS texting. 

Here are examples of student centered questions we have seen move the needle and build a positive prospective student experience:

1. Closed Ended:

• Is there anything you hoped to learn today that is unanswered? 
• Did you learn anything today that surprised you? 
• What factors are driving your enrollment decision?
• Are there any barriers to choosing this college?
• Were there any service failures we need to address?  
• How has the college admission process gone for you?
• What excites you most about going to college?
• What worries you about going to college?
• What might stop you from coming here?
• Is there anything that you are looking forward to in college that you don’t think we have here?

3. Creative Questions:

• When you imagine your perfect college experience, what does it look like?
• If you could finish your coursework in three years, what would that mean for you?  
• What will it take for you to live your best college life?
• Five years from now, after graduation, what words do you want to be able to use to characterize your college experience?  

Additional Question to Consider:

• Ask for the deposit – what is holding you back from submitting your enrollment deposit today?