What separates a school that hits enrollment targets consistently from one that’s always scrambling? According to admissions expert Joe Girard, it’s not more leads. It’s a better conversion system.
In this session, Shane Sparks, Saj Butt, and Joe Girard broke down the habits, frameworks, and mindset shifts that define top-performing admissions teams. Here’s what you need to know.
The Root Problem: Schools Are Rewarding Low Performance with More Leads
Schools facing low enrollments typically respond the same way: buy more leads. But Shane and Joe challenged that reflex head-on.
“The tonic for low enrollments is more leads, which rewards low admissions performance. You get in this dysfunctional cycle.” — Shane Sparks
Joe’s answer: stop blaming leads. Start auditing the conversion system.
The fix is data-driven activity management. Instead of managing outcomes (how many starts did we get?), manage inputs (what are we doing each day that moves people forward?). When reps focus on controllable activities rather than outcomes, performance improves and anxiety drops.
Why Speed to Lead Actually Matters
Shane described the non-traditional student inquiry as similar to a moment of personal crisis: “I can’t keep doing this, I need to change something.” That moment of clarity is fragile. It can evaporate quickly if life gets slightly better, the phone doesn’t ring, or someone more responsive gets there first.
The implication for admissions: Speed to lead isn’t a tactical checkbox. It’s about catching someone while they’re emotionally ready to act. Miss the window, and you may not get it back.
Joe’s recommended timeline: contact within 5 minutes of a form submission.
The Conversion System: Key Benchmarks and Framework
Joe works backward from enrollment targets to build a daily activity plan. Here are some targets every team should be working towards:
Lead-to-enrollment conversion
10–12% (strong teams)
Initial start fill timeline
Begin filling 8–12 weeks out
Pre-start enrollment target
110% of seats (to absorb cancellations)
90-day coaching sprint
Enough time to install new behaviors and see results
The waitlist mentality: Rather than rushing to fill the last five seats the week before start, build a culture of filling thoughtfully weeks in advance. Those last-minute enrollments are the ones most likely to drop.
Where Leaks Happen in the Admissions Funnel
Joe outlined the most common places momentum is lost:
- The brand new lead This is your highest-priority contact and the one most teams handle worst. Every minute that passes reduces conversion probability. Even a 45-minute buffer to follow up on a fresh inquiry while another appointment is still running is acceptable, just don’t let new leads go cold.
- Post-first-appointment follow-up Within 24 hours of any appointment, follow up with something specific: a detail you forgot to mention, a question about a concern they raised. If a prospect isn’t answering calls within a few days of their appointment, you’re likely losing them.
- Lack of a structured cadence Without a defined booking cadence (when to call, text, email, and what to say at each touchpoint), reps are making it up as they go. That inconsistency is a conversion killer.
Don’t Be a Sales Weirdo: The Human Connection Standard
Joe’s founding principle: “Don’t become not who you are.”
The biggest contact rate problem isn’t technology, it’s admissions teams treating outreach as administrative rather than human. When a prospective student reaches out, they’re doing the hardest thing they’ve ever done. They need a guide, not an extension of the website.
What this looks like in practice:
- Ask discovery questions, dig deep, and connect their goals to the opportunity
- Don’t just dump information, share insights
- Be present for the person in front of you, not just the checklist
Joe’s bottom line: “Never let anyone leave you without being better or happier.”
Polite and Helpful Isn’t Enough: The Challenger Mindset
Being nice doesn’t drive enrollment. Challenge does.
Joe referenced the Challenger Sale framework: the top-performing reps aren’t the relationship builders or the hardest workers. They’re the ones willing to create constructive tension.
In admissions terms, that means: if a student says they want to change their life but keeps backing out of appointments, call it out. “You said this was important to you, what’s actually holding you back?”
The accountability flip: “I’m not accountable for you, but I’m accountable to you.”
This approach is teachable. Specific language shifts, like asking “will you…” instead of “please…” activate Robert Cialdini’s principle of consistency. Someone who says “yes, I will” is significantly more likely to follow through than someone who was just told to.
Personalization vs. Automation: The Hybrid Answer
One of the webinar attendees asked, should we use personalized messages or automated messages?
Joe’s answer: both, with intention.
- Automate transactional touchpoints: appointment reminders, initial information, booking confirmations
- Personalize relationship-building touchpoints: post-appointment follow-ups, check-ins, anything where a real conversation could happen
- Build frameworks for personal messages. Even “personalized” messages should follow a structure so reps aren’t reinventing every touchpoint from scratch
Saj’s add: With today’s tech, reps can write their own automated message sequences and inject their personality into each one. The best of both worlds.
The meme that got a 95% response rate: One rep texted the Robert Downey Jr. eye-roll meme with the caption “the face I make when the college admissions lady keeps messaging me” after three no-responses. It worked. Personality + framework = conversion.
Duplicating Your Star Rep Across the Whole Team
Most star reps don’t know what makes them great. They’ve internalized patterns they can’t easily articulate.
Joe’s process for capturing and scaling top-rep performance:
- Observe what they actually do, not what they say they do
- Identify the patterns and language they use most
- Document those into shared frameworks and templates
- Build B-level players up using the standard. Don’t try to change A-players
- Let A-players see B-players improving; they’ll start to adopt the standards too
The goal: make your business process-dependent, not people-dependent.
When to Give Up on a Lead (Seriously)
Joe’s answer: 30-day contact strategy, then nurture.
- New lead: try for 30 days with a structured cadence
- Post-appointment: follow up at 24 hours, 3-5 days, 1 week, 2 weeks
- After that: move to 45 days, 90 days, 180 days, but with intention on each touchpoint
- Cap your active pipeline at ~150 prospects (based on Malcolm Gladwell’s Dunbar research)
The pipeline mistake most teams make: packing it with stale contacts no one’s moving forward. Clean it out. Move people in, out, forward, or backward, and let marketing nurture the rest until they raise their hand again.
“There’s a lot of people that will come back, but we can’t be chasing everybody.” — Joe Girard
The Bottom Line
High-performing admissions teams don’t have more leads. They have better systems, more human connection, and a willingness to challenge both their prospects and themselves. The fixes aren’t complicated, but they require intention, consistency, and leaders willing to invest 90 days in real change.
Want to see where your admissions process is leaking conversions? Request a free admissions audit from Enrollment Resources and Joe Girard.
If you found this article useful and want to learn more, you can also access the full webinar here.