When a call doesn't get properly routed it's extremely frustrating. Nobody likes phone trees and nobody likes waiting to get an answer, whether that's a text message or an email. So, speed to lead is extremely important and that shows up with how quickly can someone talk to a live person and how quickly can someone get a text back from a live person if they fill in a web form or if they text a number.
Think about speed to lead and how frustrating it is to not get an answer or not be able to get through to someone very quickly. If you absolutely must have a phone tree, then obviously make it as simple as possible. If there's a delay of any kind between when a lead comes in from your website and when you're able to get back to them, then make that as short as possible.
Having a clear policy and a clear script of what is said when someone calls is very important . It’s never good if your front desk person says, "Let me check. I'm not sure about that. The person Who handles that isn't here right now. She'll probably be back in 45 minutes. Can you call back in 15 minutes or can you call back in 45 minutes?," or, "I don't actually handle admissions. The person who does is on a tour right now. I guess I could have her call you back." You know just not being prepared, not being professional, not being friendly, not being helpful ... Very, very important. Some schools make the huge mistake of having students answering the phone and that opens up a whole other can of worms from a compliance standpoint and also because a student isn't usually trained to answer phones. So that's getting to be more rare but I still see it at schools. If there's students answering the phone, that's something that needs to be corrected right away.
Your front desk team should not be answering admissions questions.The best way to get into trouble with the Department of Education or your accrediting body, is to let inexperienced and untrained people discuss financial aid, admissions, any other sensitive topics at all. So don't open yourself up, or your school up, to serious consequences as a result from allowing someone who isn't properly trained to speak with a prospective student. You just can't do it. So, the person that is talking to a prospective student needs to know what they're doing.