It starts with connection: The human core of enrollment success

Connection is more than knowing a prospect’s name or program of interest. It’s about finding something real in common. Maybe it’s their hometown, a mutual love of travel, or a shared dislike of Mondays. The best recruiters go one step further: they look for that spark of humor or familiarity that turns a transactional conversation into a human one.

I’m in awe of high-performing recruiters who, within the first minute of a call, create an inside joke with the prospect. It could be as simple as laughing about the noise of a barking dog in the background or a shared disbelief about the weather. That moment, tiny as it seems, changes everything. Suddenly, the prospect isn’t talking to “an admissions office”; they’re talking to a person. Shared language. Shared problem definition. Shared humor!

And that shift is the foundation of what we call relationally rich recruitment — or relationally rich selling. It’s about earning trust before asking for commitment. Working professionals are busy, skeptical, and protective of their time. They’re fatigued from being marketed to heavily and have been approached by countless advisors, each reading from the same playbook. But when someone makes them laugh, remembers that their daughter just started middle school, or follows up with a note about the book they mentioned on the last call, the conversation transforms. It’s not recruitment anymore; it’s a relationship.

That’s the magic of connection: it doesn’t just make a conversation pleasant — it changes outcomes. It makes a candidate more likely to respond, to stay engaged, and to follow through. It’s one of the most powerful antidotes to ghosting. People ignore email and institutions, but they don’t ignore people they feel connected to.

This kind of connection can’t be scripted or automated. It’s built on curiosity, empathy, and the discipline of being present. It’s asking one more follow-up question, noticing when a prospect hesitates, or pausing when their tone shifts halfway through a call. It’s recognizing that enrollment decisions are deeply personal — often tied to identity, confidence, and family.

Relationally rich recruiters also understand that connection is not a one-time spark — it’s something you sustain. They document the small details: the dog’s name, the promotion they’re chasing, the city they hope to move to. They use those notes not as data points, but as conversation bridges — reminders of a story that’s unfolding over time.

And when those details are remembered and reflected back, trust compounds. Engagement deepens. The relationship moves from recruiter-prospect to partner-advocate. That’s when the real work begins — guiding, encouraging, and helping someone imagine a future version of themselves that your program can help make possible.

Traditionally, institutions lead with what they offer — rankings, faculty, facilities. But at the top of the funnel, those things rarely matter. Prospects don’t care what you know until they know you care. Connection comes first, then understanding, then enrollment.

When you start with connection, you create the foundation for every other step in the recruitment process — listening, capturing insights, and guiding decisions with relevance and respect.

The mantra is simple: connect first, always. Because in a world of automation and noise, the most radical — and effective — thing you can do in recruitment is to be unmistakably, relationally, authentically human.