Could a leaky sales funnel be preventing your school from meeting its enrollment goals? 

When colleges and universities come to MindMax for lead generation services, they have one goal in mind: to increase enrollments, which they believe is directly tied to getting more prospective students interested in their program. 

What they may not realize is that getting more leads doesn’t necessarily result in higher enrollments. If an enrollment funnel is leaky at any point in the prospective students’ journey, then funneling in more leads will have the same effect as pouring water into a bucket full of holes—which is to say, it won’t be very successful.   

That’s why at MindMax, we take a full-funnel approach to higher ed lead generation. By holistically assessing a school’s enrollment funnel, we can identify and plug any leaks to make sure every dollar spent is helping bring in more students.

Reasons for a Leaky Sales Funnel

There are many reasons why a school’s leads may not be converting to enrollments. It’s important to examine every stage of the funnel to identify the sources of any leaks: 

Awareness and interest. Issues at the top of the funnel (TOFU) may be as simple as schools not collecting enough leads. But there’s usually another layer of complexity to consider, such as not reaching the right audience or using the wrong messaging. Schools may need to reassess their messaging and targeting so that they reach the right people—and resonate with them.


Consideration and intent. In the middle of the funnel (MOFU), lead nurturing issues can occur when schools have insufficient systems for communicating with prospective students and tracking those interactions. If your school is still using spreadsheets as a primary organizational tool, it may be time to upgrade to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for enrollment services. A CRM tool helps enrollment specialists prioritize leads and inform their outreach strategies with full visibility into a prospective student’s journey.


Evaluation and purchase. At the bottom of the funnel (BOFU), when prospective students are steps away from enrolling in a program, enrollment management issues may stand in the way of them taking the final leap. Schools may lack adequate resources to communicate with prospective students during this critical phase in their journey, leaving them unsupported while other colleges continue to nurture them.


Enrollment. Sometimes, issues can even arise at the end of the sales funnel, when prospective students who are ready to enroll encounter unanticipated obstacles. Perhaps the school’s application fee is prohibitively high or the prerequisites for program acceptance aren’t clear. Identifying these internal problems can be challenging, especially when schools are too focused on generating leads at the top of the funnel.

MindMax’s Full Funnel Approach to Enrollment

All that is to say—sales funnels are remarkably complex. At MindMax, we know from our experience working with the best schools in the country that a successful lead generation strategy is built upon a solid foundation of data and insights. 

That’s why when schools request our lead generation services, we often recommend taking a step back and beginning our partnership with a shorter advisory engagement. 

This initial engagement gives MindMax an opportunity to analyze a college’s sales funnels to identify the source of any leaks and then produce an actionable plan. We’ve found that schools appreciate knowing their plan is strategically sound before moving forward with a larger engagement. 

Don’t let a leaky sales funnel prevent your school from meeting its enrollment goals. Contact MindMax today to learn more about our advisory services.