Professionalism for Financial Aid Advisors

Presented by:
CONVERSATIONAL PROFESSIONALISM
COSMO WOLLAN
“THE RIGHT WORDS TO DISCUSS THE NUMBERS”
STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT

CONVERSATIONAL
PROFESSIONALISM
F OR F INANCIAL A ID A DVISORS

“T HE R IGHT W ORDS TO
D ISCUSS THE N UMBERS ”

©2012 COMMUNICATION EXCELLENCE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


Your Financial Aid
Advisors' JOB is to
help students
UNDERSTAND and
NAVIGATE the
complexities of
college financing.



They rely on only THREE TOOLS to accomplish their task:

KNOWLEDGE of the Process RAPPORT with the Student

WORDS

It is in how they USE those tools that success is achieved.



How many first time students will make sense of this:

"Just go to the FAFSA site, get your PIN and email
me the EFC on your SAR when you get it ."



How IMPORTANT will students feel when they hear:
"Call me back when you're done.
I'm usually very busy, so you may be on hold for a while.."



What your students
THINK
is determined by what they
HEAR.



What your advisors say = INFORMATION

How they say it = PERCEPTION



What is WRONG with the following:

“How much you paying now?”

“Check with the Register's Office …”

“Do you know where your paperwork is at?”



Would it bother you if you discovered that the guy from the
FORD Dealership who sold you your car drove a HONDA?

DO we or DON'T we have more confidence in a product
if the person selling it to us also uses it themselves?



The product your Financial Aid
Advisors are discussing is

THE VALUE OF EDUCATION.

How can you expect to inspire students to appreciate
the value of their financial investment if your advisors
sound as if they failed High School Freshman English?



Frequently Heard – Always WRONG:

• “Let me axe you a question…”

• “Just get me the paperwork tomorrow...”

• “…don't be like, all worried and stuff…”



This is not about being smart or dumb… or whether your
Financial Aid Advisors have a master’s degree, a
bachelor’s degree or no degree.

It is simply about using the BEST TOOLS for the task at hand.

Like a thoroughbred racehorse or a top fuel race car,
PROPER GRAMMAR IS A TOOL THAT WILL MAKE THEM BETTER AT THEIR JOB.



Every time your Financial Aid Advisors answer

questions, provide assistance, offer advice or find

solutions, your students will be making judgments

BASED ON IMPRESSIONS OF WHAT THEY HEAR.

or



What do want your students to HEAR when they interact

with your Financial Aid Advisors?

or

It represents your school, your image and your reputation.



A wise man* once said: “YOU NEVER GET A SECOND
CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.”

Your students look to your Financial Aid Advisors for
inspiration.

HOW WILL THAT FIRST IMPRESSION INSPIRE THEM?
*Conflicting sources attribute this quote to Will Rogers, Mark Twain, and Arthur Schopenhauer



Conversational Professionalism (for Financial Aid
Advisors) is available as a stand-alone 2-hour seminar or
can be incorporated as a 2-hour segment of a larger
scope training program.

Seminar groups should be no larger than 20-25
participants for optimum interaction.

All university Financial Aid Advisors who regularly
interact with potential or enrolled students can benefit
from this training. Whether on the phone or in
person, your students’ experiences at your university are
based as much on your people as their progress.

CAN YOU REALLY AFFORD NOT TO PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD?


THANK YOU.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.

Cosmo Wollan
Student Communications Expert
Senior Training Executive
Communication ExcellenceSM
Office: 754.300.9678 Cell: 305.788.2469
Cosmo@CommunicationExcellence.biz


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