Think like an enquirer
Students who have questions, from the basics right down to specific details. Applicants with questions or students in Clearing. Parents who want to ask about what their child might experience at your university. Teachers who want to tell their students about your university.
Practice using role play
What if enquirer X asks about topic Y? How does the student feel throughout the experience? What can we do to improve the experience and help them move through the recruitment funnel?
Update your saved replies
Make saved replies easy to find and use. Order them by number and use search-friendly titles. You could also create private signatures for each Officer.
Assign roles and train
You already have subject matter experts. Each has a role and specialises in their area, so help them connect and collaborate with each other using notes.
When officers are away
If it's planned in advance and temporary - agree who will be taking care of that officer’s enquiries. If it's unplanned and may be long term - assign the ownership to another officer.
Write your enquiries policy
What we do when this happens, when all else fails we do that, we turn to these people when stuck, in our everyday duties we behave like this, etc. Teams love policies that contain guidance but also have exception management ready for these edge cases. Add it into your private officers KLB and train them on it.
Invite conversations
The more places student can ask questions the better. Think about how you could double or treble the existing opportunities you give students to start a conversation - web pages, social media, email footers, etc.
Monthly metrics
At the end of every month, run the numbers. How many enquiries did your team handle? How long are enquires taking to first response, then close? How many saved replies have been added? Numbers are your friend.