The family that hears back first usually walks in
Enquiries come in waves. Results day. A good week of ads. The fortnight before a batch starts. Families are talking to two or three institutes at once, and the one that calls back first with clear answers usually gets the visit.
The first questions barely change. How much is it? When does the batch start? Can we pay in instalments? Is there a hostel? A counsellor answering these for the fortieth time that day isn’t counselling anyone.
The agent answers what you’ve given it facts for, in Hindi, English, Gujarati, Tamil or Telugu, and books the counselling slot. Whatever it couldn’t answer comes back with the result, so the counsellor opens the call with it.
Often it’s the parent who picks up
In the call above, Ananya is at school and her mother answers. The agent carries on with her, and notes that it spoke to a parent. Set your calling hours around school, too. A student is rarely free at 11 in the morning.
Parents also call back later, on their own time. Call from your own number, put the agent on it for incoming calls, and those callbacks get answered as well.
What the counsellor keeps
The counselling itself. Course choice, how prepared the student is, scholarships, discounts, and anything about results. The agent never promises a rank. When a family wants a person right now, it books the earliest slot or promises a callback, since it can’t transfer the call yet.
Watch the date on older enquiries
TRAI’s latest rules treat a written or digital enquiry as a reason to call for seven days, and an application for three months. Keep each form record with its date, and check with your telecom provider before calling anything older.
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