Notes for owners · Sales management
Who decides the admission: speaking to the parent and the student in the same enquiry
How an admissions desk can find out in the first call who is really deciding, the student, the parent or a relative, and what to say to each before explaining the course.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. Check the current position with your own council or adviser before you act on anything here.
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The person who rings is not always the person who decides. A parent calls during a lunch break to ask about fees, while the student has already picked another course. A student messages at midnight about a subject, while an elder in the family controls the money and has never called. So before you explain the course, find out who is deciding and what each person is judging. Ask early: "Who else will be part of this decision?" Then talk subject to the student, and cost, safety and outcome to the family member paying, inside the same enquiry.
Why does the first caller mislead you?
Because the first caller is whoever had time, not whoever has the say. Treat that caller as the decider and you tell them everything. They carry it home imperfectly. The one who did not call hears a half version, often the worst-sounding part: the fee. You lose the enquiry at a dinner table you were never invited to.
What families usually ask is covered in what parents ask before choosing a private college. This post is about the call before those questions: who is asking, and who is listening.
What does each person judge?
| Person | Judges | A worry you may hear |
|---|---|---|
| Student | The subject, friends, campus, freedom | "Will I be bored? Will I fit in?" |
| Parent or guardian who pays | Fee, safety, faculty, what happens after | "Is the money safe? Will this lead to a job?" |
| Another parent or elder in the home | Reputation, what the family will say | "What will others think?" |
| Relative (uncle, elder sibling) | Comparison with someone they know | "My nephew studied there. It was not good." |
Each tests you on a different thing. Answer the one in front of you, and note the rest for later. These are common patterns, not rules. Some students pay their own way and some families decide jointly.
Which four questions find the decider?
Spread them through the call. A fired-off list sounds like a form.
- To the caller, early: "Who is the course for, and have they seen the campus yet?" It names the student and shows how far the family has gone.
- Midway: "Who else will be part of the decision?" Wait. A pause here is information.
- To a parent: "What does your child think of this course?" "No idea" tells you the student is not yet engaged. "They have told us what they want" tells you who is leading.
- To a student: "Who will you discuss this with at home?" The name you hear is a decision-maker.
Write the names and roles in your record. If you keep a CRM, add a field for decision-makers; the fields post for advisers shows the idea for another trade.
How do you bring the second person in?
By invitation, not by correction.
To a parent who called: answer cost and safety first, because that is why they rang. Then: "It would help if your child joined the visit. They can ask the faculty what they care about, and you can see the hostel." You are not leaving the parent out. You are giving the student a reason to come.
To a student who called: answer on the course. Then: "Your family will want to see the campus and ask about fees. Shall I send you a short page you can show them, or speak to them myself?" That spares the student from carrying a bad message home.
To a relative who called: take them seriously, because they can end the process. Ask what they have heard, answer honestly, and offer to speak to the family together.
If parent and student disagree, do not take a side. Offer a joint visit with a teacher ready to describe the course in plain terms.
What happened in Dharwad?
Here is an invented case. A pre-university college in Dharwad has science and commerce streams. A parent rings about commerce fees and asks nothing else. The counsellor gives the fee and sends a brochure. The family never comes back.
Looking through its enquiry notes later, the college sees the pattern repeat. Several callers were asking about a stream the student did not want, and the family had not discussed it. The counsellor had never heard the student's voice.
The desk makes one change. After the fee answer, the counsellor now asks: "Has your child seen our labs? On Saturdays students sit with a teacher while parents see the hostel." One parent replied that the child wanted science but was afraid of the maths. The counsellor offered the student a short chat with the maths teacher. The family came to the Saturday visit together, and the real question, which was not the fee, came out.
The result was partial. Of the families the desk asked this way over the term, only some brought the student along, and a few still said they would "think and call back" and did not. The change gave the counsellor something to work with, not a guarantee.
The first wording had been weaker: "Is your child interested?" Parents said "yes" every time. "Has your child seen the labs?" asks for a fact and not an opinion, so it gets a real answer.
This works when your desk can host a joint visit or call. If you only take enquiries by phone, aim for a short three-way call and send a one-page summary the student can show at home.
What if you cannot reach the second person?
Do not push. Some families will not allow a student to talk to a counsellor, and some students will not give a number. Send the caller something to carry home: a short, honest page on the course, the cost, and what the second person can check. Record that the second person has not been reached and set a date to ask again.
Put one card by every phone
Write "Who else will be part of this decision?" on a card beside every phone on the desk, and tally the callers who name someone. That tally shows how often you have been selling to half the room. It is a qualifying step, so put it into your call notes and your reply script too. For how colleges fill seats in the admission window, see promoting a college during admissions, and for the sector view see our education and training page. If you want help building it into your enquiry process, lead qualification is that work, and tell us what you need is the way in.
