More on Low Hanging Fruit
Submitted by Susan Schulz on Sat, 05/10/2008 - 12:00am.
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The idea that there’s quick results from “low hanging fruit” has been very intriguing lately. The theory is that abundance in terms of new students, program offerings, student services, and more is so easily attainable. You just have to look for the low hanging fruit. No need to get a fancy cherry picker because you don’t need to go to the top of the tree for results. Low hanging fruit has no risk attached to it, is ripe or ready, and provides a solution instantly. Think about increasing enrollment for example. Where are potential leads that are likely to enroll? Referrals come to mind. Are you using referral methods or if no, why not? What other solutions are you looking for that are really all around you if you watch for them and are in ready mode to harvest right now?
What are your thoughts?
Low Hanging Fruit
Low hanging fruit is something all schools hope for and, perhaps believe long-term success can be acheieved with this. However, there is a need to be sure that the cherry pickers are good enough to decipher what is actually low hanging fruit. All too often, through a lack of training or supervision, low hanging fruit is dropped to the ground to rot. Or, dropped and a the fruit seller down the street picks it up.
While is it is necessary to grab the low hanging fruit, what makes long-term success attainable and consistent is to understand how to yield good crops by harvesting low hanging fruit and teaching the fruit pickers how to fill their baskets with the fruit that is nearly ready or is overlooked as being "not quite ripe" when, in fact, it is.
I have seen too many cherry pickers reduce the profitability of the fruit farmers and significantly increase the spending with no real yield.
Train to the deficiencies of the fruit pickers and more low hanging fruit (starts) will be picked along with more of the fruit left to rot (oversits or the difference between meeting budget or not).