Talking points for making retention calls to parents

From AFSWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

Overview

The objective of making phone calls to parents during this stage is to offer support and encouragement during a time when their son/daughter is doing a lot of 'waiting'. During this time, a student is waiting anxiously for host family, school, travel and visa information. When volunteers are in contact with the family and student during this time, they feel supported by AFS. Below you will find talking points reaching out to parents during this time.

Before you make the call

1) Print this wiki page of talking points.
2) FAQ's: Common Retention Questions
3) How to Record a Contact in a Student's Contact Log
  • Remember, you are reaching out to support and encourage the parents -- you do not necessarily need to have all the answers. Instead, focus on relationship building and be familiar with the many resources available to you, students and parents. See 'Sending Resources', below.

Making the call

  • Introduction: Hello, my name is ____ and I am a volunteer with AFS. Is ____there?
  • Once you are speaking with the parent: I’m calling to introduce myself. I am an AFS volunteer and also live in ___. I see your son/daughter is preparing for an AFS program to ____. I wanted to check in and see how things are going.

Quick Tips:

  • Be sure to provide your local community name to create a connection.
  • Refer to the student's country or program to personalize the phone call.
  • After you state why you are calling, be sure to PAUSE, and let the parent respond to what you have said.
  • If you do not reach the parent, take the opportunity to chat with the student or sibling who answers the phone - they may be needing a word of encouragement, reassurance and support, themselves. Also, see below for directions on leaving a voicemail.

Offering Support

  • Offer support by asking the parents if they have been in touch with their local volunteers.
  • Ask how this process has been for them as a parent.
  • Ask how they are doing in their own preparation for their son/daughter to be abroad. What are they most excited and/or nervous about.
  • Ensure them that the AFS community is here for them and we encourage them to get in touch with volunteers in their community.
  • The parent may have questions based on where their son/daughter is in the acceptance process. See below for more details about the acceptance process and preparing to depart, as well as the FAQs to address their questions.

Quick Tips:

  • Engage with open-ended questions.
  • Use the above conversation starters to get the dialogue started, but then let the parent do most of the talking.
  • Rephrase what you have heard to make sure you are understanding correcting, and to build trust. Always be empathetic.
  • When a parent and/or the student is feeling impatient with the waiting process, redirect their energy into one of the positive things they can do while they play the waiting game- see below.

Acceptance Process and Preparing to Depart

There is a two step acceptance process at AFS-USA. First, a student is accepted by AFS-USA. Once they have been accepted by AFS-USA, their application is sent to the partner country. The partner country will consider their application, and then accept the application, if they meet acceptance requirements. For this reason, it is important to not use the word 'accepted' lightly, since they may not yet be all the way through the acceptance process, and we don't want to misguide or misinform parents and students.

Partner Review:
When a student is in Partner Review, it means their application has been sent to the partner country, but they have not yet been guaranteed.

While the student waits to hear about their partner acceptance, they can take the time to learn more and get excited about their potential country. It is also a great time to do some fundraising. Here are some conversation starters you can bring up with parents to discuss with their son/daughter to help the student prepare.:

  • Have you checked out the AFS blogs? If not, they are a great resource and can be found: http://afsblog.org/
  • Have you done some research about the country that you are going to?
  • Have you been studying up on the language?
  • Have you attended a fund raising conference call? There are also is great information on fund raising on our website at: http://www.afsusa.org/usa_en/focus_on/stories/high_school
  • Have you received the information about the local Pre-Departure Orientation? Do you have any questions about it?
Partner Guaranteed:
When a student is in Partner Guaranteed, it means they have been accepted by the partner but not yet placed with a host family.

While the student waits to hear about their host family placement -which sometimes does not come until 3 weeks before departure-- they should take time work on their online orientation, work out details of getting school credit, and apply for visas, if necessary. Here are some conversation starters you can bring up with parents to discuss with their son/daughter to help the student prepare.:

  • Have you met with your school counselor and figured out what classes you need to take while abroad?
  • Have you looked through the information that is available through your AFS Student Account? You account is a great way to get information, such as host family information (when available) travel details (when available), make tuition payments and much more.
  • Have you started working on Culture Trek? Culture Trek is a great way for you to start thinking about what you will experience while abroad and living in a different culture. Culture Trek can be accessed through your AFS Account.
  • Have you received your visa instructions? Have you read them thoroughly? If the visa instructions have not been received, please be assured that they will be provided to you shortly.
  • Have you received the information about the local Pre-Departure Orientation? Do you have any questions about it?
Host Family Assigned:
When a student is in Host Familiy Assigned, it means the student has been assigned full placement information -- host family and school or community service project information.

While the student is in Host Family Assigned, the student can be in touch with their family, and start to learn more about that part of the world. Here are some conversation starters you can bring up with parents to discuss with their son/daughter to help the student prepare.:

  • Have you been in touch with your host family?
  • Have you done some research into the part of the country that you will be living in?
  • Have you been studying up on the language?
  • Have you thought about local gifts that you could bring to your host family as presents?
  • Have you received the information about the local Pre-Departure Orientation? Do you have any questions about it?

Responding to common questions

* FAQ's: Common Retention Questions Print this to have handy while you are making calls.


Quick Tips:

  • Be familiar with how to respond to common questions. As the questions require additional information, direct the parent to their Student Services Advisor.


Saying good-bye

It has been great to speak with you. I wish you the best of luck as you prepare for the upcoming program. Please be in touch as you have questions (provide contact information). You are also welcome to be in touch with your Student Services Advisor at 1-800-AFS-INFO.

Quick Tip:

  • This can be a great time to let them know of upcoming events in your area.
  • You can also discuss with them the possibility of becoming an AFS Volunteer or an AFS Host Family.

After you make the call

  • Once you finish the conversation, send a follow-up email, letting the student and/or parent know it was great to speak with them, and include any links to www.afsusa.org that may be helpful.
  • Be sure to log the call in Global Link, using these easy instructions: How to Record a Contact in a Student's Contact Log

How to leave a message

When reaching out to students and parents, you will at times reach voice mail. Here is a sample message you can leave.

Hello, my name is ____ and I am a volunteer with AFS. I live in ____. I'm calling to introduce myself and provide support as (student) prepares for (his/her) upcoming program. It would be great to speak with you, feel free to get back to me at (your number or email).

Quick Tips:

  • It's helpful to say your phone # or email slowly, and then repeat yourself.
  • If you prefer, you can provide 1-800-AFS-INFO and encourage parents to contact their Advisor.


Resources

Retrieved from "http://www.afswiki.org/index.php/Talking_points_for_making_retention_calls_to_parents"
Personal tools
May 24 2012
Search Tip
  • "Go" links directly to page
  • <Enter key> = "Go"
  • "Search" displays full text search results