Being an Admissions Ambassador is Product Management

TL;DR Being an Admissions Ambassador is a lot like product management. Rather than delivering a product and tracking it with a bunch of metrics, you are engaging in the process of product discovery.

Recently, I have been talking to MBA applicants about Ross. I’ve approached he conversations through the lens of a Product Manager. There is a very interesting “qualitative” side to product management, which involves talking to a lot of customers, understand needs, and co-creating products with them. I find a lot of parallels in being an Admissions Ambassador at Ross. I thought I’d elaborate on that a bit.

Admissions is a complicated product discovery process, both from the applicant’s and the school’s perspective. As an applicant, I want to know whether the school I choose will support my career journey. I don’t speak for the Full-Time MBA program office, but presumably admissions gets them a good insight into what the applicants need/want, and how they can craft the MBA experience to meet those expectations.

The Ross MBA is a product with many and diverse value props. As an Admissions Ambassador, I am essentially a product expert, helping applicants (i.e. customers) make sense of all that Ross has to offer. The key point is that I need only focus on those props that are going to resonate with applicants. Which begs the question: what are those props? What is it that prospective students actually want and how do Ross’ offerings align with those needs?

I am always dubious of falling into the Henry Ford trap of “if I asked what my customers wanted, I would give them a faster horse.” It happened with me. As an applicant, I told people what I thought I wanted. It wasn’t exactly the right thing. I want to change that, and really understand the applicant! So far I have spoken with 5. When applicants show me what their career journey looks like, show me what about the current state of affairs bothers them, I start developing a really good picture of their desires and aspirations. When we start seeing the same image, I can try to show them what parts of the Ross experience can help accelerate their career journey and overcome potential barriers. Hopefully they then see how Ross fits into their career vision.

This is a very different approach than what I have been used to in my previous life. I thought I was a “product expert” who knew each and every feature and use case for the product. At some points products and offerings get so complex it is impossible to know. The Admissions Ambassador experience has been very refreshing. It helps make the connection more personal, it feels more honest, and most importantly, it leaves the applicant satisfied that he/she is able to see the value more clearly.

Does it lead to happy applicants? Absolutely! 3 people have told me that the way our conversations unfolded were very valuable to them. One has even said something to the tenor of “if these are the type of conversations I’ll have with students at Ross, it’s exactly the community I want to be in.” Is it disingenuous? Absolutely not. I find it the most sincere way of communicating with applicants about what their time at Ross will be like. Could it lead to applicants not applying to Ross? Possibly. It’s possible that my conversations lead to them seeing a misalignment between their needs and what Ross has to offer. Though I will note that I am but one kaleidoscope through which applicants see Ross. There are hundreds more, and each will manifest in a different pattern, a different story, a different interpretation. I recommend applicants reach out to as many Ambassadors as possible and understand how their journey aligns with the multitude of opportunities Ross has to offer.

Note that this is not the end of “admissions ambassador as product management.” Next time around I will try to write about how I have found being an Ambassador really helpful in framing my journey.

Until then, Go Blue!

Gautam

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