CRM useful in the education market too

John Butler talks about the opportunity for CRM in the higher education market

Having systems to manage constituent relationships is an absolute must for organisations that care about customer service and retention, and higher education institutions are no exception.

CRM is especially important for universities, as it is about much more than customer acquisition and retention. Although the principles are the same as for any other large organisation, providers of higher education also have a moral responsibility to prioritise student satisfaction and value for money.

Large businesses recognised long ago that they have to keep up with technological advances, but the use of CRM at most universities is in relative infancy.

I find this surprising, considering that good CRM support systems will not only satisfy the needs of the student, but result in financial rewards in the long run. CRM can help schools boost overall efficiency, helping them avoid duplicate or unnecessary marketing messages, for example.

CRM can be used to record prospective students' interests, and target them with tailor-made marketing material. Information about particular sport or music opportunities at the university could be sent out with a view to attracting more students.

Such systems can also be used to measure the happiness of current students. Using CRM, universities can identify student problems early, potentially helping to reduce drop-out rates. Interactions that are recorded can be stored in databases and used as material for organisational analytics. CRM can also boost relationships with alumni.

Schools can use CRM to encourage donations, recruit staff or manage any number of schemes.

Higher education establishments need to be in touch with their past, present and future students. So I would suggest that institutions need to move CRM onto the agenda. The channel can help here.

John Butler is vice president for Europe at Ellucian