School CRM: 5 best practices for optimal use

Implementing a CRM system in your higher education institution is a major project that requires careful planning. What objectives and needs need to be defined? How do you choose the right tool and train your teams? What are the best practices for optimizing data quality and daily use? Discover our 5 key tips for a successful CRM implementation and effective management of your recruitment, marketing, and corporate relations activities.

Summary :

1. Clearly define the objectives and needs

2. Choosing a CRM suitable for higher education

3. Train and support the teams

4. Optimize data quality

5. Measure and optimize CRM usage

Clearly define the objectives and needs

Analyze existing processes

To identify areas for improvement, it is essential to map the school's current processes:

1. List the various key processes (registrations, application tracking, admissions management, etc.)

2. For each process, detail the steps, stakeholders, and tools used. This will provide a clear overview of the current operation.

3. Identifying bottlenecks, time-consuming tasks, and potential errors is crucial. Asking teams about their daily challenges is invaluable for this analysis.

4. Define performance indicators for each process (processing time, error rate, candidate satisfaction, etc.) in order to objectively measure progress.

This mapping will provide a solid basis for targeting improvements to be made with the implementation of the CRM, in alignment with the school's strategic priorities.

Involve the different departments

To define needs effectively, it is essential to include all departments involved with the CRM, such as admissions, marketing, and corporate relations. Each department will have specific uses and expectations regarding the tool.

However, involving numerous stakeholders can also complicate the requirements gathering process, and may even lead to conflicting demands. Prioritization and arbitration will then be necessary, keeping the strategic objectives of the CRM project in mind.

The key is to appoint a project manager who will coordinate and synthesize the needs of the various departments. Regular workshops will allow for collaborative and coherent development of the project plan, leading to the definition of a clear and shared set of specifications.

Choosing a CRM suitable for higher education

Essential features

A CRM for higher education institutions must include key features to meet the specific needs of the sector:

• Application management: tracking the application process from start to finish, from receipt of the application to the final admission decision. The CRM must allow for the centralization of candidate data and the management of follow-ups and communications.

• Event management: planning and monitoring of student fairs, open house days, seminars, etc. The CRM must facilitate the organization, registration and follow-up of participants for these crucial events in student recruitment.

• Corporate relations management: managing contacts and partnerships with companies, essential for students' professional integration (internships, apprenticeships, employment). The CRM should enable the development and maintenance of these relationships over time.

• Student relationship management: tracking the student's progress throughout their academic journey, from enrollment to graduation. The CRM must centralize academic data, grades, and absences to provide a 360° view of each student.

Scalability and Integrations

When choosing a CRM for a school, certain characteristics prove crucial:

1. Scalability: A CRM must adapt to new requirements and grow with the organization. This avoids the costs associated with migrating to a new tool and provides essential flexibility to meet evolving needs.

2. Integration: Its ability to integrate with other existing school systems facilitates data centralization. This ensures consistency in the information shared between departments, thereby increasing operational efficiency.

Train and support the teams

Customized training plan

To design a customized CRM training plan based on individual profiles:

1. Identify the roles and responsibilities of each type of user (administrators, sales representatives, marketing, customer service, etc.)

2. Assess their current level of CRM knowledge and their specific needs based on their daily tasks.

3. Segment users into level groups (beginner, intermediate, advanced) to adapt the content and pace of the training.

4. Define specific learning objectives for each group, focusing on the functionalities essential to their activity.

5. Vary the teaching formats (face-to-face, e-learning, practical workshops, individual coaching) to adapt to everyone's preferences.

Appoint ambassadors

Involving representatives from each department in the CRM project is essential for successful adoption. These representatives will be the ambassadors of the tool within their teams.

As true experts and drivers of change, they will be able to:

• Report the specific needs of their department

• Supporting their colleagues in taking ownership

• Ensure communication with the project team

The result: increased user engagement and easier deployment across the organization. Don't hesitate to highlight this key role to inspire your most committed employees to take it on.

Optimize data quality

Define input rules

To guarantee a reliable and usable CRM database, it is essential to define precise data entry rules:

• Standardize formats: adopt unified formats for key fields such as phone numbers, email addresses, and postal codes. This will facilitate future searches and segmentations.

• Make certain fields mandatory: define a minimum amount of information required to create a contact or company record. This will prevent duplicates and incomplete records.

• Use predefined dropdown lists: For fields that lend themselves to it (industry, job title, contact status, etc.), offer predefined values ​​via dropdown lists. This will limit data entry errors and facilitate data analysis.

A user guide outlining these best practices and regular training will ensure that these rules are properly applied by everyone on a daily basis for quality CRM data.

Clean the base regularly

To ensure a reliable and usable CRM database over time, implement regular data cleaning actions:

• Remove duplicates: contacts or companies saved multiple times create confusion. Use automatic deduplication tools or proceed manually for complex cases.

• Archive inactive contacts: set aside profiles that haven't interacted in a long time, without deleting them. This will allow you to reduce the size of your active database while preserving the history.

• Fill in the missing information: profiles with empty fields reduce the reach of your actions. Fill these gaps through targeted searches, by directly contacting specific profiles, or via forms.

Frequent data cleaning, with specific objectives, will allow you to progressively improve the overall quality of your CRM database. Your goal: reliable data for informed decision-making!

Measure and optimize CRM usage

Define relevant KPIs

To evaluate the effectiveness of your CRM, track these key indicators:

• Adoption rate: Measure the percentage of active users among deployed licenses. A low rate indicates a need for training or an inadequacy of the tool.

• Data quality: Regularly auditing your database will prevent you from making decisions based on erroneous information. Monitor the percentage of complete and deduplicated records.

• Sales productivity: analyze the evolution of the number of qualified leads, opportunities, or contracts generated through the CRM. The goal: to identify growth drivers.

• Customer satisfaction: through surveys sent from the CRM, assess the perceived quality of your customer relationship and anticipate the risks of churn.

Gather user feedback

To continuously improve your CRM, it's essential to consider the experience of those who use it daily: your employees. Set up dedicated channels to gather their feedback, whether positive or negative.

Regular satisfaction surveys will give you an overview of user adoption of the tool and help identify pain points. Supplement these surveys with individual interviews to delve deeper into specific topics and gather suggestions for improvement.

From a technical standpoint, analyzing CRM usage data (adoption rates, most used features, user journeys, etc.) will provide valuable insights. This feedback from the field, combined with your initial objectives, will serve as a compass to guide future development of your tool and strengthen its business impact.

In conclusion, implementing a CRM for your higher education institution is a significant project that requires careful consideration. It is essential to clearly define your objectives and needs beforehand, choose a tool tailored to your specific requirements, and train and support your teams throughout this transition. Optimizing the quality of your data and the daily use of the CRM will allow you to maximize the return on this investment. With a CRM like Emundus, you can simplify and streamline the management of your applications and admissions processes, while offering a personalized experience to your prospective and current students, leading to increased profitability and growth for your institution.