Why does a university need a CRM?

In a context of increased competition among higher education institutions, universities must now adopt a customer-centric approach to attract, recruit, and retain students, as well as to develop lasting relationships with their various partners. Implementing a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is therefore becoming a major strategic imperative for universities. This tool allows them to centralize data, optimize processes, and improve communication in order to better meet the expectations of their audiences. Discover the main use cases and benefits of a CRM for a university.

Summary:

1. The challenges of a CRM for a university
2. The main use cases of a university CRM
3. The concrete benefits of a CRM for a university

The implications of a CRM for a university

Choosing a CRM adapted to the specific needs of universities

Selecting a CRM system for a university requires careful consideration. It is essential to clearly define the project scope and the institution's specific needs beforehand. This will allow for the identification of the essential functionalities that the CRM solution must offer.

Another crucial point is the CRM's ability to integrate with the existing information system. The tool must be able to communicate and exchange data with other applications used, such as student records software. Good integration will facilitate adoption by teams and prevent the creation of data silos.

Finally, it is important to bear in mind that each university has its own particularities: multi-site, multi-component, varied courses... The chosen CRM must be sufficiently flexible and customizable to adapt to this unique context, without imposing upheaval on existing processes.

Convincing teams of the benefits of data sharing

Team buy-in to data sharing in a university CRM can encounter some resistance. Users may fear losing control over "their" contacts or worry that confidential information will be shared too widely.

To overcome these obstacles, it is essential to involve the teams very early in the project. Workshops allowing future users to express their needs and concerns will help define rules for sharing and accessing data, and therefore create a climate of trust.

Establishing clear governance, defining everyone's roles and data management processes, will also reassure the teams. Finally, regular communication and training sessions should explain the concrete benefits of CRM and support users in learning how to use the tool, in order to establish good information-sharing habits.

Implement a data management strategy

"The CRM must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force in the European Union." This point, raised by a CRM expert, is crucial. The personal data of students and partners must be collected, stored, and used in accordance with GDPR regulations, under penalty of severe sanctions.

Beyond the regulatory aspects, it's also crucial to consider your data import strategy for the new CRM beforehand: which data should be migrated from the old systems, and to what historical depth? These choices will impact the quality of the database. Finally, governance work must define access rights to potentially sensitive or confidential data, according to user profiles. All while fostering a culture of information sharing, essential for the CRM's smooth operation!

The main use cases of a university CRM

Recruitment and admissions management

The application and admission process can quickly become complex and time-consuming for university teams. Manually tracking each application, communicating with candidates, and forwarding documents to the various departments takes considerable time.

A CRM dedicated to recruitment allows you to automate a large part of these tasks. As soon as a candidate fills out an online form, their information is centralized in the CRM. Workflows can be set up to automatically send follow-up emails, request additional documents, or forward the application to the relevant people.

The CRM provides a comprehensive overview of the progress of each application. This allows teams to easily identify priority cases and follow up with candidates as needed. Thanks to the time saved by automating repetitive tasks, they can focus on building strong relationships with top talent.

By streamlining the entire admissions process, CRM helps deliver a positive and distinctive candidate experience. This is a key advantage for attracting top students in a competitive environment.

Student progress tracking

Using a CRM for academic tracking and student support offers numerous advantages:

• It allows for the centralization of all data and interactions related to the student's academic journey: grades, absences, appointments with the administration, exchanges with teachers, etc. All this information is quickly and easily accessible to the various stakeholders.

• Alerts can be set up to quickly identify struggling students and implement remedial actions. The CRM facilitates collaboration between teaching and administrative teams.

• The student benefits from personalized support. All interactions are tracked in the CRM, allowing for greater responsiveness and consideration of their profile and specific needs. Regular follow-up appointments can be scheduled.

• At the end of their studies, the CRM retains the history of the student's journey, which can be used in the context of relations with Alumni and to analyze the factors of success.

Alumni relations

Maintaining contact with alumni is essential for a university. A CRM allows you to:

• Centralize the contact details and profiles of alumni

• Send them regular newsletters about school news

• Invite them to dedicated events (networking evenings, conferences, etc.)

• Offer them opportunities to get involved (testimonials, mentoring, apprenticeship tax, etc.)

This ongoing relationship strengthens alumni's attachment to their school. They then become valuable ambassadors, recommending the institution to their network. The alumni network also represents a tremendous opportunity for current students in terms of internships and career placement. A CRM is therefore a key tool for energizing and sustaining the alumni community.

Corporate Partnership Management

CRM is a valuable tool for effectively managing relationships with partner companies. It allows you to centralize all key information about these partners: contact details, interaction history, recruitment needs, feedback on hired students, etc.

Thanks to this consolidated data, the university can communicate with each company in a personalized way. For example, it can regularly send them student profiles that match their recruitment criteria. Tracking these exchanges in the CRM also makes it possible to identify areas of satisfaction and areas for improvement raised by companies regarding student skills. This information is invaluable for adapting programs as needed.

The CRM also provides a comprehensive overview of corporate partnerships. Reports can be generated in just a few clicks to analyze the number of students hired per company and per sector, thus concretely measuring the university's performance in terms of employability. This is an undeniable asset for strengthening its image and attractiveness.

The tangible benefits of a CRM for a university

Centralization and organization of data

A CRM allows you to centralize all essential data on students, partners, and graduates in a single database. No more information scattered across spreadsheets or databases unconnected between departments.

Thanks to this centralization, the data is easily accessible to all authorized users, wherever they are. Each user thus has a 360° view of the students and can interact with them with full knowledge of the facts.

Improvement of internal and external communication

A CRM system significantly streamlines communication, both internally and externally. By centralizing all information on students, graduates, and partners, it provides each department with a 360° view, enabling relevant and personalized interactions.

However, to fully leverage this potential, team buy-in is essential. Resistance to information sharing may arise. Clear governance, defining access rights according to user profiles, is necessary to establish a climate of trust.

With this effort to adapt to the new culture, CRM becomes a true catalyst for communication. It allows you to send the right message to the right person at the right time, whether for recruitment, course tracking, or alumni relations. Communication becomes more efficient and impactful.

Optimization of administrative processes

Manually managing administrative processes such as registrations, file tracking, and follow-ups can quickly become time-consuming for teams. Entering data, updating it, and transmitting information takes considerable time, to the detriment of higher-value tasks.

The automation enabled by CRM saves valuable time. Online forms directly populate the database, workflows notify the right people at each stage, and follow-up emails are sent without human intervention. As a result, processes are accelerated and streamlined, and the risk of errors is reduced. Teams can then refocus on providing personalized support to students.

Support for management and decision-making

A university CRM centralizes a large amount of essential data: information on students and their academic paths, interactions with partner companies, marketing campaign performance, etc. But this raw data is only valuable if it is analyzed and presented in a relevant way to help with decision-making.

This is where the CRM's reporting features become truly valuable. In just a few clicks, it's possible to extract key indicators: conversion rate of prospects into students, number of internships and apprenticeship contracts signed, email open rates, etc.

These dashboards provide a concise overview of the institution's performance across its key areas. They allow for the rapid identification of strengths and areas for improvement. For example, if the student employment rate in certain sectors is declining, actions can be implemented to strengthen partnerships with companies in those fields.

CRM thus becomes a true decision-making tool, giving management teams visibility into the metrics essential for the university's strategic management. This allows them to make informed decisions to optimize performance!

In conclusion, a CRM has become an indispensable tool for universities and schools that want to optimize the management of their relationships with students, partner companies, and alumni. By centralizing data and automating processes, a CRM saves valuable time and improves communication at every stage of the student journey. It provides a 360° view for personalized support and a high-quality candidate and student experience—key assets in a context of increased competition among institutions. Thanks to its advanced features, a CRM like the one offered by Emundus helps simplify applications and admissions, while also providing valuable decision-making tools to drive university performance.