CRM for Higher Education is an exploding industry, as more schools increasingly adopt the technology for various stages of the student lifecycle.
While the most common CRM need for higher ed is often centered on enrollment management (think: marketing, recruitment, admission), CRM can, and eventually should, be applied across the student lifecycle. This includes student services, retention, career services, alumni relations and community relations. (More on that and how to put that into practice in future blogs…)
Taking a look around the higher ed community, most schools are currently employing one of three tactics to handle their internal enrollment operations:
- Rogue and legacy systems – unfortunately, this often means a “free-for-all” of spreadsheets, email and paper files.
- Student Information Systems (SIS) – since they lack relationship management functionality critical for true CRM capabilities, trying to use SIS for CRM is putting a square peg in a round hole… not to mention, they also fall short in reporting, automation and workflow.
- Traditional and cloud-based CRM
Considering major factors such as integration with SIS, total cost of ownership (TCO), deployment timeline and cost, cloud-based CRM solutions are proving again and again to be the best option for schools of all sizes. From a small community college, to a brand name business school, or large university with multiple campuses, CRM in the Cloud is transforming how higher ed operates, positively impacting both internal staff and of course, the constituent population.
We live and breathe higher ed technology and business processes and are here to help you. Stay tuned for both practical tips and strategic advice that will help your institution be successful… no matter where you are on your CRM journey.
For more on this topic, see Lawrence’s commentary in Higher Ed Management.
