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Interview
Tips for Selecting a Campus CRM tool
10/9/2008
As competition for students increases, colleges and universities are looking more and more to customer (or constituent) relationship management software for help in remaining competitive. CRM tools are starting to be used in new ways, according to Datamonitor Lead Analyst Nicole Engelbert. In the second part of this two-part interview, she talks about how DePaul University in Chicago is setting a new bar for creative use of its CRM software. She also suggests how schools should plan ahead for their own CRM rollouts--and top things to consider in selecting a CRM tool. (Note that the first of this two-part series can be found here.)
The most difficult aspects of a CRM product, Engelbert says, and yet one of the most important, is its ability to use past interactions to inform future decisions. "If the solution doesn't have good analytics," she says, "frankly, it's not really a CRM solution, it's just a tool."
Campus Technology: Is there a school you can point to that is a real star in terms of how it is using CRM?
Nicole Engelbert: Yes, DePaul University in Chicago. In a word, they get it. I was blown away by the types of things they are doing there. [For example], they quantify student satisfaction on their campus with regular surveys and by tallying data from different surveys. They measure it regularly, and, if it slips down or up, they take action.
Now, is it perfect? Probably not. But they haven't let perfection be the enemy of good.
They're being extremely proactive. And, as a result, they're getting exciting results in terms of improved retention because happy students are far more likely to refer friends, family, and neighbors to the institution. They're also far more likely to be active and contributing alumni after they graduate.
What's really important and potentially relevant about DePaul for other institutions thinking about this approach is that they see constituent relationship management on an institution-wide basis. They have a vision for what it will look like. Even before they think about the technology, they have the strategy, and it touches everyone. What does student satisfaction mean on our campus? What does service to students mean? What does it look like? What does it need to be?
That's where other institutions should be looking--at an institution-wide strategy for constituent management and then at finding a solution that supports it. Not adopting a tool or an application for admissions and then trying to build it out over time.
In no way am I saying you need to jump in with two feet into the deep end of the pool. But the small steps you take early shouldn't necessarily impede the longer-term vision.
CT: When you look at schools that are successful with CRM, do they tend to be institutions that are less divided into so-called silos, or that already have successful ERP systems, for example?
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