Top 6 Features Every Admission CRM Software Should Have

For educational institutions, handling the entire admission process can be a daunting task when done manually. Processes like inquiries, application, and enrolment require managing huge volumes of data. That is why many educational institutions are ditching the old-school way of manually processing data and embracing admission CRM software.

The global customer relationship management (CRM) market size stood at USD 40.2 billion in 2019 and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 14.2% from 2020 to 2027 (Grand View Research). This growth is also reflected in the rise of innumerable Customer Relationship Management (CRM) providers in the market, which has made it difficult for users to choose the right one. If you are in the education industry and are struggling to find the best CRM for admissions, this article is just for you.

Here is everything you need to know about admission CRM  software and the top 6 features that you should consider in your selection process.

 

 

What Is Admission CRM Software?

Admission CRM software is a solution that automates the educational institute’s admission structure and its related operations. It helps integrate all marketing channels and manage the entire admission journey of a student from inquiry to enrollment. With features like email marketing automation, SMS, Whatsapp and call functionality, lead nurturing, as well as marketing and admission reports, admission CRM software creates a seamless experience for both the administrative team as well as prospective students.

Importance Of Admission CRM Software

CRM for admissions is an excellent way to offer each student a unique and personalized experience that’s based on their preferences. It makes the life of counselors easy by helping them track the progress of each prospective student, automating nurture campaigns, and providing admission insights. Other benefits of using admission CRM software include – 

Better Return On Investment

 

While investing in software is a cost, the returns of using it are invaluable. CRM for admissions saves time, money, and labor – all of which are critical to staying competitive. It allows the administration to make informed decisions by providing highly customizable reports on the performance of campaigns, teams, and publishers.

Create Competitive Marketing Strategies

Automation of the admission process allows teams to create personalized campaigns based on different parameters like demography, location, lead score, etc. It also offers critical insights into student needs, allowing you to create competitive marketing strategies.

Monitor Student Journey

CRM for admissions helps you monitor and capture the entire student journey from the time they first interact with your institute to the time they enroll. With this data, institutes can understand their prospective students better and ensure that an effective and efficient admission process is in place for them.

Read whether you need admission CRM software in 2021 

Top 6 Features Every Admission CRM Software Should Have

Integration & Customizability

There is no one-size-fits-all approach when choosing a CRM. That’s because each institution has different needs based on its target audience, industry, and size. Since adopting CRM is a long-term investment, it is essential to select a solution that is highly customizable and can meet all your present and future requirements. 

It should be able to integrate with leading platforms and systems such as IVR and cloud telephony, and publishers such as Shiksha, Collegedekho, along with website forms and ad channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Google. This way you get a centralized and cohesive solution. With all your sales and marketing teams’ essential tasks in a central location, CRM integration provides one central hub for email marketing, student support, and the process of reaching out to students via call or video to take them towards enrolment.

Often, renowned CRM software integrate well with commonly used tools such as Google Ads, Facebook, and popular ERPs.

List down all the tasks you’d like the software to do for you and accordingly select a solution for your business. 

Student-Centric Collaboration

CRMs for admissions have several key integrations that let counselors provide better experiences to students via different marketing channels. It also promotes collaboration among team members and allows them to handle their daily tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Additionally, CRM should allow users to create reminders that sync with their calendar and set up tasks or assign them to their team members. The CRM should have the capability to save notes, emails, call logs, contact details, and engagement history so that anyone can view the entire lead history.

In addition to task follow-ups, your team members should be able to access CRM from any device (mobile, laptop, tablet) and any location like a career fair, campus drive, etc. Look for a CRM with a mobile app to enable accessibility at all possible times and locations. Effective task management aims to boost productivity and drive enrolments.

Drive More Admissions With Automation

The end goal of a CRM is to automate manually driven workflows that include setting up and sending email and SMS campaigns. Choose an admission crm that offers it as part of the tool to avoid paying those extra hidden charges.

Workflow automation not only automates repetitive tasks by creating if-then rules, but also automatically creates leads from application form submissions, and triggers actions based on changes to a contact.

 It enables your staff to focus on more vital tasks, such as building relationships with students. With manual work left to tech, counselors can save time, be more productive, drive more admissions, and streamline the entire admissions process.

Engage Prospects Through Different Channels

As mentioned earlier, integration is an important factor to consider when choosing a CRM for seamless flow of error-free data, saving time, and maximizing productivity. An admission CRM software that offers key integration can also help your team engage with potential students via different communication channels. It will help you nurture the leads with in-built systems such as calls, emails, videos, SMS, and social media. 

Read: 5 key mediums to engage with prospects during pandemic

 

 

Prioritize Leads With Predictive Analytics

Any reputed CRM software promises to store information in an organized way. However, there is more to it than that. While the collection and storage of information are key, companies should also look for intelligent tools that can understand data and offer decision-making analytics. Artificial Intelligence-enabled tools assist the sales team to prioritize leads by understanding the behavior of your potential students. AI-enabled tools put your data to work and empower you to make data-backed decisions like when to call a lead, what channels to use, and what communication to send. Therefore, be very sure to consider this feature when looking for CRM software.

 

 

Track Marketing Activities

You cannot improve what you cannot measure is a familiar adage, and it holds true when searching for the right admission CRM software. The CRM you choose should have the ability to create various reports such as mail campaign reports, publisher reports, and paid channel reports whenever required. While most solutions should have several reporting templates, it is good to have CRM software that allows users to create customized reports based on various factors such as funnel stage, geography, lead engagement score, etc. The feature of customized reporting helps the higher education institution understand the performance of the entire admission process and make changes accordingly.  

 

Conclusion

Educational institutions face the same problem with information management as businesses. That is why many schools and universities are using admission CRM software to provide personalized experiences to potential students so that they have a flawless experience through the recruitment, application, and enrollment process. It allows your counselors to be more productive and helps them achieve their admission goals while providing ROI-driven insights. Investing in the best CRM software eventually boils down to the features you require to meet your specific goals. However, these features are an absolute must to make the most out of your investment.