Why to Invest in an Education CRM in 2024?

Are you familiar with the idea of investing? Anything under stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodities, or real estate? of course, you do!

Today, people think of investment before they start earning. The idea is simple: don’t let your capital sit idle; cultivate it to thrive and expand.

This same principle applies to your educational institute as well. 

Your capital shouldn’t merely sit there, waiting for growth. It should be strategically invested to compound your profits.

Think about it: you’re already investing in various aspects of your institute, from enhancing infrastructure to retaining talented faculty and organizing events for students.

However, you sometimes tend to ignore a vital department, that is, Admissions. 

Why do Admissions require an Investment?

Before jumping on how an Education CRM can benefit your institute. You need to know why your admissions department requires this investment in the first place.

Any institute’s admissions cell is the most haywire place. 

Conversations between counsellors and admissions heads often sound like this: 

Counsellors: “This lead comes under my region, why is this assigned to you?”

Admissions Head: “I think this one is a duplicate lead.”

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Admissions Head: “Why are there so many incomplete applications in the system?” 

Counsellor: “Some students abandon the form midway through. We’re trying to follow up, but it’s challenging.”
Admissions Head: “Are we sending out reminders?” 

Counsellor: “Yes, but sometimes they slip through the cracks.” 

Admissions Head: “We can’t afford to lose potential students.”
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Counsellor: “I’m having trouble reaching this lead. Their phone seems to be off.” 

Admissions Head: “Have you tried emailing or texting?” 

Counsellor: “Ohh, I missed that!”

 

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Admissions head: “Are we losing out on leads?”

Counsellor: I am not sure, but what happened?

Admissions Head: There is a discrepancy in the total number of conversions Google ads are showing and the total number of leads in the Excel sheets. 

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These are not the ideal conversations they should be having rather they should talk about process optimisation, new channels to follow up on leads, and achieving a more streamlined and efficient admissions process. 

Unfortunately, many institutes struggle with these challenges due to the lack of proper tools and systems in place.

This is where an Education CRM (customer relationship management) system comes into play. 

What is an Education CRM?

An Education CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is a specialized software solution designed to meet the unique needs and challenges of educational institutions. The system serves as a centralized platform to streamline and automate various aspects of student enrollment, and engagement.

 

5 Reasons to Invest in an Education CRM

The overarching objective is twofold:

Firstly to eradicate the complexities highlighted in the aforementioned conversations within your admissions cell.

Secondly to enhance operational efficiency by streamlining the entire admissions process, thereby effectively doubling the efficacy of your counselors and admissions heads.

Now, let’s delve deeper into the intricacies of these rationales.

 

Reason 1: If you are Experiencing Significant Lead Loss 

Are your counsellors spending hours entering lead data in Excel sheets? Is the lead source they enter accurate? Are you sure no leads are missed in this manual operation?

In this competitive landscape of enrollments, every lead counts. 

However, relying on manual methods such as spreadsheets for lead management poses significant risks of lead leakage due to human error and outdated information. 

This can result in missed opportunities and ultimately impact enrollment numbers.

By investing in an education CRM, you can streamline your entire lead management process. The system offers a centralized platform that seamlessly integrates all major lead sources. 

Ranging from websites and social media to email campaigns and external publishers like CollegeDunia, CollegeDekho, and Shiksha, every lead is captured along with its source.

This holistic approach ensures zero lead leakage.

Reason 2: If your Lead Allocation is still a Messy process 

Are conflicts arising among counsellors due to inefficient lead allocation practices? Are you sure you are not missing out on leads while allocation?

Lead allocation is a chaotic process, often resulting in leads falling through the cracks or being mishandled. 

Without a centralized system in place, there’s a risk of duplication or neglect of leads, which can ultimately affect enrollment numbers.

An education CRM streamlines and automates lead allocation by providing a centralized platform where all leads are stored and categorized based on various criteria. 

With automated lead assignment features, education CRMs ensure that every lead is promptly assigned to the appropriate counsellor, based on their workload, expertise, region and other relevant factors. 

This not only improves the overall efficiency of the admissions team but also enhances the quality of interactions with prospective students, leading to higher conversion rates.

Reason 3: If Communication Consistency is still a Struggle 

Do your counsellors have a system in place to ensure timely communication with hot leads? What is the likelihood that your counsellors will maintain a consistent communication trail without forgetting important interactions?

Inconsistent communication with prospective students can significantly impact their perception of your institution and influence their decision-making process. 

Without a centralized system for managing communication, there’s a risk of sending duplicate messages, missing follow-ups, or providing inaccurate information.

Education CRMs offer multiple built-in communication channels such as Emails, WhatsApp, SMS, IVR, and drip marketing options. This enables admissions teams to maintain consistent communication throughout the admissions journey. 

From initial inquiries to enrollment confirmation, counsellors can track all interactions with each lead, ensuring that no communication opportunity is missed.

Reason 4: If Data Analysis is still a Blind Spot 

Do you know the real-time data of source-wise bifurcation of your leads? Or do you have a visual representation of your counsellor’s productivity?

Access to accurate and up-to-date data insights is a must for effective decision-making. Admissions teams often struggle to identify trends, assess performance, or optimize their recruitment strategies.

Education CRMs come equipped with powerful analytics tools that enable you to track key metrics such as lead conversion rates, application trends, and counsellor productivity. 

By visualizing data through customizable dashboards and reports, your teams gain valuable insights into their recruitment efforts and can make data-driven decisions to improve outcomes.

Keynote: A few extraordinary Education CRMs like ExtraaEdge provide you with the analytic builder. Where you can play with different metrics and parameters and create your own reports within a few clicks.  

Reason 5: If Personalisation is still a Problem 

Don’t you prefer being addressed by your name or designation? Well, your prospects feel the same way.

Personalized engagement is key to attracting and retaining prospective students. 

But how to do this without a comprehensive understanding of each lead’s unique needs and preferences? Here comes Education CRM to your rescue. 

Education CRMs enable you to capture detailed information about leads and track their interactions and preferences over time. By leveraging this data, counsellors can personalize their communication and outreach efforts to better address the individual needs and interests of each prospective student.

From personalized email campaigns to targeted messaging based on demographic or behavioural data, education CRMs empower you to create meaningful connections with your students.

A Few Institutes Who Made Successful Investments in an Education CRM 

Indian Institute of Fashion Technology (IIFT) Opted for ExtraaEdge Education CRM and Increased its lead engagement rate up to 83%

Indian Institute of Fashion Technology, one of the premier fashion design colleges in Bangalore, was facing a major issue when it came to lead engagement that resulted in a decrease in admission rates. 

However, after implementing ExtraaEdge CRM software, IIFT was able to achieve a lead engagement rate of 83%.

This was indeed an outstanding number, but it doesn’t end here. The institute was also facing some other admissions-related issues, such as:

• Managing different lead sources
• Tracking the student journey
• Maintaining data 
• Prioritisation of leads
• Complexity in making reports

ExtraaEdge CRM helped them by providing:

• Inbuilt click-to-call to reduce the response time
• Lead score to prioritise leads and send apt communications
• Multi-channel communication to increase follow-ups
• Integration of lead sources to seamlessly manage leads
• Reporting dashboard to have simple and insightful reports on various parameters
• Single window to maintain all the databases

 

Ashoka School of Business chose ExtraaEdge Education CRM and Experience 200% better results  

 “We got 200% better results than last year; ExtraaEdge played a significant role in helping us achieve this,” says Siddramayya, the Branding and Marketing Officer of Ashoka School of Business.

The institute overcame major challenges:

• Lead tracking was chaotic.
• Follow-ups were consistently missed.
• Lack of automation for repetitive tasks.
• Inability to track counsellor productivity.

Solutions Offered by ExtraaEdge:

• Comprehensive lead tracking from entry to conversion.
• Automated reminders and notifications to prevent missed follow-ups.
• Task automation for increased counsellor productivity.
• Counsellor productivity dashboard to track counsellor activities.

Siddramayya affirms, “ExtraaEdge is the core of an effective admissions process, addressing automation, lead tracking, and boosting counsellor productivity.”

 

O2IAS teamed up with ExtraaEdge Education CRM and reduced their overall Lead Drop-out Ratio by 80%

Imagine losing out on 15–20 leads daily. What would it do to your overall admit numbers?
You can’t even imagine, right?

O2 IAS, the top coaching institute for civil services in Chandigarh, was going through it until ExtraaEdge came to the rescue.

With the implementation of ExtraaEdge Education CRM, common phenomena like lead leakage, missing out on leads, and lost follow-ups were completely eliminated.

As a result,

• The overall lead dropout ratio was reduced by 80%.

• The lead-to-conversion ratio increased by 50%.

The co-founder of this leading coaching institute, Santokh Brar, highlighted ExtraaEdge:

• Marketing automation made follow-ups stronger and increased conversion rates.
• The categorisation of leads as per their status and sub-status is now easy.
• Tracking and reporting of counsellors is now a matter of a few clicks.
• Seamless auto-allocation of leads to make the process efficient.

Wrap Up 

In conclusion, investing in an Education CRM in 2024 is not just a strategic move but a necessity for educational institutions striving to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. The challenges faced by admissions departments, from lead management inefficiencies to communication inconsistencies, can significantly impact enrollment numbers and overall success.

The success stories of institutes like the Indian Institute of Fashion Technology, Ashoka School of Business, and O2IAS, which have experienced remarkable results after implementing an Education CRM, serve as compelling evidence of its effectiveness. 

With a CRM solution like ExtraaEdge i.e., tailored to your needs, you can revolutionize your admissions process, strengthen your competitive position, and pave the way for sustainable growth and success in 2024 and beyond.