Wednesday, March 26th 2008

Patrick Sutton

This morning at the AACRAO conference in Orlando, about 60 registrars, admissions directors and administrators from both public and private universities attended a break out session on the use of the "Constituent" Relationship Management system. A show of hands measured the attendance at around 70/30 public/private.

“I use ‘constituent’ for those of you who still cringe when referring to students as ‘customers’”, quipped the well-versed Kelsey Quiring, Director of Communications & Customer Relations at the University of Minnesota. She went on to explain her views on a public education from the University of Minnesota: “The reality is, a student is paying about $80,000 dollars for an education from the public university system in Minnesota. That student deserves to get the best possible education his money can buy—the student is a consumer. There’s no way around it.”

I waited for the representatives from public universities to leave the room, but no one even blinked. On the contrary, many chuckled or shook their heads in amazement that anyone could think of students as anything but consumers.

Once the conversation was accurately focused on “customer” service and making sure the student feels that his/her money is being well spent, a fascinating presentation took place.

Kelsey explained how schools searching for the perfect student management software recognize that, in order to move to the enterprise level, a seamless connection between back-end platforms like PeopleSoft and front-end platforms like RightNow is imperative.

“From the first inquiry, through attending classes all the way to managing alumni, we’re seeing how important accurate data is.” Kelsey explained how the continuity of the message from the university makes the student feel more comfortable. “The alumni experience is improved drastically when we can do things like…for instance, we saw a music professor was performing at a local venue and we were able to pull a report to see his former students, and call them to let them know that he would be playing.”

As colleges and universities like the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota turn to technology in order to make data-driven and strategic decisions, it is increasingly clear that corporate solutions to customer retention can go a long way to helping colleges and universities deal with these hurdles.

After Kelsey Quiring spoke, Erica Sanders from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor enthusiastically explained how she uses a CRM platform to manage email blasts, marketing campaigns, and even 24/7 student response.

“Students are accustomed to receiving an answer to their text message in seconds” Sanders explained. “What do you think happens when a school takes two weeks to respond?” the audience laughed. “Exactly. The student submits another inquiry, and then a third, and then the parent calls, then we get an email, and finally a fax for good measure.” Sanders didn’t mention the fact that when a student doesn’t receive a message in the first few hours, they are just as likely to be snapped up by a more attentive competitor. The break-out session pointed to the fact that more and more colleges and universities are using CRM tools to make sure that students receive a strong, categorical message that moves them through the enrollment funnel, and ensures constant contact with the student.

It is clear that public and private schools are becoming more open to the data-driven results that corporate solutions provide; along the same lines, they need to leverage this information to make financial decisions. Companies that provide quantifiable pay-for-performance results are well positioned to help academic institutions improve customer-centric relations, as well as maintain or increase profitability.

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