The Benefits of CRM in Higher and Further Education
A CRM solution has a key role to play in many aspects of the business operations and student/staff engagement activities of academic institutions
Although most customer relationship data is recorded somewhere, it is usually spread across different departments in an uncoordinated manner and cannot be used to provide accurate and cohesive information. This results in:
- Low administrative efficiency
- Poor customer experience
- Non-existent business benefits
A suitably aligned CRM solution is a fundamental part of this and will deliver benefits at both organisational and operational levels.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 (CRM) provides many significant advantages over competitive CRM systems:
- Is licensed via the Microsoft EES (Campus) Agreement, providing heavily discounted licensing pricing
- Works seamlessly with the full portfolio of Microsoft software products used extensively within the education community including Office productivity tools, Infrastructure products and Collaboration tools
- Offers flexible configuration capabilities to deliver local operating & reporting preferences
- Provides maximum accessibility and availability with Cloud or on-premise deployments, is web-based and browser independent and accessible via an internet connection from a variety of mobile devices
Whilst Microsoft Dynamics delivers a tremendous range of generic CRM functionality straight “out of the box” it is unlikely to have more than a 60% fit with an organisation’s specific operational requirements as it was not developed by Microsoft with any one sector or organisation in mind. Without this close fit user adoption can be poor and the system will fail to deliver the potential benefits available.
So how can Phoenix help you to overcome these challenges?
As the leading Microsoft education LSP we understand the complexities of Microsoft licensing only too well. Our remit is to ensure that all our customers have access to the highest level of support and consultancy services to help them and their end users navigate the most cost effective, productivity efficient and compliant route to procuring and maintaining their software estate.
Microsoft Dynamics Partner, Crimson Consultants is a consultancy and development company working in partnership with Phoenix, which specialises in assisting education institutions implement Microsoft Dynamics to achieve their specific business and/or academic related goals.
The Crimson Dynamics solution builds on Microsoft Dynamics to achieve the closest possible fit with each institution’s particular requirements by means of ready-made, functional Accelerators and a consultative implementation process, known as Crimson Fusion.
A key advantage of its experience within, and focus on the education sector, is that Crimson is aware of sector-wide requirements which all post-16 education institutions have. It has used this knowledge to develop a range of prebuilt customisations and enhanced functionality delivered in the form of Accelerators, which simply plug into the core Microsoft Dynamics system. These include:
- Student Recruitment
- Student Services
- Business Development
- Vacancy Management
- Social Media Integration
- Event Management
- SMS Integration
