The value of institution-wide CRM Nicole Engelbert nicole.engelbert@ovum.com CYIT0667 June 5, 2013 1 Copyright Ovum. All rights reserved. Ovum is a subsidiary of Informa plc.
Agenda! Higher education s storm surge brings CRM to the beach! Silencing the buzz, what is institution-wide CRM?! Where is higher education with CRM?! Best practice; laying your own track! The road ahead 2
A storm rages in higher education CRM IS A POWERFUL PADDLE 3
A unique time in the higher education industry! Rapid, random, and radical change will force fundamental change! Fiscal: Higher education business model is no longer sustainable! Political: Public sector support and student/ family tolerance is waning! Demographic: Massive shift towards nontraditional students! Geographic: Globalization and the rise of international universities, and enrollments! Consumerization: Higher education perceived as a service! Democratization: Content ownership models are breaking down rapidly! Technological: Ubiquitous connectivity is driving where consumption occurs! Survival means institutions must reduce costs, increase agility, and improve service 4
Improved service & agility will already rule the day Anytime, anywhere access to services and support The institution never sleeps Availability of services when customers need them most Institutional structures and services match the student experience Hyper-personalization in all communications, content & relationships Beyond everybody knows your name Proactive, timely and tailored Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration Tools, services and approaches that enable the enterprise to connect 5 The ability to change on a dime
The most permanent relationship they ll ever choose Students choose their college or university Cradle to grave Once a diploma is granted is cannot be taken away Often long before arriving on campus Based on logical and emotional factors Four years is an eternity for most industries but not for higher education Is your institution as equally committed to this relationship? Life-long implications One of the largest investments they will ever make Fannie versus Sallie Failing to foster this relationship is a major strategic error 6
Silencing the buzz WHAT IS INSTITUTION- WIDE CRM? 7
CRM is not broadly understood in higher education! Most institutions perceive CRM is a software application for managing departmental transactions this is simply not true KEY DEFINITION CRM is a strategy, often supported by technology, for more effectively managing relationships with key constituency groups, such as prospective students, parents, faculty, staff, employers and/or alumni over, the lifetime of the relationship 8
CRM is a strategy first and a solution second At the end of the day, the best CRM solution for your institution is the one that addresses its unique and changing needs What is your institution s vision for the Pepperdine experience? 1 2 Institutional goals CRM in Higher Education Strategy What does your institution intend to do in order to accomplish its goals? Execution 3 What tools & resources does your institution need in order to accomplish its goals? Only at the execution phase should CRM become a solution. 9
CRM improves the odds for relationship management Empowers institutions to connect through a powerful set of communication channels Captures constituent preferences so that interactions can be targeted and context specific and as a result, more effective Reduces the likelihood of constituents falling through the cracks as workflows can be mapped to ensure a high-quality and consistent experience Enables the institution to make smart resourcing decisions about conducting and managing interactions Creates a permanent and ever more detailed record of interactions it is the 360-degree, LONGITUDINAL view of the constituent s experience Empowers an intentional approach to service delivery 10
The argument for institution-wide CRM Recruitment! The institutional buying/investing decision occurs repeatedly over a student s lifetime IT helpdesk Academics! The myth of the permanent student record! Programmatic, departmental, or institutional boundaries are meaningless Financial aid Advisement! Relationship should strengthen over time Evaluate! Chain is only as strong as its weakest link! Experiences are not mutually exclusive Continuing education Student activities! Coherent and coordinated Use Buy! Too often bait and switch is the unintentional strategy Development Residence life! Strong recruitment, weak retention! Mind the gap after graduation! Undermines long-term efforts Alumni affairs Career services Athletics! What is the unique Pepperdine University experience? 11
State of the Union CRM IN HIGHER EDUCATION 12
Differentiator or mission-critical application? 100% Current and planned usage of CRM in higher education (2012) 80% Percentage of respondents 60% 40% 20% 37.4% 59.3% 72.5% 0% Have now Have in 6 mos Have in 6-24 mos Source: Ovum s Technology Trends CIO Survey 13
CRM adoption is patchy across the institution PROSPECTIVE MATRICULATED ALUMNI/FUNDRAISING INSTITUTIONAL Undergraduate IT helpdesk Donor programs* Employer development Graduate Professional Academic advisement Alumni relations Events/conference Graduate Other Career services Faculty/staff recruitment Continuing education Financial aid Summer/external programs Little coherent or coordinated Physical plant management of institution s highest value services Residence life Instruction Very little adoption Early adopters Growing Strong Well-established adoption Episodic problem solving rather than delivering an intentional, life-long experience 14
Deployment models are largely departmental! Individual departments often own installations! Admissions & alumni affairs! SaaS & reduced need for central IT! Rogue IT! Re-inventing the wheel! Unconnected to communications plan! Not PR plan, but constituent communications! Widespread institutional email epidemic! SIS integration is limited! Deep-integration CRM solutions have not seen significant uptake! Banner Enrollment Management! PeopleSoft CRM for Higher Education! Interactional data rarely persists past application and still less after enrollment! Alumni affairs and buying data 15
Overcoming short-term hurdles for long-term gain CRM BEST PRACTICE 16
The end of the balance beam is institution-wide CRM HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENT LIFECYCLE Deposit Prospect Applicant Admitted Enroll 1 st Declared year Senior paid major Recent graduate 5-year reunion 10-year reunion Major gifts Recruitment Retention Development! Regardless of deployment model, the end goal should be a high-quality and consistent constituent experience for students at every stage of the student lifecycle! While recruitment is shortest period of time, it receives far more attention from institutions! Whereas retention, which is the most impactful period of time and part of the delivery of core services, often receives little or not attention to CRM! Which leads to the need for development staff to reinvigorate or even re-create relationships with constituents 17
CRM deployment models exist on a continuum MODEL APPROACH Low Long-term institutional value Autonomous independent Coordinated independent Centralized Individual departments envision a constituent experience strategy and select a solution independently Addresses political hurdles, but short-term strategy Individual departments coordinate with the university or other, similar departments, often within pre-determined parameters Cost savings but not service improvement decision University creates a comprehensive vision for constituent experience & relationship management, with single solution deployment High Ease of implementation High Short-term difficulties, but long-term reward through reduced costs & higher satisfaction Low 18
Institutions must weigh the pros & cons MODEL POSITIVE NEGATIVE + - Autonomous independent Coordinated independent Centralized! Start small and build on early successes! Encourages field innovation! Captures unique needs! Not starting from a blank canvass! Captures unique needs but avoids chaos! Coherent institutional vision! Creation of best practice & expertise! 360-degree view of constituent experience! Life-long relationship management! Economies of scale for licensing & administration! Costly to maintain admin & licensing! Re-inventing the wheel! Inability to leverage data! Coherent messaging is difficult! May need to start over as interest grows! Inability to leverage data! Coherent messaging is difficult! Less so, but still costly to maintain! May need to start over as interest grows! May stifle short-term innovation! Unique requirements more difficult to support! More upfront investment for initial deployment higher risk! Fewer solution options 19
Single department to institution-wide deployment Undergraduate retention Graduate admissions Other Campaign mgmt Events Campaign mgmt Prospects Undergraduate admissions Other Prospects Events Funnel Comms mgmt IT helpdesk Other Funnel mgmt Campaign mgmt Prospects Comms Events Funnel Comms mgmt Alumni affairs Campaign mgmt Other Funnel mgmt Campaign mgmt Prospects Events Comms And staff in 3 departments told their colleagues in 3 other departments Other Events Campus events Prospects Campaign mgmt Funnel mgmt Comms Other Events Prospects Funnel mgmt Comms 20
Multi-channel is fundamental to institution-wide CRM! Realizing the true value of CRM requires re-envisioning the student experience SMS! Dynamic, personal! Multi-channel communications is standard in the consumer market Social email! Social, voice, text, self-service, mail, in-person, etc.! Channel selection is based on the interplay between content, context, and student preferences Multichannel Selfservice Post! Yet, higher education relies too heavily on an outdated communications model! Postal mail, email and in-person rule the day! Strategy is based on precedent and institutional preferences In-person Telephone 21
Best practice is emergent Develop a vision & strategy Relationship management Service delivery Brand Construct a communications plan Consistent information Cross-departmental Context, context, preferences To interact or not to interact Educate stakeholders Loosening control Not knowing doesn t mean it is not happening Expected outcomes Garner sufficient resources Integrated tools Access to information & data Training Available staff Time horizons 22
Who is owns institution-wide CRM?! It is not IT! Mantra: CRM is a strategy first, solution second! CRM is not a commodity, but a point of differentiation! ORCL, MSFT, SFDC should not determine Pepperdine s unique service experience! It is neither admissions nor alumni affairs! Yes, clear ROI and immediate need! But, they are pitching Pepperdine s service experience! It is cross-departmental & crossconstituent! C-level leadership! Mission, vision, and strategic plan! 3-5 year plan to avoid disjointed incrementalism! CRM craft practice at DePaul University 23
The road ahead Develop the strategy first What is the unique Pepperdine experience? Fools with tools Context, content, preferences Don t underestimate cultural challenges Start small, but plan to scale quickly CRM is not a part-time activity Consistency, consistency, consistency Manage the brand with social Invest in the right tools & solution providers Social is a rapidly evolving technology Vendors need sufficient resources to keep pace Flexibility & agility are crucial 24
Bio and contact information APPENDIX 25
Nicole Engelbert! Nicole Engelbert is the Global Practice Leader for Ovum s Industry Technologies team which produces research and analysis on the usage of technology in the education, government, health sciences, financial services, energy & sustainability and telecoms industries.! Nicole s individual research work focuses on how education institutions use mission-critical applications such as student information systems (SIS), constituent relationship management (CRM) solutions, learning management solutions (LMS) and other verticalspecific technologies to garner efficiencies and improve institutional services. In recently published reports, Nicole has presented a framework for evaluating institutional performance management solutions, conducted a comparative analysis of leading CRM solutions, and offered guidance on the future of software-as-a-service in the higher education industry. Recognized for her work in these areas, Nicole is quoted regularly in publications such as Campus Technology, DestinationCRM, University Business, The Chronicle of Higher Education, EdWeek, T.H.E. Journal, The New York Times, Government VAR, Dow Jones and TechNewsWorld.! Prior to joining Ovum, Nicole was the Vice President of Educational Services at TestU, where she worked with secondary schools to develop programs that used technology and assessment to improve student achievement, as well as led the development of its client reporting systems. Nicole also has experience in higher education, having held leadership positions in admissions and career services.! Nicole holds an MEd from Columbia University and a BA from Union College, where she graduated magna cum laude.! Nicole.Engelbert@ovum.com! http://ovum.com/authors/nicole-engelbert/ 26