In today’s fast-paced educational environment, colleges and universities must efficiently manage student data, streamline operations, and provide personalized experiences to attract and retain students. A Higher Education CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is essential in achieving these goals.
Unlike generic CRMs, a purpose-built higher education CRM like Meritto is specifically designed to address the unique challenges and requirements of educational institutions.
This blog explores the importance of such a system, particularly for managing prospective students, and highlights how Meritto’s features make the lives of admissions and counseling teams easier.
What is a higher education CRM?
A Higher Education CRM is a specialized software solution that helps colleges and universities manage and nurture relationships with students, from the initial inquiry through graduation and beyond. It consolidates student data, automates communications, and provides tools to manage the entire student lifecycle, including recruitment, admissions, enrollment, etc. This CRM software for higher education is designed to cater to the specific needs of educational institutions, offering features that streamline operations and enhance the student experience.
Why your college needs a purpose-built higher education CRM
While some institutions use generic sales CRMs to manage their processes, these systems often fall short in meeting the complex and unique needs of higher education. A generic CRM may lack the necessary features to manage student data, track academic history, and handle the intricacies of the enrollment process. In contrast, a purpose-built higher education CRM like Meritto is tailored to the specific demands of colleges and universities.
For example, generic CRMs are often focused on sales pipelines and customer interactions, which don’t fully translate to the educational context. They might require extensive customization to manage student inquiries, and academic records effectively. On the other hand, a higher education CRM is designed with these functions in mind, offering pre-built tools and features that align with the workflows of educational institutions.
How to use Meritto to attract, engage, and enroll students on one platform
Meritto’s higher education CRM offers a suite of features designed to attract, engage, and enroll students efficiently. Here’s how Meritto can help your institution manage prospective students and streamline operations:
- Lead Centralization
- Challenge: Managing leads from various sources can be chaotic and lead to missed opportunities.
- Solution: Meritto centralizes leads from multiple sources—online campaigns, events, referrals—into one platform, ensuring no potential student is overlooked. This makes it easier for admissions teams to manage inquiries and follow up promptly.
- Automated Student Journey
- Challenge: Keeping students engaged throughout the enrollment process requires timely communication.
- Solution: With Meritto’s automated workflows, you can send personalized emails, SMS, and other communications at critical stages of the student journey. This automation ensures that prospective students receive the right information at the right time, enhancing their experience and increasing the likelihood of enrollment.
- 360° Communication
- Challenge: Engaging students and their families across multiple channels can be time-consuming.
- Solution: Meritto’s 360° Communication feature allows your team to manage interactions through email, SMS, WhatsApp, and more—all from within the CRM. This ensures consistent messaging and a seamless experience for students and their families.
- Application Automation
- Challenge: The application process can be overwhelming for both students and admissions teams, especially when managing large volumes of applications.
- Solution: Meritto’s application automation tools streamline the application process by automating form submissions, document verification, and communication with applicants. This reduces manual work for admissions teams and provides students with a smoother application experience.
- Document Verification & Online Authentication
- Challenge: Verifying student documents can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
- Solution: Meritto integrates with Digilocker and other verification platforms to authenticate documents in real time. This feature ensures that only verified documents are processed, speeding up the admissions process and reducing errors.
- Unified Payment Stack
- Challenge: Managing student payments and financial aid can be complex and challenging.
- Solution: Meritto’s unified payment stack allows institutions to offer multiple payment options, track transactions, and automate financial processes. This makes it easier for students to manage their payments and for the finance team to keep track of all transactions.
- Counselor Management Platform
- Challenge: Counselors often struggle to manage their workload and ensure timely follow-ups with students.
- Solution: Meritto’s counselor management tools help streamline task management, prioritize follow-ups, and provide insights into counselor productivity. This ensures that every student inquiry is addressed promptly and effectively.
- Mobile CRM
- Challenge: Admission teams need access to CRM tools on the go.
- Solution: Meritto’s mobile CRM offers full functionality on mobile devices, enabling your team to manage leads, communicate with students, and access important data anytime, anywhere.
Gearing up with the best higher-education CRM – Meritto
As colleges and universities continue to evolve, the need for a robust higher education CRM becomes increasingly apparent. Meritto stands out as the best CRM software for higher education, designed specifically to meet the unique needs of educational institutions. With features that streamline operations, enhance student engagement, and improve the efficiency of admissions and counseling teams, Meritto is the ideal solution for managing your college.
Meritto’s impact is reflected in its accolades:
- 1 Billion student engagements powered on average annually.
- 100 Million inquiries processed on average annually.
- 5 Million applications managed on average annually.
- 50,000 business users across departments and job functions.
- 1,000+ education organizations trust Meritto.
If you’re ready to revolutionize your college’s management and scale enrollments effectively, it’s time to explore what Meritto can do for you. Schedule a demo today to see Meritto in action and discover how it can transform your institution’s operations.
