Technology has found its way in everything and education is no different. Educational institutions like Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Edtech Companies like Byjus, PW, and Khan Academy are on a mission to bring education to every nook and cranny.
But, it’s no small feat. Handling interactions with thousands of students daily, keeping track of all the data for smooth operations, and understanding what works and what does not to make informed decisions – are significant challenges.
And you are being held back from achieving your vision because of these obstacles.
That’s why you’re here. This article is about how a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can solve these problems. But before we dive in, let’s first understand what exactly an Edtech CRM is.
What is EdTech CRM?
EdTech CRM (Customer Relationship Management), is a specialized software designed to assist educational institutions and businesses (Online education platforms) in managing and optimizing their interactions with students, parents, and others. It streamlines processes like student engagement, communication, data management, and report generation, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency in the EdTech industry.
We’ll be discussing,
Why does your business need an Edtech CRM?
What are the challenges you are facing right now and how a CRM will help you overcome them?
Metrics to evaluate before getting an Edtech CRM for your business.
The best Edtech CRM software.
Sit back and gain valuable information that is going to help you take your business to the next level.
Why Do Edtech Businesses Need CRM?
In recent times, more and more students are choosing to learn from the comfort of their homes instead of going to colleges or schools. This trend has seen a significant boost, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
EdTech has started to harness the power of technology to make education more engaging, accessible, efficient, and effective to support both students and educators in various learning environments, including schools, colleges, coaching, universities, and online platforms.
You’ll only be able to achieve this aim when you have smoother and more effective operations in your business and for that, you need Edtech or Education CRM software.
Here’s how it can help:
Efficient Communication Support: An EdTech CRM enables you to provide instant support to any student inquiries or queries they are facing. Immediate solution to problems keeps the user happy and build trust that next time they face any issue your team is there to help them. Also, you can effortlessly send updates, reminders, and messages to keep everyone well-informed with a CRM.
Streamlined Data Management: Managing student and staff data becomes easy with a CRM. You can quickly access contact details, addresses, and other essential information whenever you need it.
- Effortless Report Generation: Generating reports on various aspects with a CRM for educational institutions becomes a simple task. Whether it’s tracking monthly expenses, monitoring revenue, or reviewing the number of enrolled students, you can generate accurate and comprehensive reports.
Let’s now see these problems in more detail and how the CRM platform solves them.
Challenges Faced By EdTech Companies and How CRM will help overcome them
Consider business as a finely tuned machine. If any part of this machine isn’t working correctly, it can either slow down your progress or bring it to a complete halt. This might be precisely what’s happening with your EdTech business right now.
For instance, you are in charge of communications, you constantly handle inquiries and follow up with prospects. But if you are not able to connect with people who have shown interest in your business, there is a very high chance you are going to lose them to your competitors.
To ensure your EdTech business not only survives but thrives, you must identify and fix problems before they become too big to handle and bring your business to the ground.
I’ll be listing down some of the major problems you’re likely dealing with right now and how a CRM could be the solution you’ve been searching for.
Pro Tip: You can also check CRM for Higher Education if you own a college or University
Data Management Challenges
Managing data can be tough for any business, especially in Edtech companies. There’s a ton of information to handle, like user or student details, teachers, and staff data. It’s a big job, and you keep this data in different places, like on your website’s backend or in Excel/Google Sheets, depending on where you have it stored.
The frustration of sorting through all this data without a clear plan is unimaginable. – it’s like having pieces from different jigsaw puzzles, and you’re not sure which piece fits where.
In Edtech, data comes in from all sorts of places – student registrations, website sign-ups, user interactions, and more.
With CRM software, you have all that data neatly organized into categories. It arranges student information, course details, and user interactions into easily accessible folders. This results in access to data in a systematic manner and less time consumed than it was before in juggling between multiple platforms or applications.
No more getting lost in the data; everything is well-organized and at your fingertips. This means you can work with data efficiently, like putting together a puzzle with all the right pieces in the right places.
This issue is the most common with colleges and universities as they have a huge amount of data to handle. So it’s best if you get a CRM for Colleges and Universities
Communication and Support
When it comes to using Edtech platforms, sometimes things get tricky. Imagine a user is not able to watch a specific video in their course on your platform. They’ve been trying to contact your customer support team for help, but the support team is overwhelmed with lots of questions at that moment, so they can’t figure out who needs what assistance.
This is causing delays in helping the user, which can make them unhappy with your institution’s services.
Plus, when lots of people ask for help, it can be a real challenge to keep up and make sure everyone’s happy.
When people can’t get the help they need or their questions answered, it frustrates them. This frustration might make them not want to use your platform anymore, and they might even consider switching to your competitors instead. You need to make sure this doesn’t happen and that every user has a great experience with your platform.
With CRM software, you get inquiries properly and systematically, allowing you to quickly understand the issue and solve them immediately. It allows you to create a workflow so the support caller is automatically assigned to the student or sends messages to answer common questions instantly reducing the response time significantly.
Plus, you send personalized messages to users based on what you know about them and what they want, making their experience better.
This info helps you make calculative and data-driven choices and keeps your users satisfied.
Pro Tip: If you run a school, you should get a specific CRM for schools to manage communication and other processes smoothly.
Reporting Complexities
You need to constantly evaluate multiple operations within your business to check how are they doing. It could be anything from course effectiveness, revenue generated, team performance, or technical performance of your Edtech platform. For that, you need Reports, without reports you cannot evaluate what is working and what is not.
Let’s say you want to check your sales team’s effectiveness or caller’s performance to be specific because it’s not just about having a sales team in place; it’s about making sure they are working efficiently and growing your business.
Here’s the tricky part: For that you need to know, Are the callers connecting with enough prospects in a day? Is the call’s duration sufficient? And perhaps most importantly, the quality of the interaction; are they communicating properly and solving the concerns and queries of the prospects?
These are vital questions and to answer them, you need comprehensive reports.
But gathering all this data, and generating accurate reports is just not possible manually every single time.
For this, you need CRM software, which will provide you with reports on your sales team’s calling activities. You can track the number of calls made, the duration of each call, and the quality of interactions. It’s like having a magnifying glass on their performance – you’ll know if they’re delivering or falling behind.
With these detailed sales reports, you can spot trends, identify areas for improvement, and ensure your admin staff is working efficiently. It’s all about empowering your team to excel and guiding your institution toward growth.
This helps you make your platform better, and it shows people that you care about their input.
Key Factors to Consider When Evaluating a CRM Before Purchase
When considering an Edtech CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, you need to choose wisely. It’s a bit like shopping for a new gadget. You want to make sure it’s worth the price, easy to use, can work with other tools you have, and should be something that fits your needs.
Here’s why it’s essential: if you pick the wrong CRM software, it could cost you more money than it’s worth. Plus, if it’s too complicated to use, your team will struggle with it. And if it doesn’t play well with your existing tools, you could end up with a bunch of disconnected systems.
Finally, if you can’t customize it to match your specific requirements, you might feel stuck with a one-size-fits-all solution.
So, here are the key features to look for:
Cost-effective:
You want a CRM platform that gives you good value for your money. Don’t go for a lower-cost CRM, if it doesn’t provide the necessary features and support you require. It’s important to focus on the budget, but the primary concern should be on the value that it is providing. Look for transparent pricing with no hidden fees.
User-friendly:
Your team should be able to use it without being tech experts. A simple, easy-to-navigate interface is a big plus. Training your team should be straightforward, and it should not require weeks of intensive training.
Provides Integrations:
It should be able to connect with other tools you use, like email, Google Sheets, Excel, and any other software that you are using. This way, all your systems can work together seamlessly. You get all the data in a single application. Check for a CRM platform that offers a wide range of integrations or has an open API for custom integrations.
Customizability:
The CRM software should be like a well-tailored suit. You can tweak it to fit your unique business needs, so you’re not stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach. Look for a CRM platform that allows you to customize fields, workflows, and reports to match your specific business processes.
The Best Edtech CRM Software: TeleCRM
TeleCRM is the leading mobile and WhatsApp-based Telecalling CRM in India. Originally designed as a sim-based Telecalling software for small and medium businesses, TeleCRM has evolved into much more.
Packed with exceptional sales automation features such as auto-dialer, follow-ups, call recording, and seamless integration with various tools.
TeleCRM is a user-friendly CRM platform that perfectly suits educational institutions. Whether you run a college, university, school, or online learning platform.
Let’s explore how TeleCRM stands out as one of the best CRMs for Edtech in the market.
Data From Everywhere in a Centralised Hub
Seamless Data Integration
TeleCRM serves as a centralized hub where data from various sources seamlessly converges. It effortlessly integrates with the tools and platforms you depend on, such as Mailchimp, Shiksha, Razaorpay, and even your website’s backend.
This means that data from multiple touchpoints, including student registrations, user interactions, fee portals, and more, can be efficiently managed and accessed from a single interface.
Real-Time Data Accessibility:
With TeleCRM, there’s no need to waste time switching between different systems or digging through spreadsheets. All the data you require is at your fingertips in real time. Whether you’re checking student enrollment, tracking user interactions, or monitoring the effectiveness of your campaigns, you can access the latest information instantly.
Enhanced Data Accuracy:
Managing data manually can lead to errors and inconsistencies like entering data into registers or spreadsheets, which can have a negative impact on decision-making. TeleCRM automates data entry and management processes (Allows Bulk Import from Excel and integration with Google Sheets), significantly reducing the risk of human error. This ensures that the data you rely on for reports, analysis, and decision-making is accurate and up-to-date.
TeleCRM is pocket-friendly
Other CRMs offer different pricing plans according to the features they provide. With TeleCRM you don’t have to worry about that.
TeleCRM simplifies this by offering one complete plan that includes all the features and customization you need, and it comes at a reasonable price. You can choose between two commitment options: an annual plan or a quarterly plan, both offering the same features. It’s your choice whether you want a longer-term or shorter-term commitment.
Boost your Tele-calling team’s efficiency
Telecalling is a critical aspect of the EdTech industry, where effective communication with your students and prospects is essential. TeleCRM offers dedicated Tele-calling features to streamline communication for your EdTech business:
Click To Call From Web: With just a click on a website, your team can instantly call someone, and the call instantly gets connected on their phone without needing to switch to a mobile app. This makes it easier to make calls and close deals quickly without any hassle.
Automatic Call Recording: All calls are automatically recorded. This helps in training, issue resolution records, and performance tracking tools. You can listen to recordings to evaluate performance and even use them as proof in case of any dispute.
Efficient Call Handling: Your Tele-calling team can efficiently manage inquiries, provide support, and connect with more prospects than before by accessing the lead history section in the TeleCRM system.
Mobile Accessibility: TeleCRM offers mobile usability, allowing you to access essential information about anyone from anywhere. This feature provides flexibility and accessibility, enabling Edtech company’s management to stay connected and work efficiently, even on the go.
Better Engagements and Conversions with WhatsApp API
WhatsApp is more than just a messaging app; it’s a dynamic communication tool, and TeleCRM supercharges its capabilities to benefit your educational institution.
Let’s see how TeleCRM seamlessly integrates with WhatsApp and simplifies critical tasks:
Personalized Messaging
With TeleCRM, you can send personalized WhatsApp messages to each lead with a single click, all without needing to save their number in your phone book. Tailoring your messages to each individual builds a stronger connection and engagement.
Continuous Engagement
Education never sleeps, and neither should your communication. TeleCRM allows you to set up WhatsApp automation and chatbots, ensuring you stay connected with leads even outside business hours. It’s like having a virtual assistant who works around the clock to keep your prospects engaged.
Effortless Lead Capture
TeleCRM makes capturing leads on WhatsApp easy. It automatically collects leads from your WhatsApp chats, so you never miss out on an opportunity.
With TeleCRM, all your WhatsApp conversations are stored in one place, making it simple to access your chat history. No more searching through countless messages to find important information – it’s right there when you need it.
Scale Your Communication
Sending bulk messages to multiple leads simultaneously is a breeze with TeleCRM’s WhatsApp API integration. This feature allows you to efficiently reach a broader audience, making scaling your communication efforts a walk in the park.
Follow-ups with the task feature of TeleCRM
Follow-ups are super important for EdTech companies. TeleCRM understands this and has your back. It allows you to set reminders not just for yourself but for other members of the team, so your team never forgets those important follow-up calls. Not just that, you can even prioritize your follow-ups such as P1, P2, and P3.
So that you never miss interacting with the hottest prospects. You can just set it and forget it. TeleCRM will send a notification on the mobile app and even a WhatsApp message to you when it’s time to make that call. This means no more missed opportunities and more prospects are converted into customers.
Additionally, with the Task management feature, you can check whether your team members are following up on time or not.
Not just that, there is more. You can even view tasks for Today, yesterday, tomorrow, this week, last month, and up to the date you started using TeleCRM. You can check by the name of the assignee, what is the priority of the task, who created the task, and when was it created.
Customization capabilities like no one
EdTech business strategies are unique, you have workflows and processes that are yours and don’t have to be the same in a CRM platform. TeleCRM is for you, that’s why it lets you customize things that matter the most to you.
Custom Lead Fields
TeleCRM allows you to create custom lead fields to capture any information relevant to your sales process. Whether you need to track specific student details, course preferences, or other unique data points, you can define custom fields to ensure no important information is overlooked.
Custom Lead Status
To effectively manage your leads throughout the sales process, you can create custom lead statuses. This enables you to categorize leads as “Hot,” “Cold,” “Just Curious,” “Closed,” or any other classification that aligns with your business’s sales pipeline. Custom lead statuses help you prioritize and target leads based on their stage in the sales cycle.
Workflow Automation
Say goodbye to repetitive and time-consuming tasks. TeleCRM offers unlimited workflow automation, allowing you to automate various aspects of your business operations. For example, you can automate follow-up emails, lead assignments, and other routine tasks, freeing up your team’s time for more strategic activities.
Team Configuration
Modify the roles and responsibilities of your sales team directly within the application. For instance, you can change a salesperson’s role to that of a manager or admin, granting different levels of access and control.
This feature allows you to give access to only people with authority, new callers can only check leads assigned to them and cannot access any other details or other caller’s lead info. This helps in keeping valuable info safe and boosts privacy and security.
Additionally, you can reassign leads and adjust lead distribution ratios among your team members as needed. If there is an important lead and it’s assigned to a newbie, but you want your most experienced caller to handle it, you can easily reassign it to them and close their business.
This customization means TeleCRM adapts to your business, not the other way around.
Efficient lead management with Filters and Labels
Explore more with TeleCRM! After making the most of TeleCRM’s features – from capturing leads to assigning them to specific callers to automating repetitive tasks. You have done all this, but what next? You need to have a holistic view of each and every lead you are getting for your business and know how are they doing? and what the lead source is and which lead source is performing well. When was the lead captured? What is the status of the lead? Who is it assigned to? etc.
You can do all this with TeleCRM lead filters. You can create dynamic filters and labels based on various parameters, create a filter to check how many leads you got in the past week or month, how many of them were converted to customers, how many leads a particular caller is handling and so much more.
This feature simplifies lead management and helps in keeping track of almost everything.
Conclusion
By now you know why CRM software is important for your Edtech business and how it will help you expand your business multifolds. You need a CRM for education consultancy, college, coaching, or whatever your Edtech business is, to make your processes smoother and more efficient because running a business is no easy task and you should have all the help you can get.
EdTech CRM, especially TeleCRM, offers a lifeline. It enhances student engagement, streamlines communication, simplifies data management and generates concrete reports.
It’s the tool that not only addresses problems but turns them into opportunities for growth.
With TeleCRM, you can:
Effortlessly communicate with prospective and enrolled students.
Seamlessly manage student and staff data.
Generate comprehensive reports for data-driven decisions.
Ready to take your EdTech business to the next level?
Book a demo today and experience the transformational power of TeleCRM!
Empower your EdTech journey with TeleCRM – Your Smart EdTech CRM Software!