Officer handles 8,000 student enquiries

The Student CRM Enquiries app is powerful and robust.In fact, one of our university clients has appointed just one person in their team to answer ALL student enquiries.

One day during their busiest period (including during clearing and Freshers' Week) this user responded to 167 enquiries in one day alone and has resolved almost 8,000 student enquiries to date. Instead of appointing a whole team to handle enquiries to date, just one person and one app can manage this area making the Enquiries app a highly valuable conversion tool.

The Enquiries app makes it simple to respond to student questions with a pre-populated template of answers, allowing you to expand upon and personalise the response as necessary, complete with your branding. All enquiries are stored in the central Student CRM and logged against each student for all users to see, so no more fragmented conversations stored across multiple inboxes.  Packed with other time-saving features this app makes the efficient handling of enquiries a pleasurable task.

By adding FAQs into the Q&A app the CRM learns and gets smarter each time, almost becoming a member of your team! Our Enquiries app really is the unsung hero!

Click here to see the Enquiries App.

5 steps to recruiting more students with Student CRM

There are so many higher education institutions for students to choose from.  To make your establishment stand out when marketing your university you need to leverage the digital recruitment tools in Student CRM.

Student CRM is a flexible student recruitment solution which works extremely well for UK-based universities and colleges to manage students' pre-enrolment. Not only are there 21 picks and mix apps to choose from to build the framework for recruitment activities, but also our team fully implements your CRM and provides full face to face training so that your users can get the most from your investment.

Follow these 5 steps and improve your student recruitment:

1. Capture details at events

At each recruitment event collect students' details and analyse which events have given you the most traffic. Mobile Event Capture is one of our most popular and easy to use apps, giving recruitment teams a professional (and Data Protection compliant) way of collecting student data and automatically marketing to attendees as soon as the event is over.

2. Target specific groups of students

Segment your students using the Student CRM Grab app to filter your data and take a more targeted approach rather than simply bulk marketing to your entire list. Research also shows that personalised communications are more likely to be read than a generic salutation.

3. Open Days are your best recruitment tool

Open Days are a great source of letting prospective students get a feel for studying with you. Make sure you make the most of it and offer them a full day of activities. The Applicant Open Day app allows students to build their own personalised programme of events for the day, including registration and campus tours, faculty presentations, course talks and other scheduled items you're putting on throughout the day.

4. Use enquiries to build a relationship

Naturally you'll receive an influx of questions from students wanting to know about various courses, sandwich years, distance from halls, tuition fees and more. Our Enquiries app allows you to handle each enquiry centrally within Student CRM to build an online relationship and allowing a fast response time to students.

One of our users has responded to 8,000 enquiries through this app - it really can handle it all!

5. Manage your student applications

Using our Applications app, prospective students can apply directly through your website allowing you full control over each applicant, updating them at each stage of the recruitment process.

If you'd like to see how Student CRM does this and far more,  just click here and we'll be in touch.

Imperial College London rises 4 places in the league tables

Congratulations to our client Imperial College London who have risen to 5th position (2015) from 9th position (2014) in the Guardian University league tables.

Imperial College London contacted Data Harvesting towards the end of last year looking to implement a system which would help them expand their reputation for excellence in research and teaching to their engagement with prospective students.

Imperial launched their first Student CRM app (Pre-Applicant Open Days) in April this year to manage online bookings for their extremely popular Open Days.

Since this time, Data Harvesting has successfully implemented a number of other apps to support their student recruitment activities so Imperial can continue to attract the very best students worldwide. This includes managing interactions with prospective students by capturing data using the Mobile Event Capture app at recruitment events and developing a series of marketing communications.

99% positive client satisfaction rating

Our live customer satisfaction rating currently stands at 99% which is 13% above the software industry average. Our Love-o-meter automatically pulls in the very latest ratings from our users every hour for all the world to see.

Users of Student CRM have 3 ways of contacting the Customer Support team - by logging a ticket from directly within the CRM, by picking up the phone and calling the VIP support number to speak to one of our student recruitment geniuses, and by sending an email to our VIP address.

Student CRM users can be confident that they'll have access to our experts. Here's some proof that we've got your back as and when you need us:

"I'm really impressed with the service delivery, you are responding in a timely way to all of our requests. Thank you for that."

"The Customer Services team really understands our business processes and workflows and are able to respond with a solution to our problem when required."

"Over the past six years, we have transformed our student recruitment processes thanks to Data Harvesting’s team."

"Tom was really helpful & returned my call with a solution, which was great. It's really useful to have the help from Data Harvesting at the end of a telephone. Thank you for your help!"

"Data Harvesting’s knowledge of the different educational sectors has made them leading experts in developing a bespoke online admissions system."

"Data Harvesting’s support is excellent. Our staff can pick up the phone and always speak to someone who knows how to help us."

International student mobility

More than 4.3 million international students are in higher and further education across the world.

According to the latest UCAS statistics from the June application submissions in the UK, there were 544,580 applicants from the UK, 45,380 from other EU countries and 69,060 from countries outside the EU.

The British Council has created a data visualisation graphic to analyse international student mobility across the world over the last 18 years.

Click here to view the data visualisation

UK outbound

In 2011, just over 28,000 British students left the UK to choose to study abroad, with an additional 12,833 on Erasmus study and work placements.

The US and Australia have always consistently been popular choices, with Malaysia, South Africa and Cyprus becoming popular places of study from 2011 onwards.

UK inbound

As the Indian and Chinese economies continue to grow, more students from these countries choose to study in the UK. In 2012, the UK welcomed almost 432,000 international students with the majority (80,225) coming from China.

In 2010 more countries announced recruitment targets to encourage universities to attract more international students which increased the boom in the number of students entering other countries to study.

Are you ready to recruit more international students?

With the increase in international student study, it's important to have internal systems such as an effective CRM in place to attract, recruit and retain these international students as well as continuing to attract domestic students.

Student CRM has proven to increase conversion rates for international students. Click here to request more information on student recruitment.

University applications rise 4% in the UK

According to an article this week by the BBC, a record number of students have been accepted onto university courses this Autumn.

By the end of June 2014, 659,030 students had submitted applications which is a 4% increase on last year.

Director of Fair Access to Higher Education Professor Les Ebdon said:

"These figures are excellent news. Applicants are clearly recognising the advantages of higher education and are embarking on a potentially life-changing journey. At the same time, our economy and society will continue to benefit from a consistent supply of highly-qualified graduates."

With more students than ever to manage through the enrolment process it makes sense for recruitment teams to have systems in place to cope with the increase in demand.

Student recruitment software such as Student CRM can simplify the application process and alleviate stress and demand on key members of staff by automating communications, helping them to edit and send offer letters, create a document history, add conditions, refer the applicant for a second opinion and generating real-time status reports within one central point.

The Student CRM Applications app is hugely popular with universities and colleges as it is the only truly integrated online applications service of its kind available to HE and FE institutions in the country.

Each application can be categorised and progressed based on different conditions throughout the application cycle. Automatic touch-points keep the applicant updated meaning that processing applications has never been easier.

University College Birmingham recently experienced a 20% increase in their applications due to using our Applications app to manage new students.

The BBC article can be read here.

Save valuable time with Student CRM

Student CRM is a game-changer in the world of student recruitment. Recruitment teams love how it saves them time, reduces admin and makes them far more effective when marketing to students - from initial enquiry through to enrolment.

Move faster and get better results

Segmentation and targeting in a couple of clicks

Recruitment and marketing teams need to select specific groups of students to segment and target in specific campaigns.

The Grab function allows teams to search and filter through various different search criteria within a few clicks, and start marketing to those students.

Automated touchpoints to keep in touch with students

Your recruitment teams can be safe in the knowledge that even when they're not at work, the pre-scheduled touchpoints can be working for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by marketing your university or college to prospective students.

Prospectus requests are automatically fulfilled and student interactions are all stored in one central place which forms the foundation for all recruitment activities.

Personalised communications makes stronger marketing materials

Sending personalised texts, emails and printed material from within Student CRM to prospective students is highly effective and is part of the automated process, effortlessly pulling in names from the student database and merging into communications.

Open day ease

There's no need to race against the clock. Organising open days becomes an efficient set of tasks leading up to your open day season.

Follow up emails after open days can be planned in advance, so you only have to do it once for it to take effect for all future students within Student CRM.

Students who attended can receive a "Thank you for attending our open day" email, whereas non-attendees can automatically receive a "Sorry we didn't get to meet you today. Would you like to book onto another open day?" email, without you needing to touch a button.

One of our users recently commented:

"I'm already falling in love with the system. My admin is so minimal for students, enabling me to have a quicker response rate."

Another university stated:

"Time spent administering the open day has been reduced and all KPIs have been documented and recorded in the Student CRM for us to measure subsequent open days against."

It's all about YOU

We're all about relationships. If it wasn't for our users then we wouldn't be here. Which is why we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. We're driven by YOU, our customers.

Once you become a customer of Data Harvesting (or a VIP as we like to call you) then you'll be able to access all areas. You'll have the ability to submit a feature request for us to potentially build into the system in the future.

[quote]Good software NEVER stands still.[/quote]

We'll review your feature request, and if it's successful, it'll get put to the vote - all users can vote towards the feature request which they'd most like to see within Student CRM. We're all in this together. Afterall, you're the people who use it on a daily basis!

We want to work with you to make Student CRM EVEN better than it already is, whether you've got a snazzy new idea for an app or would like an extra button in one of the apps to make life easier, quicker, faster or more efficient... It's all about making your life as a user, much easier to do what you do best - recruit your students. Users are recognised for ideas which make the final grade, and get a little bit famous.

We've constantly got people knocking at the DH:HQ doors to become part of our top secret community; see our roadmap for the future and become a VIP to contribute towards the success of Student CRM.

Our product is going wherever the users want to take it. You provide the very best ideas, and we'll provide the developers.

We're yours.

Open Days - your top student recruitment activity?

According to a recent article in The Guardian, universities are becoming more creative in how they recruit prospective students. They are allocating a bigger proportion of their budgets to marketing open days, engaging with students, social media promotion and making websites more interactive.

This CRM will boost your open days

An increasing number of universities are investing in a CRM to manage their student recruitment, moving away from traditional marketing methods such as national press advertising, and concentrating on a more targeted and personalised approach. A great CRM (ours is great) can really empower marketing and recruitment teams to reach out to prospective students. Demonstrate your University's value proposition, increase engagement, focus on conversions, measure effectiveness, and build a database of students rich with vital marketing information to help you make smart marketing decisions.

84% of universities surveyed said that their website was a successful marketing tool to attract students to open days. Data Harvesting can add an Open Days booking form to your website that easily captures student data and feeds directly into your Student CRM for efficient open days management, allowing you to communicate with these students regularly leading up to the day. 

Universities using Student CRM can segment specific groups of students and send marketing communications to engage those students via email, SMS text, postal letters, postcards and labels effortlessly from within the CRM.

By supporting your digital recruitment campaign with Student CRM, more students are likely to choose to study with you.

• Market to your students with Student CRM

• Keep students interested by using Student CRM

• Recruit more students with Student CRM

Scottish universities to boost their profile overseas

According to an article released this week, Scottish universities have launched a new campaign to target some of the world's emerging nations to promote the distinctive qualities of Scottish universities to Brazil, China, Malaysia, Mexico and Columbia.

Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, welcomed the initiative; "Scotland's higher education institutes are already internationally recognised and they are increasingly collaborating to harness global opportunities and to promote our exceptional higher education assets overseas."

According to Professor Sir Ian Diamond, convener of Universities Scotland's international committee, internationalisation has brought huge benefits to staff and students. The new initiative is set to promote the unique identity and differences in the higher education provision within Scotland as their competitive advantage to gaining more international students.

Student CRM makes the process simpler for recruiting international students, giving recruitment teams the ability to market and target students in these emerging countries.

University College Birmingham (UCB) has just increased their number of international applications by 20% due to using CRM to manage their recruitment activities. 

The sky's the limit

After hours last night, ten of us popped down to the beach at Sandbanks for our crazy golf tournament, followed by cocktails and burgers.

Somewhere between crazy golf and the restaurant, Tom, Alex and Andrea challenged each other to some aerial acrobatics. After scaling the summit first, Alex headed off for a winning drink whilst Tom switched into hands-free mode.

Work hard, play hard. Very Data Harvesting.

Coventry University moves into UK top 30

Congratulations to our long-standing client, Coventry University, for continuing their rise up the University League tables, for the 4th year in a row.

We were pleased to read an article this week announcing they're now in the top 30 UK-based universities in the Guardian University League Table 2015, rising 6 places to 27th.

Well done to Coventry University.

UCB sees a 20% increase in applications

Simon Chatterton, Director of Admissions at University College Birmingham (UCB) has used Student CRM to manage their student recruitment for the past six years.

“Data Harvesting’s knowledge of the different educational sectors has made them leading experts in developing a bespoke online admissions system and the natural choice for UCB to develop its online admissions systems with. They have developed a simple and easy to use online admissions systems for FE, part time and international applicants which has seen our applications to all these areas increase by 20%.

Linking the Student CRM’s pre applicant data with applied data means we now have an incredibly powerful tool to engage with our students, aiding retention and increasing conversion for all applications to UCB."

Click here to read more about the Applications app.

Waving the flag for international students

To celebrate this week's kick-off for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brasil, we're focusing on the importance of international student recruitment.

Out of the £17 billion generated by universities each year, £10 billion of that comes from overseas students which makes international student recruitment a booming part of any university's student recruitment. This equates to more than 488,000 international students with the British Council predicting this will increase by 25% within the next ten years.

With the rising number of international students, Student CRM can make the student journey simpler for recruitment teams, and seamless for students.

Capturing student data is invaluable for international recruitment teams with the first interaction likely to be at a recruitment fair.

Our Mobile Event Capture app is instrumental in starting the international recruitment journey as students use an iPad to type their details directly into the app, which later syncs with the CRM and triggers the touchpoints and ongoing targeted communication with those students. With recruitment teams traveling the world collecting student details, speed and accuracy is key.

Many of our clients also benefit from having a specific Application form on their website dedicated to international students who wish to apply, and filtering directly into the Applications app in the CRM.

Check out how Applications could enhance your international student recruitment and improve the way you collect data with Mobile Event Capture.

All things British

Being based in the UK is excellent news for universities looking for a CRM to manage their domestic and international student recruitment. Our 5 star UK-based Customer Service and Support is invaluable (just ask any of our customers). They're able to get hold of us during THEIR working day, at any time THEY wish using a method which is convenient to THEM.

We're here during YOUR working hours, so if you would like to ask a question or require technical support, you simply log a ticket or pick up the phone and speak to one of our student recruitment experts.

It makes perfect sense - you're based in the UK, we're based in the UK.

As Student CRM was born and bred in the UK, we thought we'd list our top 10 for 'all things British'.

1. The Royal Family

Being British, we're a fan of The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family. There's nothing better than celebrating the Diamond Jubilee, the birth of the Royal Baby, visiting Buckingham Palace and generally waving the flag for Great Britain.

2. Afternoon tea

Everyone loves scones, jam, clotted cream, finger sandwiches, fancy cakes and a pot of tea.

When you come to Data Harvesting in Poole for your Student CRM training, we'll treat you to a delicious British afternoon tea. Is it cream THEN jam, or jam THEN cream? And is is scones (sc-owns) or scones (sc-ons)?

3. The best beaches

Compared to the rest of the UK, our beaches down on the South coast are second to none. We have three and a half miles of beautiful sandy beaches stretching the coastline of Bournemouth and Poole with a number of them achieving the prestigious Blue Flag status.

4. The Mini

The Mini is considered a great British icon of the 1960s.

Between 1959 and 2000, 5,387,862 Minis had been manufactured, making it by far the most popular British car ever made. Rule, Britannia!

Staying true to our country, more than half of the Data Harvesting team owns a Mini (albeit one of the new designs).

5. The Beatles

Widely known as one of the greatest and most influential bands in the rock era and lead the British invasion of the US pop market.

They have sold over 600 million records worldwide.

6. The London 2012 Olympics

We proudly hosted the 2012 Olympics, and what a great job we did too! From the performances at the Opening Ceremony to the sporting champions, we have no doubt about it, we were BRILLIANT!

Great Britain won a total of 29 gold medals, 17 silver medals and 19 bronze.

7. The iconic telephone box

The red telephone box has become an iconic British symbol, becoming increasingly rare and popular since the launch of mobile phones. It was introduced in 1920 and was labelled the K1 (Kiosk No. 1) and was followed shortly afterwards by K2, K3, K4, K5 and K6 as the model developed.

For those who don't know, Student CRM is easily accessible by desktop computer, tablet or smartphone. Unfortunately it's not available via the traditional phone box.

8. London red bus

Much like the red telephone box, the London red bus has become an iconic British symbol for transport. And why the colour red? Before 1907 buses were painted different colours to signify their route. Due to fierce competition it was decided that red was the brightest colour to attract attention. (We disagree, we think lime green is the brightest, hence why everything we own is now lime green!)

9. Wimbledon

Every year we look forward to Wimbledon (along with the Pimm's, strawberries and cream of course). There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly cut grass and a warm Summer's day.

It's known as one of the most expensive sporting events around the world.

10. Marmite

Love it or hate it, the popular spreadable yeast extract is a wholly British product sold worldwide. It was developed in Staffordshire in the 1920s and has been hugely popular ever since.

Student CRM is another great British icon which is homegrown in the UK. Click here to apply for your free demo.

* Just to clarify, Student CRM are fans of all of the above products, places and people, but are not endorsed by them.

Why are we the UK's favourite?

Here's a short video outlining why we're the UK's most loved student recruitment solution for universities across the UK.

So relax, sit back with a cuppa and read about how we can be your new best friend - encouraging more students to choose YOU, analysing your recruitment activities in each app, increasing your conversion rate and improving your marketing to students.

If you like what you see then we can send one of our team to meet your key stakeholders and show you our Student CRM in action. Just click here to request your free appointment.

11 questions about Student CRM

So you think you'd like a CRM?

You've got the questions, we've got the answers. Learn all about the benefits of implementing Student CRM in your university to increase your conversion rate and improve the student journey. We can make YOU look GREAT!

Here's a series of FAQs that we're sometimes asked.

Q. Who is it for?

Student CRM is for universities - more specifically recruitment, admissions and marketing teams within a HE or FE establishment in the UK.

Q. What does it do?

Student CRM helps with managing your online open day bookings, managing online enquiries, capturing student data, online prospectus requests and everything else in between. It tracks the activity and engagement with students (both international and domestic) pre-enrolment. It helps you to market your university to prospective students with email, post and SMS texts, recording the activity at each stage of the recruitment cycle.

Q. Where did Student CRM come from?

It's our very own solution and was built right here in Poole, Dorset. We have been in this industry since 2000 and have many happy clients around the UK. It's the UK's most loved student recruitment solution and we pride ourselves on our super Customer Support. Our satisfaction rating varies from 97% to 100% each month (the industry average is only 86%).

Q. Does your CRM integrate with our existing internal systems?

The short answer is YES.

Q. What's an app?

An app deals with one area of student recruitment activity. We have 21 apps in total for you to pick and mix.

These apps run in the CRM in a web browser on your PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone. We do also have a true native App - Mobile Event Capture - which runs on iOS devices (iPads).

Q. What if our university doesn't need all 21 apps?

You just buy the apps which you need. You can always add more apps later if you want.

Q. What about set up? I've heard with some CRMs we buy the product, then it's over to us to set it up and make it work.

We do all the set up for you and get you up and running, taking you through each stage of a Student CRM implementation in plain English, with us doing all the hard work for you.

Q. How quickly can we start using it?

That all depends on the speed of getting your requirements to us, the speed of decision making from your key stakeholders, and sometimes it's even down to who in your team is overseas at the time! A straightforward Student CRM can usually be set up in between 6 and 10 weeks, but some take longer.

Q. Do we get any training?

Yes, we'll train you face to face. Either we'll come to you or you can come to us (everyone loves a visit to sunny Poole, particularly in the summer). And we'll show your Super Users exactly how to use the CRM like a professional. We can even train you remotely by screen sharing if you like.

Q. Will Student CRM generate a good ROI?

Yes. Read about UCB's streamlined recruitment and ROI.

Q. I like what I see, is there a way to get more information?

Yes - you can either book a free demo for your stakeholders. Or you can sign up to receive our regular newsletter, jam packed with good news from our clients.

The power of Student CRM

"How will Student CRM benefit our university?" we hear you ask. Well, it's been built from the ground up for the sole purpose of student recruitment for UK higher education, right here in Poole. Our product is constantly evolving with new features and improvements being launched every month.

What sets us apart?

Along with increased student conversion rates, reduced admin costs and improving the overall student experience, Student CRM also:

• Provides a central unified point to store all prospect information for all departments.
• Every student interaction and every communication with the student is stored and logged.
• A modular system that expands with you as your requirements change.
• Domestic and international students are siloed preventing accidental communication with the wrong group of students.
• Full integration with the Royal Mail’s PAF for accurate address population.
• Automated fulfilment data delivery for rapid prospectus delivery.
• Advanced duplication prevention system to identify known students.
• An easy-to-use document library allows you to instantly upload and publish marketing documents.
• Provides fully dynamic forms so levels of study, course lists and entry points are always up-to-date.
• Course lists are dynamically displayed based on year of entry.
• Comprehensive workflow and touchpoint system allowing instant and triggered communications via email, sms, letter or post (printed labels).
• Rapidly respond to student enquiries using a self learning bank of responses.
• Provide offline student information capture at international and domestic recruitment events.
• Highly configurable, comprehensive events offerings allowing simple or complex events for both prospects and applicants.
• Increases event prebookings and attendance rates (clients are quoting over 80% attendance rates).
• Increases your capacity whilst reducing the burden on your recruitment team.
• Constantly evolving system with new features and improvements being launched every month.
• Full user management with multiple permission levels.
• Provides comprehensive reporting facilities.
• Full support team based in the UK, working UK office hours.

So our super system, combined with our super UK-based support is a winning combination for universities across the UK. That's what our clients tell us.

Streamlined recruitment and a welcome ROI for UCB

Amin Pradhan, Pro Vice-Chancellor of University College Birmingham, talks about how Student CRM streamlined UCB's student recruitment process and demonstrated a welcome ROI.

Data Harvesting has worked with University College Birmingham for the past six years, assisting with their student recruitment processes, including open days, prospectus requests and enquiries for both domestic and international student recruitment.

Amin commented;

"Over the past six years, we have transformed our student recruitment processes thanks to Data Harvesting’s Student CRM. We’ve seen a welcome return on investment since starting to use it. Our resulting streamlined recruitment activities have helped us to improve results across the board.

As an institution UCB has embraced the latest student recruitment technologies available within Student CRM. These online technologies allow us to engage with our students far more effectively than the old paper systems could. The Student CRM has been particularly useful not only for our home students but for our international students applying from overseas and our overseas agents where we can respond to them more effectively, efficiently and in a timely manner to maximise recruitment.

Data Harvesting’s support is excellent. UCB staff can pick up the phone and always speak to someone who knows how to help us. Their Customer Services team really understand our business processes and workflow and are able to respond with a solution to our problem when required.

We now have the very best recruitment system in place which we can access and manage centrally, keeping students and team members engaged and informed.

It is without a doubt the very best student recruitment solution for our needs and responds to ever growing complexity."

We LOVE a great success story! It's a pleasure working with UCB and their recruitment team.

Life before :( and after :) Student CRM

"What's so good about Student CRM?" we hear you ask.

Reduced admin time

With Student CRM, communications can be automated and personalised (hands-free!) which frees up time for key staff to concentrate on other areas of recruitment and marketing.

Increased student engagement

Targeted, consistent, personalised and automated communications keeps students engaged, interested and more likely to choose YOU.

Happier teams

Departments are more motivated and productive as all inbound and outbound student activity is stored centrally, allowing your team to communicate with students effortlessly, in less time and with all KPIs logged and monitored.

Enhanced tracking

All student activity is recorded and analysed in handy reports for each activity, allowing recruitment teams to dip into Student CRM to see the progress of applications, bookings and enquiries in real-time.

Increased ROI

Our customers see a good Return On Investment as a direct result of reduced admin time, automated communications, instant reporting and more engaged students. This improves student satisfaction and leads to increased conversion rates too.

Top notch security

Storing all student data within one central database keeps your data safe and secure for all departments, complying with the Data Protection Act and improving the student experience. Everyone's a winner!

This is how a Student Recruitment solution should be. We're on YOUR side!