6 Myths About CRM Systems For Educational Institutions Exposed

A customer relationship management system is one of the most important investments for any modern business. It is one of the most rapidly growing software markets today. It was a $14 billion industry as early as 2010 and is expected to surpass the $80 billion mark by 2025. And although far more pristine than others, educational institutions are no exception. So, with that in mind, here we have listed six of the wildest claims floating around CRM systems in the educational ecosystem.

CRM Systems Are Expensive 

Every myth spreads from large-scale misinformation or stems out from something true at one point in time. In this case, it’s the latter — CRM software use to be quite expensive although that’s not the case any longer. Not only did they have excessive licensing costs, but the big organizations also had to spend heavily on their implementation and peripheral hardware. And then there was added cost for support, consultation, and training as well.

In 2024, a wide variety of CRM tools are available in the market at various price points and education CRM systems like ExtraaEdge are more affordable than ever. With a cloud-based CRM software, every piece of data is stored online, giving you instant access without any additional installation and hardware costs. With the trend of cloud-based CRM software, the entire venture has become economical for both vendors and institutional buyers.

CRM Systems Are Too Complex

CRM systems a few years ago were too complicated to use, and people having become comfortable with Excel were hesitant to make a shift. Users didn’t understand its functions and had to heavily rely on the IT guys to set up their system and explain it to them. With the recent developments, it’s bitter-sweet that the above statement is only a myth now. 

Today’s customer relationship management systems are easy to set up and have a rather gentle learning curve. In fact, most people don’t know that education CRM systems like ExtraaEdge were built for institutions who were tired of the traditional technologies. These systems are highly customizable and all you have to do is pick and choose the services you need for your institution. And even if it does demand a bit of training, proper communication with consistent support will almost definitely expedite the process.

Only Sales Teams Need CRM

Sales reps have seen a remarkable 26.4% increase in productivity by integrating social networking and mobile access into CRM applications. But a CRM system offers much more than just a boost in sales efficiency. It serves as a unified platform where team collaboration, communication, marketing, and data analysis seamlessly come together. If you’re wondering whether it’s time for your institution to invest in a CRM, make sure to check out the 7 signs you need to buy a CRM for your admissions to see if your team could benefit from these powerful capabilities.

For instance, as a marketing tool, you can use CRM software to run campaigns and assess their effectiveness using in-built analytics. An effective education CRM system can also centralize WhatsApp, SMS, and emails.

As a collaboration tool, CRM software can facilitate interactions in higher education institutions across campuses as well. So, a CRM system is not bound for sales purposes alone.

CRM Is Used Only To Store Lead Data

With fresh SaaS apps entering the market every day, CRMs should no longer be expected to store just the user or student data. Take marketing automation for instance, where modern CRM systems come with in-built marketing automation so that you don’t have to integrate any external tool to sift through the data collected on every lead — the system will do it for you. And that’s not just it – it boosts sales productivity as well with its numerous ways to reach out to your leads!

With your client’s permission, CRM software maintains the customer’s database. It strengthens the functioning of your institution by fortifying relations with your staff and students. Take the Interactive Voice Response, for instance. It’s a telephony menu system that identifies and routes callers to the appropriate department. Without it, chaos is imminent. 

Now, imagine your CRM getting integrated with IVR (yes, it can very much be done), your calls will be routed quicker, you can log and monitor the calls, track handling time, call volume, etc. This would enable you to reach the right prospect at the right time with the correct data.

You can merge your education CRM system with payment processors as well. Not only is it convenient for the user, but it is also more secure and will save everyone’s time. But as far as integrations go, it doesn’t end there. You can make the system accessible on the move, customize reporting on Facebook and Google Ads, manage quotes, integrate social media, email, SMS, WhatsApp — possibilities are simply endless!

One CRM Software Works For All

It’s understandable if you can’t make up your mind about the CRM systems that are pitched to you. That’s because most of these systems aren’t supposed to work for educational institutions. One CRM system can’t be expected to work for every industry or business as each has its unique requirements and workflows are designed differently.

There is, in fact, a wide variety of CRM systems in the market which cater to the demands of only certain industries. As for an education CRM system, you can expect it to track leads, communicate in real-time with students, and manage the entire student lifecycle, all in one place. Similarly, there are other technologies that cater to different operational, analytical, and collaboration needs.

Go through this guide to choose the best education CRM 

CRM Makers Don’t Provide Support

There are many reasons why an institute might go looking for another CRM. Institutions often believe that the vendors out there just want to sell them their product and be done with it. Sad as it is, it’s not a myth. Most CRM makers offer little in terms of support and in the long run, fail as a business themselves.

In the CRM industry, like in any other industry, in order to be successful, it’s crucial to understand every aspect of your client’s needs. In stark contrast to most of the questionable CRM vendors, ExtraaEdge’s support is unfailing and unflinching. We will take into account every aspect of your CRM requirements, including your day-to-day challenges, and long-term and short-term goals. We will stick with you as long as your team needs training and until you can notice the radical differences in admissions and productivity. Even thereafter, we will be a call away whenever you are stuck.

Final Thoughts

Many myths surround CRM software, and more often than not, they carry little weight. These tools in reality are changing the way people run their organizations and businesses, making data migration from their existing systems a breeze too. All in all, with all the myths debunked, CRMs will only help you run your institution smoothly, improving productivity and providing better satisfaction to users.