CRM Accord

Doncaster College has recently been supported by JISC to develop knowledge and expertise in the field of Customer Relationship Management. This project is one of seventeen supported by the Business and Community Engagement strand of JISC’s activities. To find out more use this link: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/topics/bce.aspx. The project commenced in August 2009 and will report findings in April 2010.

Overview of Project

1. Background

1.1. The aim of this project is to develop the strategy, processes and culture that utilises the CRM to optimise revenue and increase the value of employer engagement through complete understanding and fulfilment of customer needs. This is a challenge in a large and diverse organisation. Inevitably, in such a large organisation each academy has its own culture – however, to have an effective CRM it is widely acknowledged that there must be one methodology of operation. The project will initially focus on the development of policies and procedures. However, with implementation of a detailed project plan and ‘buy-in’ by all Academies this will move rapidly to a stage which informs strategic decision making and benefits from the information provided by a CRM embraced by the whole organisation.

2. Aims and Objectives

2.1. This project will develop the strategy, processes and culture that utilises the CRM to optimise revenue and increase the value of employer engagement through complete understanding and fulfilment of customer needs.

2.2. Improving the customer experience is a fundamental principal in the College’s Employer Engagement strategy. The CRM will aid the mutually beneficial relationship with the most potentially valuable customers. Customers’ interactions will be monitored with a view to increasing the long-term value to the College.

2.3. In an increasingly competitive environment the College recognises the need to reduce the time taken to complete administrative tasks, increase efficiency and deliver an excellent service to its clients. The College wishes to target prospective employers better by utilising more sophisticated marketing techniques – in particular utilising market segmentation. Effective use of the CRM will provide a more cohesive and efficient approach. It will allow promotional campaigns to be monitored and analyse the most effective media.

2.4. The College has eight different academies providing services and training to employers. The College has recently invested in CRM software however the processes and procedures for management and administration are not developed. Increasingly, employers of various sizes wish to deal with one key account holder to manage all their training needs. Typically, the member of College staff who first approaches the employer will be skill sector focused. For example in a Care Home a member of the Health and Social Care team will become the first point of contact. However, after undertaking an Organisational Needs Analysis further training requirements are identified which involve teaching staff from other academies. To ensure exceptional customer service the key account holder must be in absolute control of the communication with colleagues across the college and have the assurance that the customer has the response they expect.

2.5. The project will develop a series of policies, procedures and common protocols. The aim will be to log all interactions to build up a profile of an employer. This will include all contacts, enquiries, requests and communications so that the employer’s needs may be anticipated.

2.6. The College has started to use the BCE CRM Self Analysis Framework. The Employer Responsive Group – a representative cross section of colleagues from across the institution – has considered a number of questions from the Framework. The overall aims of the project reflects the discussion and agreement of the group when considering the question ‘What do you want from CRM?’, ‘What are you hoping it will deliver?’ and ‘What are your expectations?’. The project outputs also recognise the need to measure a baseline of customer satisfaction with employers and follow this up post implementation of the CRM. This is particularly important when considering the explicit desire to move rapidly towards use of the CRM to inform strategic decision making in the College’s dealings with employers.

2.7. When considering the question ‘Why now?’ the group has recognised that the increasingly competitive environment in which we work demands that we become commercially more aware and perform in a way more in line with the private sector. In addition the College is preparing to make an application for the Training Quality Standard. This demands that customer relationships are managed and that the impact of work with clients is monitored in a highly professional manner.

2.8. Impact measurement is an important part of the third phase of the study. We will build into this study a monitoring system which is part of the management process. The TQS assessors will want to see evidence about performance and outcomes. They will examine trends and where appropriate improvements in performance over time. One of the outputs of the study will be to test methods of recording employer satisfaction to inform the TQS assessment.

3. Overall Approach

There will be three distinct phases to the project:

3.1. Initially, a detailed project plan will be developed – this will include further consideration of the JISC CRM study and the Self-analysis Framework developed in a previous study by Nottingham University. The initial part of the project will focus on common protocols for input. The project team will provide initial training for members of the academic administrative staff. Baseline work will be undertaken with users and employers to inform the project evaluation.

3.2. Secondly, development work will take place to agree management reports required to ensure the value to academies is appreciated in the early stages to ensure continued ‘buy-in’ from academic colleagues. Mid-point surveys and focus groups will provide feedback to project team – this will inform continued development.

3.3. Finally, the latter stages of the project on evaluation, dissemination and future developments. It will begin to inform strategic decision making and gather information from employers relating to improved levels of satisfaction in customer service and impact of training on their business. The evaluation will focus on the process of development and implementation as well as making judgements about the overall outcomes of the project.

4. Project Outputs

4.1. A series of policies and procedures aimed at ensuring all academies use a common protocol when using the CRM

4.2. A development programme for staff and employers to enable use of the system and encourage reflective comment throughout its development and use.

4.3. A series of management reports to inform the business and marketing strategy going forward

4.4. A case study developed with the intention of benefitting other institutions.

4.5. Focus events to show how the methodology can improve employer satisfaction

4.6. A report which will analyse the areas of the project which have worked well and those which have not. It will make recommendations with regard to the development of policies and procedures.

4.7. An evaluation of how the usage of the CRM has influenced marketing strategy and costs.

4.8. Improved experience of the employers through improved communication and use of key account holders

4.9. Produce a detailed project plan

5. Project Outcomes

5.1. To raise the awareness of the senior management team of the value of the use of CRM. This will be achieved through the use of project staff delivering dissemination events throughout the life of the project. A baseline will be established at the start of the project.

5.2. To ensure that the use of the CRM enhances the experience of the employers and the key account holders. This will be assessed through the use of surveys and questionnaires prior to and at the end of the project

5.3. To support the promotion of the JISC e-learning and BCE agendas

5.4. To support the LSC Skills agenda by providing exceptional service to employers.

Project Team

Name	Academy/Faculty/Department	Project Role
Joan Faraday	Business and Enterprise	Project Director
Pat Meadows	Workforce Development	Project Team
Ann McKay	Workforce Development	Project Team
Trish Elmore	Workforce Development	Project Team
Antony Pawlett	HE / Business School	Project Team
Julie Bower	Academy for Commercial Enterprise	Project Team
Julia Rutter	Academy for	Project Team
John Edwards	Academy for Advanced Technologies	Project Team
John Sheppard	Business School	Project Team
Julie Ellis	BEST	Project Team
Joanne Childs	ICT Academy	Project Team
Lesley Doorley	ICT Academy	Project Team
Beryl Myers	Academy for Skills for Life	Project Team
Lorna Smart	Academy for Commercial Enterprise	Project Team
Lynn Noden	Academy for Commercial Enterprise	Project Team - Administrator
Jean Robson	Academy for Commercial Enterprise	Project Team – Administrator
Gary Burns	CITS	Project Team
Charlotte Hill	Marketing	Project Team

Email - infocentre@don.ac.uk

Tel - 01302 553 553