Complete Student Journey Supported by Sugar CRM

Recognizing the need to track the entire "student journey," Chalmers assessed their CRM system and sought a solution to maintain and nurture relationships from a long-term perspective. Exsitec, through attentive responsiveness, simplified their work routine with Sugar CRM.

Contents:

-> Analysis of needs

-> Solution

-> Future 

The Operation

The unit focuses on student recruitment (prospective/potential students) and communication with students and alumni. A critical aspect is establishing, nurturing, and evolving relationships with individuals in these target groups, tailored to their interaction with Chalmers.

What challenges or goals prompted you to seek a solution?

Our task involves communicating relevant information to different types of students. To manage contact details for these target groups, we have long employed a CRM system. Primarily for alumni relationships and to some extent for international student recruitment. Now, we aimed to have the system support the entire "student journey," encompassing prospective, current, and alumni students.

In addition to supporting the student journey, the system needed to facilitate segmentation based on demographics, educational interests, courses taken, and more.

We also needed to review the current needs and requirements.

What was your main challenge or what did your daily routine look like?

As the previous system was based on an older set of needs, it was inflexible in certain aspects. Rather than performing many segmentations within the system, we often extracted a large amount of information for sorting and segmenting in Excel.

What was most crucial in your evaluation process?

Our procurement aimed to secure a system meeting specific criteria, with functionality aligned to our current needs. Flexibility, adaptability, and development potential were also important, without excessive coding requirements.

Why did you ultimately choose to proceed with Exsitec?

Following evaluation, aligned with the criteria outlined in the procurement documentation, we determined that Exsitec's SugarCRM solution was the best fit.

What was your experience like working with Exsitec?

Working with Exsitec has been highly straightforward. They are attentive to our needs while also challenging certain assumptions to foster innovative thinking. Consequently, this has led to an improved solution surpassing both the original needs and proposed solutions.

Exsitec also promptly delivers the support we require.

The Solution:

What does the solution encompass?

Sugar CRM, coupled with a tailored portal, is employed by Chalmers alumni to update their contact details and communication preferences with Chalmers and Chalmers Engineering Association.

What changes have you made compared to before?

More team members are using the system, as it is more intuitive and facilitates a greater portion of segmentation work within the system, reducing reliance on Excel.

What are you most satisfied with?

The system's intuitiveness and relative simplicity, along with its substantial potential for development. This extends to simpler module and field development, largely conducted by us, as well as more complex coding for dependencies, where Exsitec plays a significant role.

Thanks to the intuitive system, many more individuals can engage in segmentation within the system, enhancing our efficiency. Additionally, significant potential exists for other activities.

What savings and efficiencies have been realized?

We now have a single system in place, replacing the two systems we previously used.

Performing various types of segmentations has become much simpler, saving a considerable amount of time.

Quick and effortless insights into aspects such as the number of alumni from a specific program or country.

Future:

Do you have any next steps planned for the solution or your broader development?

Numerous areas indicate potential for further solution development. We will continue enhancing content (modules and fields) to better support existing operations and "new" activities. Additionally, we plan to develop multiple integrations to facilitate the inflow of leads for student recruitment.

We intend to refine analysis and segmentation for targeted audiences. We are also exploring automating newsletters to reach the right audience and integrating additional activities with external contacts that may not primarily be alumni.

Any other messages you would like to convey?

It is vital to have a clear understanding of the needs, namely, "What is the purpose of implementing a new system?"

About Chalmers University of Technology: Located in Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology engages in high-level research and education in engineering and natural sciences on an international scale. The university employs 3,100 staff members, educates 10,000 students, and produces engineers, architects, and maritime officers. Anchored in scientific excellence, Chalmers develops competence and technological solutions for a sustainable world. Through global engagement and an entrepreneurial spirit, the university fosters innovation in close collaboration with society. Chalmers leads the European Union's largest research initiative, Graphene Flagship, and is involved in constructing a Swedish quantum computer. Founded in 1829, Chalmers' motto remains the same: Avancez – onward.