Customer Relationship Management in Services Focus: Education Sector

Abstract

Investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application is no different than any other business management software investment - whether one is looking for an enterprise level software application or a department level solution, one expects a quick and measurable return on the investment. Before investing in a CRM application, several aspects of the application including its features, support for existing and emerging technologies, initial cost, ease of use, integration with other applications, and many more need due consideration. One of the most important aspects of a business management application, including a CRM application, is its underlying architecture. A well-designed architecture will accommodate future growth and adapt to business changes without affecting the performance of the application or requiring an exhaustive re-implementation. An application's customizability, adaptability, portability, scalability and extensibility are all functions of its architecture. But that is the functional aspect. CRM goes way beyond a software solution. In real terms CRM is a philosophy and the software solution part is a mere tool to aid better implementation of the philosophy. CRM has existed since ages. Be it the corner betel shop owner who recognizes a regular customer and offers him his regular betel or a technologically advanced Call Center's executive who addresses a customer by his name when he makes a call by looking up in his database for the customer's detail. This paper tries to understand this philosophy and its uses in the high customer churn vulnerable service sector. One of the industries in this sector is the educational industry. IT solutions presently represent a critical success factor for numerous organizations. Higher educational institutions fall into this category and have sought the status of first movers in relation to the development and implementation of information technology throughout the areas of academia. However, In comparison, little research has been published with regard to using Internet technology to aid in administrative academic issues in higher education (Bitler, 2000). This paper will try to find the uses of a CRM solution in aiding the educational institutions improve the customer satisfaction levels and for this purpose development of a better CRM or SRM (Student Relationship Management) framework.