How Keyano College Enhanced Their Student Experiences with Dynamics 365 Sales
Quick Summary
Keyano College transformed its student experience and operational efficiency by implementing Dynamics 365 Sales. The new CRM system streamlined processes, improved staff efficiency, reduced IT support tickets, and allowed students to self-register using personal emails. This enhanced user experience and reduced administrative burdens. The implementation of Dynamics 365 Sales allows Keyano College to further improve outreach by centralizing their donor management and enhancing recruitment and continuing education efforts.
Who is Keyano College?
Nestled in the heart of Alberta, Canada, Keyano College is a board-governed public post-secondary institution with a specific focus on addressing the training and skills acquisition needs of diverse industries, particularly in business, nursing, and trades education. Despite more than 50 years of transformative education, the college faced unique challenges as they catered to a growing number of students. They aimed to establish a seamless end-to-end flow within a CRM system, linking stages from student recruitment to admissions processing, post-graduation, alumni relationships, and donor management. This integration sought to bridge financial and student information, enhancing operational efficiency and improving the overall experience for students and staff.
Strategic Phases for CRM Transformation
Keyano College wisely structured this project into three distinct phases due to its diverse stakeholders, teams, and unique deliverables, each demanding specialized attention. This approach allowed them to fully implement the first phase while preparing for the other two (which we will later go into), ensuring meticulous design and execution for maximum effectiveness.
Addressing the student portal first was a natural decision for Keyano College to streamline their student information within a central CRM system. This strategic choice aimed to improve the efficiency of all staff working within the system and deliver an advantage for the two other projects that will utilize this centralized hub. This decision was a response to the challenges experienced in their previous processes, which we will now explore.
Addressing Operational Challenges
Before realizing the need for a CRM system in their application process, Keyano College operated with a manual communication framework, primarily using emails. When applications were initiated through the student information systems “Apply Alberta” and “Power Campus”, the admissions team was inundated with various emails, including inquiries about application status and critical document submissions. While this approach aimed to cater to individual needs, it often resulted in inefficiencies, including the risk of overlooking crucial communication, leading to delays and mismanagement.
Furthermore, a significant challenge arose in the mandatory creation of new credentials for each application, even before applicants officially became students. This practice not only complicated management but also raised IT security concerns, adding an extra layer of complexity to the application process.
The absence of automation in these processes hindered the administrative department’s ability to optimize operational efficiency, making a seamless experience for both students and administrators a challenge.
“We realized that a CRM was the solution we needed for our automated email marketing, a feature we were missing. Our goal was to send automated emails to applicants at different application stages, from reminding them about missing documents to accepting offers and registering for courses. We needed a tool to automate these reminders.”
– IT Project Portfolio Manager at Keyano College
Selecting the Right CRM Solution
Recognizing the challenges, Keyano identified the need for a centralized and automated solution. The college sought to simplify document submission, tracking, and communication at various stages of the student’s application journey. This process will handle everything from missing document reminders to offer acceptance prompts, efficiently guiding applicants through each phase.
To comprehensively address these issues, Keyano College embarked on a CRM research project. They explored Salesforce; however, due to Microsoft’s favorable licensing agreements with Alberta and numerous provinces and governments, the cost of implementation and operational maintenance was notably lower compared to Salesforce. Keyano College benefited from an educational discount due to this alignment. Moreover, the adaptability of Dynamics 365 Sales proved pivotal, as it could be tailored for various functions within their system, including donors, registration, and recruitment.
“The cost comparison between Salesforce and Dynamics 365 Sales was primarily centered on the cost of implementation and operational maintenance. For Salesforce, these costs were notably higher than for D365 Sales. The advantage for Dynamics 365 stemmed from the favorable licensing agreements that Microsoft had with various provinces and governments, including Alberta.”
-IT Project Portfolio Manager at Keyano College
Selecting TMC as the Implementation Partner
Keyano reached out to TMC to discuss strategy for this project and discovered TMC’s wealth of knowledge and experience in implementing and configuring the Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise tool to meet Keyano’s needs.
After conducting the Business Process Review, TMC and Keyano agreed on a three-part project. Part one focused on implementing a centralized portal to automate information and data entry processes, facilitate communication, and ensure seamless synchronization of information between disparate systems. This centralized portal will lay the foundation for the next two project phases, enabling the integration of D365 Sales and D365 Marketing to collect student data for enhanced decision-making and personalized engagement.
“The end goal is to eventually remove that first portal that’s integrating with Apply Alberta and replace it with a new portal. The project is split into three parts to achieve its central goal of streamlining operations. The first phase integrates a student portal into their CRM to build the foundation and core structure to get people to use it and build on top of it, the second phase handles donation management, and the third phase focuses on recruitment and continuing education, allowing all departments to share a centralized CRM system.”
Valerie A. | CRM Practice Manager at TMC
Keyano’s Personalized Solutions
To address Keyano’s business objectives and unique needs, TMC implemented the following solutions:
“The quality of a good developer or consultant is to find the right solution to the issue that inevitably arises during any implementation. Customization, aimed at aligning closely with specific business needs, often leads to challenges and bugs. It’s not just about using out-of-the-box solutions, and while some may think it’s straightforward, we all know it’s more complex. TMC did an outstanding job in effectively managing these issues when they arose.”
– IT Project Portfolio Manager at Keyano College
Fostering a Synergistic Partnership
During the implementation process, it’s not unusual to encounter some challenges, especially in complex projects. One significant complexity that emerged was related to the integration with their student information system, Power Campus. To navigate this, it became necessary to involve another vendor to support Keyano College’s IT team. The integration process, particularly coordinating with the CRM system, presented unique complexities that had the potential to affect the project timeline.
However, in the spirit of collaborative teamwork, despite these challenges, we worked closely with Keyano College’s vendor to provide the necessary support. This collaborative effort ensured that Keyano College received the best assistance and expertise required to successfully implement the CRM system. Working hand in hand with their other vendor, we aimed to minimize disruptions and facilitate a smoother path towards achieving Keyano College’s goals.
Transitioning to Dynamics 365 Sales
The transition from a system of this nature was expected to pose challenges for the internal team as well, as they adapted to the change. While the initial weeks were marked by a few inconveniences and hesitations, employees gradually began to recognize the long-term benefits of the new system. With time, they noticed increased efficiency, reduced chances for errors, and a realization that the new system enhanced their productivity and simplified their workflow. The familiarity of the CRM interface, being a Microsoft product, contributed to a smoother transition for many.
Impressions of Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Portal
Keyano College expressed satisfaction with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales for offering unique features such as event management, which proved essential for their needs. The cost-effective Microsoft licensing, crucial due to the institution’s public funding constraints, was also highly appreciated.
Furthermore, the transition to the new system simplified the process of accepting offers. Formerly, applicants needed Keyano credentials for this step, but now they can use their personal email addresses, streamlining the procedure and reducing the administrative burden on the IT department. The reduction in IT support tickets and the shift towards a more secure user credential management process serve as compelling initial outcomes of this implementation.
“The portal now allows students to self-register using their personal email and reset their passwords, reducing the number of support tickets related to accessing student services and multi-factor authentication issues. This self-management has made the process smoother and more efficient for users.”
-IT Project Portfolio Manager at Keyano College
What’s Next for Keyano College?
Keyano College is taking the next steps in enhancing its CRM capabilities by venturing into the second and third phases of the project.
Phase 2: Donation Management Implementation
The second phase centers around implementing a comprehensive donation management system. As a higher education institution, Keyano College receives donations from diverse sources, including alumni, organizations, individuals, and more. Currently, they employ Raiser’s Edge for this purpose, but this system will soon be replaced. The decision to integrate donation management into the CRM system stems from the potential synergy and overlap between the college’s former students and potential donors. Centralizing this aspect in CRM allows for streamlined outreach efforts, offering a unified and efficient approach to donor management.
Phase 3: Recruitment and Continuing Education Enhancement (D365 Marketing)
The third phase is dedicated to Keyano College’s recruitment and continuing education department, which consistently seeks to attract new students to various programs. They also target students who initiated but didn’t complete specific programs or those who may receive additional certifications through further course completion. The CRM will serve as the repository for all relevant information. TMC recommended implementing D365 Marketing, where it will play a pivotal role in this phase, facilitating targeted campaigns and outreach initiatives. The strength of this phase lies in its ability to utilize the same customer base within CRM for both recruitment and donation management purposes, enhancing the institution’s outreach capabilities.
TMC is excited to continue working closely with Keyano College in these upcoming phases to fulfill their vision. The combination of technical prowess and CRM functionalities promises to yield a more comprehensive, efficient, and streamlined system, aligning with Keyano College’s dedication to enhancing their operations and overall student and staff experience.
Small (1 – 50 employees)
Industry
Education
Country
Alberta, Canada
Products and Services
Microsoft Solutions Partner
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“TMC has revolutionized our sales process. The integration across Dynamics 365 & all our M365 apps is seamless and has significantly boosted our productivity” –A.S | CFO