Advising as RelationshipManagement

Chris Farren, Faye Vowell, Chuck WilliamsWestern New Mexico University

2007 NACADA Region Conference

Goals of this session

• Introduce Customer Relationship Management (CRM)– How it’s used for commercial business– Why it’s important in Academic “business”

• Examine advising as CRM or Advising Relationship Management (ARM)

• Learn why – Thriving ARM = Thriving students = Thriving School

What is customer relationship management (CRM)?

• Integrated processes used by organizations to manage relationships with customers.

• Customer Information– collecting– storing– analyzing

• Art/Science of gathering and using information– to build customer loyalty– to increase customer value

Advising Relationship Management(ARM)

• Art/Science of gather and using information about your advisees so that they– persist– earn better grades– take more courses successfully– tell other students what great advising services are

offered• Creates customer (advisee) loyalty• Creates customer (advisee) value

Customer Zones of Loyalty

• Customers can be divided into three zones– Zone of Defection – customers are extremely hostile

and the lowest level of satisfaction– Zone of Indifference – customers have a medium

level of customer satisfaction and loyalty to the company

– Zone of Affection – customers are “apostles” for the company

• CRM focuses on bringing customers from level 1 to level 3 and retaining them there.

Advising Relationship Management(ARM)

• Customer loyalty translates into student advisee persistence in your program or school

• Customer value translates into retention, grades, word of mouth publicity, taking and being more successful in more courses

Three Aspects of CRM

• There are three essential aspects of CRM– Operational– Collaborative– Analytical

• These aspects can be applied to both commercial and academic environments

Operational Aspect of CRM

• Supports “front office” business processes, including sales, marketing and service

• Each interaction is added to a customer’s history; staff can retrieve information on customers from the databases

• Different customers have to be treated differently• Variables like customer ranking, actual value,

and potential value are strategy drivers

Collaborative Aspect of CRM

• Covers direct interaction with customers– Internet – personalized web pages– Email – direct responses– Automated phone answering – self service– Focused personal interface – personalized

• Can be viewed as “custom-service”• Objectives can include cost reduction and

service improvements

Analytical Aspect of CRM

• Analyzes customer data for variety of purposes

– Design and execute targeted marketing campaigns

– Analysis of customer behavior to aid product and service decision making

– Financial forecasting and customer profitability

– Risk assessment

How can these ideas about CRM be related to the advising relationship?

• Advising is about relationships– Advising is a process in which advisor and

advisee enter a dynamic relationship respectful of the student’s concerns. Ideally, the advisor serves as teacher and guide in an interactive partnership aimed at “enhancing the student’s self-awareness and fulfillment.”

O’Banion, T. (1972). An academic advising model. Junior College Journal, 42, 62-69.

Operational CRM – front office business processes•Sales

•Marketing

•Service

•Know the make-up of your student base•Provide programs/services designed around students’ needs•Customized Advising Service for each advisor

Each interaction is added to a customer’s history; staff can retrieve information on customers from the database.

•Aggressively capture and store information on each student•Ensure data is easily available to all staff and advisors who need it

CRM

Different customers have to be treated differently

Advisees have different needs and advisors need to work with them in appropriate ways

ARM

•Customer ranking

•Actual value

•Potential value

•Degree of advisee need for contact•Student progress•Student long-term success and retention

Collaborative CRM

CRM

Direct interaction with customers: internet, email, automated phone answering

Direct contact with advisees using email, web pages, text messaging, and telephones

ARM

Self service Web pages with Q and A as well as electronic access to information

Objectives of cost reduction and service improvements

Objectives of cost reduction and service improvements

Analytical CRM – analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes

CRM

Design and execute targeted marketing campaigns

Design and execute targeted marketing campaigns to encourage student growth and development

ARM

Analysis of customer behavior to aid product and service decision making

Analysis of advisee behavior to aid in the creation and evaluation of advising services and programs

Analytical CRM – analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes

CRM

Financial forecasting What is the advisor work load? Will this impact finances? Will more staff be needed to serve students or to implement new programs?

ARM

Risk assessment How likely are students to persist and to graduate?How likely are students to take advantage of the services offered?

Implementing ARM

• Review your mission statement• Segment your student population• Map the advising process for each segment of

your population• Set goals in terms of performance• Create measurements to determine if you are

making progress toward your goals• Gather the data and analyze the data• Take action

Data . . . What data??

• Who are our advisees?– Traditional– Returning – Full/Part time

• How much do we know about them?– Married/Single– Ethnicity– Children/Family– In Transition– Academic Maturity

Data . . .

• Who are our best/most challenging advisees?– Traditional– Returning– Employed– Athletes– Underpriviledged

• How do we market to them?• What are our products?

Questions to ask as you gather data

• Which advisees should you target?• How can you respond quickly to changes in

advisee behavior?• How can you understand, align, and improve

your performance?

Questions to ask as you gather data

• What is our return on our marketing investment?• What is our overall return on investment (ROI)?• Do we have a consistent view of each advisee’s

behavior?• What products do we provide to our advisee

customers?

Advising Products

• WNMU’s advising products– Career planning (course, major, profession)– Scheduling/drop add/degree planning– Confidence building– Decision making/goal setting– Referrals

• Tutoring• Counseling

– Heuristic knowledge of how to negotiate the system– Student success

Return on Investment (ROI)

• ROI in advising terms could be– The number of students who take advantage of

specific services compared to the time and/or money required to provide the service.

– The number of students who graduate, or who achieve a C average or better, or persist to the next semester compared to the money and/or time invested in specific interventions designed to achieve the desired outcome

Advising Relationship Mgt (ARM)

If you look at advising through the lens of ARMwhat difference does it make in yourperception of advising?• What would you do differently in your day to day

operations?• How would your interaction with Business Affairs

change?• How could you provide “custom advising”?

Bottom Line

Thriving ARM =Thriving Students =Thriving School