(FERMS) Microsoft Dynamics for Further Education and Training Providers

As a business information tool, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution plays an essential role in many aspects of an organisation’s operations and learner recruitment and engagement activities for FE Colleges and Apprenticeship Training Providers

To be successful, a CRM solution must align very closely with the needs and requirements of the organisation to ensure it can create efficiencies and drive performance in the right way.

A CRM should work around the needs of the organisation, not the other way around.

To this end, specialist knowledge of the sector is a must.

FERMS, from Focus on Business, is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 product that has been specifically designed for the Further Education sector and for use by Independent Training Providers.

Integrating with many other management information and external funding systems it can help to centralise applicant and learner data and streamline communication while providing real-time organisational insights and efficiencies.

Supported by the latest AI and Machine Learning technologies, our FERMS CRM solution is capable to maintaining relationships with students, simplifying most of the existing processes, optimising the use of resources, and creating far more collaboration between departments.

There are four main benefits that CRM can deliver to any FE organisation or Training Provider:

Enrich the student experience
Increase enrolment opportunities
Improve service levels
Drive Sale and Marketing Performance

Enrich the Student Experience

The focus on student retention has led many FE organisations to focus on improving the learner experience.

Training providers are also always trying to retain learners to support their progression with higher level apprenticeships.

FERMS can support the whole of the learner lifecycle from successful recruitment; student welfare and support services; and retention of students with tailored messaging and real-time progress reports.

Organisation – wide information sharing

To be successful, a CRM solution must align very closely with the needs and requirements of the organisation to ensure it can create efficiencies and drive performance in the right way.

A CRM should work around the needs of the organisation, not the other way around. To this end, specialist knowledge of the sector is a must. FERMS, from Focus on Business, is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 product that has been specifically designed for the Further Education sector and for use by Independent Training Providers.

Systems integration

FERMS can enable you to create a holistic view of each learner in your organisation by integrating your CRM with other data sources to supplement the learner record. This can include pastoral information, funding information and progress reports.

Increase Enrolment

When it comes to recruitment, either for College courses or Apprenticeship vacancies, colleges and training providers face an on-going challenge.

Standing out from the competition and creating a seamless applicant journey are essential for winning the war on talent.

FERMs JustApply can support all aspects of the learner journey from recruitment to on-boarding to achievement and progression, while providing real time insights for staff.

With seamless integration to all major jobs boards, applications can be tracked, by source, enabling you to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and budget allocation.

While College open days will, still provide essential in-person contact with potential students, adding this data to your CRM system allows you to analyse engagement, responses and progression by school or course.

Creating unique IDs from Open Day sign up forms can also speed up check-in processes and enable post event communications to prospective learners and parents alike.

The FERMS system can also help you manage the relationships that you have with schools and other feeder institutions, such as referral partners or even brokers for international students.

Improve Customer Service Levels

With modern communication technology, most prospective learners expect an always on customer service offering that allows them to interact with your organisation whenever and wherever they want.

While helpdesks largely operate during office hours, FERMS can help record, store and share enquiries at any time, routing all requests to the correct departments.

As well as managing course or apprenticeship enquiries you can support pastoral requests, tracking any extra support required by students. Consolidating this information into one system enables staff to create a holistic view of each leaner’s specific situation and needs.

Customisable reporting functions enable you to access key information as soon as you need it, from dashboards to traditional reports, so that you can improve on the tracking and reporting of student progress and other KPIs at any stage.

Drive Sales and Marketing Performance

FERMS can help marketing, recruitment and admissions teams improve their marketing activities through our integrated solution.

By unlocking the sales and marketing Apps in FERMS FE organisations and Training Providers can align their business development, marketing, recruitment and admission activities, within the same platform for a shared view of the customer journey from applicant to learner to achiever.

Our system has been designed for the FE and Training sector. We know the recruitment and sales cycles that drive success and will help you set triggers that send personalised messages across a range of channels at key times for increased applications and improved conversions.

Ongoing Support

Once implemented, all software solutions require training and support to ensure that user operations are mapped and understood and any issues are quickly resolved.
Focus on Business provides a comprehensive level of additional user training and support as well as providing a complete software support desk service for FERMS clients including any software developments which form part of an organisation’s implementation.