Advising as Relationship Management

1. Advising as RelationshipManagement Chris Farren, Faye Vowell, Chuck Williams Western New Mexico University 2007 NACADA Region Conference

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. Operational CRM – front office business processes

14. Collaborative CRM

15. Analytical CRM – analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes

16. Analytical CRM – analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes

17. 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

18. 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

19. Data . . . • Who are our best/most challenging advisees? • Traditional • Returning • Employed • Athletes • Underpriviledged • How do we market to them? • What are our products?

20. 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?

21. 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?

22. 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

23. 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

24. Advising Relationship Mgt (ARM) If you look at advising through the lens of ARM what difference does it make in your perception 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”?

25. Bottom Line • Thriving ARM = • Thriving Students = • Thriving School