Handbook in Crm Good Practice Final Report

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Relationship Management Final Report- Strand 1

Project Information

Project Acronym

Project Title Online Handbook in CRM Good Practice

Start Date 01/06/2011 End Date 31/07/2012

Lead Institution University of Huddersfield

Project Director

Project Manager Kate Mitchell

Project ManagerContact Details

01484 471 678

[email protected]

Partner Institutions Teesside University

Project Web URL

Programme Name Relationship Management

ProgrammeManager

Simon Whittemore

Report Name

Report Title Final Report

Author(s) & projectrole

Kate Mitchell- Project Manager

Karen Race

Date 24/08/2012 Filename

URL if document is posted on project web site

Access Project and JISC internal X General dissemination

Document History

Version Date Comments

1.0 21/05/2012 First Draft

2.0 22/05/2012 Draft sent to Steering Group for comments

3.0 30/05/2012 Draft submitted to JISC for critical friend feedback

4.0 05/06/2012 Feedback from critical friend

5.0 24/08/2012 Submitted to JISC


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Contents........................................................................................................................................ 1

Relationship Management Final Report- Strand 1 ........................................................ 11.0 Project Overview ....................................................................................................... 32.0 Challenge .................................................................................................................. 33.0 Approach ................................................................................................................... 54.0 Technologies ............................................................................................................. 75.0 Implementation .......................................................................................................... 86.0 Benefits and Impacts ............................................................................................... 127.0 Disadvantages ......................................................................................................... 128.0 Evaluation ................................................................................................................ 13

9.0 The Next Stage ........................................................................................................ 1410.0 Summary ............................................................................................................... 1411.0 Further Information ................................................................................................ 16Appendix One- Proposed Handbook Outline from Funding Proposal ............................ 18Appendix Two- In depth Interviews ................................................................................ 19Appendix Three- CRM Handbook in Good Practice Questionnaire Results .................. 20Appendix Four- Handbook Outline ................................................................................ 27Appendix Five- Institution Question Index ..................................................................... 29Appendix Six- Overview of feedback from Validation Workshops ................................. 30


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1.0 Project Overview

The University of Huddersfield and Teesside University worked collaboratively todevelop an Online Handbook in CRM Good Practice. The aim of the project was todevelop a sustainable online handbook for both Higher Education (HE) and FurtherEducation (FE) institutions.The specification for the Handbook was very clearly set out in the JISC call 13/10.Institutions work with a wide range of partners and customers, from businesses, bothSME and large corporates to the public sector. Increasingly the lines between thesedifferent partners are blurred as policies change and drive for lifelong learning,workforce development and a global knowledge economy, particularly in the neweconomic and demographic constraints. Both universities had experience of working onprevious JISC projects and brought extensive experience of Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) to the project.

The University of Huddersfield (UoH) was part of the JISC Business ProcessImprovement Project (JISC Grant Funding 05/09) that piloted the Self Analysisframework (HERMeS) which enabled the University to begin the CRM journey. 1

Teesside University (TU) had implemented a project through the JISC BuildingCapacity stream which used tools already available through the JISC portal and furtherdeveloped a toolkit for using CRM Systems to undertake marketing activity and engagea BCE audience. The toolkit is not guidance on how to use a CRM system but providessuggestions for new organisational structures and processes that may be required. 2

The project team was a combination of staff from both universities, and the primaryapproach was to engage stakeholders from the outset and throughout the lifetime of theproject, through a variety of approaches, interviews, questionnaires and workshops. Itwas important to draw on the expertise available within the FE and HE community, andalso to gain a greater understanding of the needs of both sectors. It was seen as integralto the success of the online handbook to draw on the resources already available fromJISC and elsewhere and to ensure that that these were signposted and/or integratedthroughout the handbook.

There were a number of technologies employed across the project to promoteengagement and also to ensure that the two universities, Teesside and Huddersfieldwere engaged as a project team across the lifetime of the project. These included usingDropbox and Google docs to share information across both universities.

2.0 Challenge

The overall objective of the project was to develop and deliver an Online Handbook inCRM good practice. The original funding call 13/10 was to deliver a comprehensivestructured, easily navigable online handbook of good practice in Customer RelationshipManagement processes and approaches, tailored to the specific needs of higher andfurther education institutions.

1JISC CETIS Funded RM Projects http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/Funded_RM_Projects

2 JISC Building Capacity Programme http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/bcap/teesside.aspx


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The specific objectives as detailed in the project plan were to:

Identify and build a network of stakeholders for the project, minimum 10 Further

Education (FE)/Higher Education (HE) institutions. Research current guidance and best practice available, to ensure no crossover

and to define scope of project

Implement an engagement strategy which guarantees consultation on the content

and design of the Handbook

Research and identify the appropriate format for the Online Handbook and

implement this format

Complete four validation workshops

Share our knowledge and all project outputs with JISC and other institutions

across both the HE and FE sectors and further afield as appropriate

Establish mechanisms to measure usage of the completed Handbook

The handbook was developed to help Further Education (FE) Colleges and HigherEducation (HE) Institutions in their Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

journey. Its purpose is to guide these institutions through all the key considerations anddecision points involved in developing strategic CRM for BCE processesacross institutions, including guidance on information and data management, changemanagement and organisational alignment.

The Education sector is changing rapidly and will continue to do so for the next 5-10years. The pressures on institutions are increasing as they strive to support and satisfychallenging and varied Government and stakeholder requirements, changing staff rolesand the expectations of multiple stakeholders in a fast-moving socio-economic, politicaland technological environment. The funding changes in the education sector are drivingan environment where institutions will need to become more publicly accountable anddemonstrate added value. Examples demonstrating the changing sector are:

Current Government policy continues the drive to bring the HE sector andindustry closer together, as defined in the recent Wilson review.

For some institutions the requirement to assess the social economic orenvironmental impact of research outcomes is making the building of externalrelationships crucial to their mission. REF 20143 gives specific significance to theneed for demonstrable impact.

The report by the University Alliance Growing the Future4 describes universitiesas anchor organisations in their locality and calls for them to become leaders andchange agents for local economic recovery. This view very much stresses theoutward facing, relationship building aspects of HEIs.

3http://www.ref.ac.uk/REF 2014

4 University Alliance


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Similarly, the Universities UK report, prepared in conjunction with the Institute forPublic Policy Research, IPPR, Beyond Bricks and Mortar, describes the widerange of ways in which the sector can contribute to economic development,including civic leadership.

The Beacons of Public Engagement initiative has developed a number of pilotinitiatives and the website provides examples of outreach activity, its advantagesand, through describing examples of best practice, gives advice for organisationswishing to improve their local links.

A further reason that defining the nature of an institutions BCE work is importantis the increasing need for differentiation and distinctiveness in the sector. Auseful summary of this issue can be found at Enterprising Universities whichlooks at the extent to which the HE sector is pursuing distinctiveness inenterprise.

Pressure on the FE sector has continued as signalled by the Leitch Review in2006 which called for employers to share the costs of education. Both theprevious and current Governments have reinforced this message in their policiesand recently in their funding, such as the withdrawal of Train2Gain funding andthe investment in an increased number of apprenticeships, which requireemployers to contribute.

Most institutions are recognising the need to be more systematic about theirengagement with businesses and the community. However, HEIs in particular are facedwith complex organisational structures, lack of a single point of responsibility for theagenda, devolved decision making, varying management and operational cultures andever tightening budgets. Whilst there is recognition that action is required, manyinstitutions require guidance on how to address this complex issue.

Evidence of the need for this Handbook has been established because of the requestsfor assistance to JISC and to the more mature BCE CRM institutions, including Teessideand Huddersfield. For example an event held in April 2010 by Teesside as part of aprevious JISC project attracted 57 attendees. The problems and issues are similaracross the majority of institutions and are not dependent on the stage of their CRM

journey, the type of institution or the infrastructure at the institution.

3.0 Approach

From the beginning the project team recognised the importance of this project to the FEand HE sector, and understood the importance of collaborative working not onlybetween the University of Huddersfield and Teesside University, but across the sector. It

was essential to the projects success that the sector understood the importance of theonline handbook and was involved in its delivery.

Steering group meetings & project group meetingsThe Steering Group, consisting of Directorate level staff at both institutions, met sixtimes during the project and took responsibility for the overall delivery, ensuring thatresources were made available to deliver the project to the requirements pre-determinedin the JISC call and in the project plan.

Networking


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The Project Managers took every opportunity to attend any networking events whichinvolved HE/FE institutions with an interest in business engagement in order to raiseawareness of the project and to engage stakeholders and also spot potential casestudies. The numbers of participants in the online questionnaire and the validationworkshops are testament to the on-going networking undertaken by the project team.

To enable this inclusiveness an engagement strategy was produced as part of theproject plan. Although elements of this changed in the lifetime of the project, this was thecore of the project and one which the team saw as vital to its success.

Stage 1 Consultation on contents and themes of the online handbook

The project manager conducted four in depth interviews with individuals from differentareas of the HE sector and different types of universities although three of theseinstitutions were nominated as part of the Entrepreneurial University of the Year.

A series of questions were developed (see Appendix One) and, in advance of theinterviews, interviewees were sent information relating to the three levels of CRMmaturity5 to enable them to establish and identify their institutions level of maturity. Itprovided a good opportunity to establish whether they were, in fact, aware of the CRMlevels of maturity.

The interview process was intended to establish whether the themes that had beendrawn up as part of the original bid, and in the project plan, were relevant for peopleacross the sector. The project team had a clear idea of what would fall into thesethemes, but needed to validate whether these themes would mean the same for other

people in the FE and HE sector.At this stage of the project it proved difficult to engage an FE institution in this process .This was partly due to the networks that the project team already had available at thestart of the project and also the lack of response when the project team approached FEinstitutions for their input.

Through the interview process it was confirmed that the themes established by theproject team were the correct themes to pursue as the interviewees felt this covered theimportant aspects of CRM.

Stage 2 Online questionnaire

From the outcomes of the in-depth interviews the project team developed aquestionnaire, and a more detailed index page was created. It was important that,before producing any content, feedback from both the HE and FE sector fed into thecontents of the handbook. For more details on the response to the questionnaire pleasesee Appendix Two.

5In 2007 JISC funded a study which reviewed and addressed issues with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in UK

Universities: three stages of CRM maturity were identified ref: KSA Partnership (2007). Study of Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM) issues in UK Higher Education Institutions, JISC Final Report.http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/themes/bce/crmstudyfinalreport20070817.pdf


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advice before choosing an option was considered important. The project teaminvestigated a number of ideas to establish the right format, including tweeting to getinput and recommendations from the online community. This would ensure thatwhatever format was used it would be suitable for online interaction. Some of the toolsresearched and considered were:

Google Sites This was seen as a viable option as it could be created for free and wouldthen be available to all users; the drawback was that users couldnt leave feedback onthe content in pages. There was also a cost associated with the development andmaintenance of this application.

SharePoint This was suggested as an option by the University of Huddersfield but wasnot widely used. Its capabilities were still seen as an unknown which would then placethe overall project at risk.

WordPress This was seen as a viable option as it has flexibility, and opportunity to

create a community of CRM practitioners. However there was a financial outlay whichmay have been prohibitive beyond the remit of the project timeline.

PBWorks Following some recommendations through Twitter someone suggested anexample of a good interactive handbook was the JISC Design Studio which was a JISCinfokit designed in PB works. The project team felt that as a free tool it would give theflexibility required, enable the content of the handbook to be built over time, allow theuser community to contribute by adding comments, and enable pages to be tagged withkeywords. This meant users could be guided through their level of maturity whilst notbeing subject to a restrictive process, as users would be able to access all parts of thehandbook through the use of an index page, navigation and keywords. This was

therefore the tool that was finally chosen.

As detailed in the project plan the final challenge was to create a handbook designedwith its sustainability in mind. To this end, the potential of setting up the handbook as awiki was explored to garner contributions from the wider HE/FE sectors. The use of PBworks created opportunities for people to add comments. Following the validationworkshops the opportunity was taken to promote the PB Works site on LinkedIn, Twitterand to all workshop attendees.

5.0 Implementation

The biggest challenge in developing the online handbook was developing the index forthe handbook. From the initial funding proposal the project team established a numberof themes and a brief outline of the contents; this can be viewed in Appendix Three. Theindex that had been explored in the original call 13/10 was matched to ensure that therequirements of JISC and the wider community were being met.

In undertaking the initial consultation the contents that were contained in the call werefound to be too prescriptive and that they did not always match the expectations ofstakeholders.


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Based on the original call, one of the aspects that the project team found difficult tomanage was ensuring the handbook reflected the three levels of CRM maturity. Theinitial interviews determined that people didnt really understand the JISC definitions, orat the least found that the maturity levels were too wide in their scope. The project team

felt it was important not to try and redefine these but to stick to them even though thisfeedback was negative in this respect. This was in contrast to the questionnairefeedback, where 44% of respondents saw the maturity levels as an essential part of thehandbook. When the process of writing the handbook began, it became apparent thatcontent specific to these levels of maturity could not always be written, but contentaimed at all three levels of maturity could be included, as there were aspects of CRMgood practice at all three levels of maturity that could provide insight and benefits fromthe handbook content. The project team knew it was important to embed these maturitylevels within the handbook and give people the opportunity to identify their level ofmaturity, but that guidance for all levels of maturity integrated into all areas of thehandbook would be more effective as it would enable users to navigate the content

according to their needs rather than being constrained by a predetermined path,particularly as this would change over time.

One of the first pieces of work undertaken was to review the Self-Analysis Framework(SAF) case studies to ensure that lessons learned were taken forward into this project.Martin Hamilton of Loughborough University had written a critique of the SAF, whichwas reviewed. A review of the case studies from the SAF projects was also undertakenand one of the major findings was the lack of relevant case studies: there were anumber of case studies from the health, public and private sectors but not many realexamples from the education sector. This informed the decision that the content neededto have real examples of what was happening in both the FE and HE sectors.

One of the key decisions taken was not to rewrite content that was already availablefrom JISC or other sources. The opportunity was taken however to reference thesesources and to refer people to these sites or documents that were available.

In the questionnaire the project team had four themes to structure the handbook:Strategic Planning & Organisation, CRM System Foundations, Operation Developmentand Regulations & Agreements. These had been developed based on initial interviewswith stakeholders and in consultation with the Steering Group. Based on thequestionnaire responses, the index was further refined and the decision taken todefinitely include material where over 40% of respondents considered that section of

content as essential. Further to the questionnaire consultation, and in agreement withthe Steering Group, the themes were reduced from four to three as a large amount ofcrossover had developed. The three themes for the contents were established asStrategic, Operational and Practical. Reducing the themes sharpened up the index.Further to these consultations the JISC programme manager and critical friend to theproject were both asked for feedback to ensure the original brief in the call wasmaintained. The final index was agreed (see Appendix Four).

The process of developing the overall index for the handbook took far longer than wasfirst expected by the project team. This was in part due to the large amount ofconsultation that was undertaken to ensure it matched the needs of the sector. Even

after the index had been agreed and the content began to be developed, ensuring the


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accessibility of the handbook through these three themes was difficult. The aim thenbecame to step away from the structure in place and view the handbook from the usersperspective. Through this approach a series of questions were developed thatinstitutions might want to address, as detailed in Appendix Five. This different approachwill move across into Infonet as it is viewed as a more/another accessible way to

navigate the information. People also found it useful in the validation workshops if theystruggled with the main index navigation route.

Item in call document How was it addressed Area ofHandbook (asappropriate)

Focus on CRM good practice insupport of business andcommunity engagement, butstructure the handbook so thatCRM good practice for student

engagement can be added as aseparate section at a later date;

As the handbook has beendeveloped in PB works, this givesit the flexibility to include studentlifecycle relationship management,can be added at a later date.

Structure the online handbook toreflect the three levels of CRMprocess maturity, derived from theJISC CRM Study by KSAPartnership

Users have been asked to identifytheir CRM maturity and the projectteam have used tags so that userscan access information relevant toeach level as appropriate.

CRM Maturity

Define clear pathways throughthese maturity levels and theaspiration to use CRM processesstrategically;

As above As above

Address any perceived gaps in theSelf-analysis Framework ashighlighted by the CETIS Supportand Synthesis CRM report and theexperience of the CRM processimprovement projects. Forexample, data modelling and howdata requirements should best becaptured and modelled;

The project team has includedinformation on BusinessIntelligence and how to use thedata captured in a CRM system.

How can youbest use thedata?

Enable a number of different entrypoints into the online handbook, so

that institutions that have needs inparticular areas and not in otherscan quickly access the appropriategood practice. This will requireinnovative and thoughtful design ofthe online navigation routeswithout losing the coherence,conceptual consistency andoverall logic of the handbook;

This has been achieved throughthe sidebar in PB works, and it

gives users the ability to accessthe areas of the handbook that areuseful to them.

Ensure appropriate coverage of allthe key process considerations

The project team has coveredthese areas through the


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involved in developing effectiveCRM, including strategy,organisational alignment;information and datamanagement, change

management, marketing,preparation for systemimplementation (this list is notexhaustive or definitive);

development of the handbook andit reflects all of these major points.

Include brief guidance on thetypes of CRM systems available(off the shelf, open source, socialnetworking CRM etc.) andinformation on CRM vendor usergroups within the sector, withconsent from the institutions

concerned;

This has been completed and wehave provided a table of CRMsystems and examples ofuniversities that are using thosesystems.

WhatSystem?

include concise good practice asappropriate on process mapping,process modelling and datamodelling, with examples ofsuitable modelling techniques andlanguages;

The project team has included asection of business processmapping (BPM) and its importancein the CRM journey of institutions,but the Handbook also signpostsusers to the toolkit on BPMavailable on JISC InfoNet.

BusinessProcessMapping

Ensure the handbook consistentlyupholds the principle that the focalpoint for institutional CRM

processes is the customer/partner.In consultation with the JISCCETIS RM support team and theRM experts group, include asappropriate concise guidance oneffective and appropriate methodswhich improve the engagementexperience from thecustomer/external partnerperspective;

The project team have talkedconsistently throughout thehandbook about the importance of

the Customer, including sectionson a customer centered approachand the different customer andquality standards that institutionscan use to measure themselves.

CustomerCentredmeans CRM

Include guidance on Service

Design and Service Blueprintingtechniques... This is likely to beguidance applicable to those withmore mature CRM process butthese approaches have beenproven valuable in the context ofthe student experience and can beprofitably utilised to enhance theexperience of external businessand community partners.

The project team has included

guidance on Service Design andBlueprinting and has also referredusers to the toolkits alreadyavailable and the case studies sothat users can learn from otherinstitutions experiences.

Service

Design &Blueprinting


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6.0 Benefits and Impacts

At present it is still too early to assess the impacts detailed in the project proposal.However the engagement that has been key to the project, particularly through thevalidation workshops, has enabled potential users people to air their concerns andchallenges and understand how more successful institutions have addressed theseissues. Attendees have also begun to understand the many resources available to themthrough JISC and the relationship management programme to support their CRM

journey, so these discussions have proved invaluable.

Anecdotal feedback from all three validation workshops has shown that the participantsvalued the discussions and would welcome further opportunities to discuss/share goodpractice. This has been a benefit of the project, because it has engaged such a widerange of institutions from different areas of the sector and there has been keen interestin developing a CRM Group beyond the lifetime of the project.

It is recommended that JISC perform an evaluation of the impact of the Handbook inone-two years time.

The feedback received at the validation workshops has been positive with the majority ofattendees saying that it is an infokit that they will find useful, as a number of institutionsare still at a very early stage of their CRM journey. The majority are at a peripheral levelof CRM maturity. It has also been a great opportunity to promote the other toolkitsavailable on JISC infonet - this has been a high priority, i.e. not to rewrite informationthat is already available but to use the handbook as a signposting/integrating tool.

There has been an impact for both the University of Huddersfield and TeessideUniversity as it has raised the profile of CRM at both institutions. Furthermore atTeesside the toolkit has been used to underline the strengths of the BE approachadopted to its business facing community. Both partners have benefitted from workingtogether and have shared best practice in other areas of BE, such as benchmarking ofHEBCIS data. In addition both partners now have a wider network of BE-interestedinstitutions with whom to discuss BE issues and explore potential collaborations.

7.0 Disadvantages

There has only been one area of concern or drawback in creating the online handbook.Throughout the project the project team has worked hard to try and engage the FEsector, but this proved challenging. Therefore this has been viewed as a disadvantagedue to the fact that the handbook is meant to be fit for purpose for both the FE and HEsector. Through the extensive research undertaken the project team found a number oftoolkits available for FE colleges in CRM for BCE developed by the Learning and SkillsImprovement Service (LSIS). This may have been why there was a lack of engagementin the Handbook, but it may also be due to the rapidly changing landscape of the FEsector and the external pressures that it currently faces. Even though there was a lackof engagement from FE institutions the project team did manage to write a good practice


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example from an FE college around Embedding BCE and the advantages of using thistoolkit to drive the CRM agenda in an institution.

8.0 Evaluation

As detailed in 3.0 Approach a large amount of time was spent engaging with theeducation sector, to ensure that anything that was produced was going to be useful andhelp in its success beyond the lifetime of the project.

For the questionnaire, an academic was consulted on the structure and the questions toensure the validity of the research method. Although 95 people responded to thequestionnaire only 67 people left their details and were happy to be contacted followingthe questionnaire. Of those only 44 were from Higher and Further Education institutionsalthough they came from a wide range of institutions as shown in the following table.

Institution Type No.1994 Group 1Alliance 11FE College 3GU8 1million+ 12NA 8Russell Group 4University of Wales 2(blank) 1Grand Total 43

For the validation workshops, there were 33 participants from a range of different typesof institutions.

Institution Type No.

Alliance 8

FE College 1

GU8 1

million+ 7

N/A 7

Russell Group 9

Grand Total 33

As part of the workshop the project team wanted to ensure that the participants in theworkshop were given the opportunity to look through the Handbook and road test itsnavigability, and were keen to ensure that participants felt they had gained somethingvaluable from the workshop, either through networking or group discussion. Based onthis, the workshops were comprised as follows:

A brief familiarisation session allowing participants to understand the index and

navigation of the Handbook


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An exercise in which participants role-played a situation and used the Handbookto find guidance

A facilitated discussion allowing participants to discuss their key pain anddecision points in CRM implementation

In Appendix Six there is a more detailed overview of the validation workshops, thefeedback from which was generally positive. Most participants suggested changes to thehandbook, and these have been incorporated into the handbook. There were a fewminor issues that the project team chose to not address.

9.0 The Next Stage

There have been a number of outcomes from the validation workshop and colleaguesacross the sector have gained real benefits from the networking. The majority ofattendees have been keen to join a CRM community and this was discussed at anumber of the workshops. There has been a discussion of development of a user group

for those people that are using Dynamics independent of an external developer.

If a CRM group is created then hopefully, the handbook can become a tool for this groupand the themes of the handbook could be discussion areas and areas of developmentfor this group.

There is a planned launch of the handbook at the AURIL conference in October whichwill help promote the handbook to institutions who werent engaged during itsdevelopment. It will also be promoted internally at both institutions to help raise theprofile of CRM and its importance in the current HE landscape.

The project team believes that the handbook should be allocated resource to continueits development, otherwise it will be out of date quickly and not helpful for stakeholders.It might be helpful for stakeholders to be given the opportunity to comment and creatediscussion groups to allow them to share good practice through this handbook forum insome way.

The project team think that the handbook provides a good opportunity for good practicein Student Relationship Management to be developed as part of the same handbook.Although some of its themes will not be similar, there are still similar issues in regards tochange management and senior management buy-in.

10.0 Summary

This project was fairly simple in concept because it was to fulfill a detailed brief andprepare a Handbook. The project team set out to devise a Handbook that was firmlybased on research and therefore the research element of the project used a significantproportion of the resources. The preliminary interviews, on-line survey, in-depthinterviews and workshops all provided invaluable information to guide the work. Theproject team would recommend that this approach is adopted by anyone undertaking asimilar endeavour. An additional benefit of the wide consultation is that the project team


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has a strong network of contacts with an interest in CRM for BCE who can develop intoa community of practice and also help to promote and sustain the handbook.

The content of the handbook will quickly become out of date. Better examples of bestpractice will emerge and the links will require refreshing on an ongoing basis. Therefore

anyone writing an on-line handbook should build in a sustainability strategy andresources to continue to maintain a live document. See our recommendations at section8 above.

Finally, there has been great benefit in more than one institution collaborating on thisproject. We have been able to address issues coming from different angles and foundcompromises which contain more rounded solutions. There are sometimes difficulties inmanaging collaborations; however in this case the whole is more than the sum of itsparts. However many face to face discussions have been required, and thereforegeographical proximity is essential. Similarly our critical friend is also based within acouple of hours travelling and his proximity has enabled face to face discussions, for

which there is no substitute.


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11.0 Further Information

Blog

A project blog was sustained throughout the project with a regular update approximatelyonce a month. http://crmhandbook.wordpress.com/

Handbook

The handbook is now fully developed and can be found herehttps://vwcrmhandbook.pbworks.com/w/page/52081662/Good%20Practice%20in%20Customer%20Relationship%20Management Within the handbook there is a resources page which shows all of the reports that wereuseful in development of the handbook.

Other Resources

CRM Study(2007) KSA Partnership Study of Customer Relationship Management(CRM) issues in UK Higher Education Institutions JISC Final Report.

Self Analysis Framework (2009) JISC CETIS, Relationship Management: Good

Practice, Process Mapping and the CRM Self Analysis Framework, University of

Nottingham.

Embedding BCE(2009) JISC infoNet, Embedding Business and Community

Engagement (BCE), main drivers, purposes, processes, perspectives and issues around

BCE

Just Enough(2012) JISC CETIS, synthesis of JISC relationship management

programme

Wilson Review(2012) Sir Tim Wilson DL, Department for Business, Innovation and

Skills

Growing The Future(2011) University Alliance

Beyond Bricks and Mortar Boards(2012) Institute for Public Policy Research, Katie

Schmuecker and Will Cook

The Beacons Project(2012) National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement


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UCISA(Ongoing) Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association

Process Improvement(2003, updated 2011) JISC infoNet infokit

Process Mapping (2005) JISC infoNet Tools & Techniques

Service Design(2010) JISC CETIS, Service Design in Higher and Further Education,

University of Derby

Change ManagementJISC infoNet infokit

Evaluation of the Higher Education Workforce Development programme(2011)Report to HEFCE by CFE and KSA

Funded Relationship Management (RM) Projects (2010) JISC CETIS, Case Studies

and Final Reports from previous JISC funded RM projects

CRM Processes Report(2008) JISC and University of Nottingham, Self-analysis Tools,

Process Maps


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Appendix One- Proposed Handbook Outline from Funding Proposal

a. Strategic issues

Utilising the Embedding BCE Diagnostic and Evaluation Workbook

Integration of systems that support BCE Customer Centred approach/Customer Service in BCE

Identifying your current CRM process maturity

How can all university IT systems work together to facilitate good customerrelationship management? Is a new system required and if so what should be itsscope?

Using Data to inform Strategyb. Cultural Change

Raising the profile of CRM for BCE alongside the teaching and learning agenda

Change management

Adapting wider university processes (Registry, Finance) to support BCE

Selling the Benefits Developing and implementing a successful relationship between marketing and

CRM

Consultation with Customers and other HE and FE institutions

Running a Customer Focus Group

Communication Strategies

Sustainability of Relationships

Engaging Stakeholders throughout the lifetime of CRM projectsc. Implementing a CRM System

What is success in CRM for BCE? Measuring success

Using the JISC CRM Business Process Self Analysis Toolkit

Business Process Development, including service design & blueprinting

Reviews of CRM systems available in the marketplace and their fit to both HEand FE institutions

Ongoing management of a system

Data Modellingd. Ethics of CRM

Information Sharing: ethics in data ownership Agreements including IP, Confidentiality, NDAs etc.

Code of Practice


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Appendix Two- In depth Interviews

Contents of the CRM Good Practice Online Handbook

Questions

Are you aware of the project that Huddersfield and Teesside are undertaking?

What does the term CRM mean to you and your institution?

Following on from the definition of CRM maturity that I sent through what stage is youruniversity/college at in terms of level of maturity?

Do you think these definitions are clear?

Do you want to change the way that you manage your relationships with externalbusinesses? Are there any barriers to changing the way your institution managesrelationships with external businesses?

We are considering four main themes for the Online Handbook and would like tounderstand what these themes mean to you, they are:

1. Strategy2. Cultural Change3. Implementing a CRM System4. Ethics of CRM

What does CRM 2.0 mean to you?

Do you consider CRM 2.0 to be important in the current CRM landscape? Would youwant to see this as a focus within the handbook?

Do you have any ideas about how we can promote the Online Handbook? Would youuse the Handbook?

We are planning to run a number of validation workshops throughout the lifetime of theproject; would you be happy to be involved in these workshops?

Optional: Would you be interested in providing a suitable case study for the OnlineHandbook?

Institutions: Coventry University, York University, Durham University, PlymouthUniversity


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Appendix Three- CRM Handbook in Good Practice QuestionnaireResults

Introduction

Feedback has been gathered on the good practice handbook via an onlinequestionnaire. The Questionnaire was sent to individuals in FE Colleges andUniversities and explored their views on how the various elements of the handbookmight assist them in their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) journey.

95 people responded to the survey. As figure 1 shows, 50% of Questionnairerespondents were working in a business engagement/development role. Senior

management accounted for the second highest proportion of respondents (22.4%).

Figure 1: Respondent Profile

Handbook Themes

The handbook provides guidance on a number of key considerations and decision points

involved in developing strategic CRM processes, including guidance on information and data

management, change management and organisational alignment. Research participants were

asked to discuss the importance/usefulness of this information.

22.4%

50.0%

11.2%

1.0% 15.3%

Senior Management

Business Engagement/Development

Operational/Administrative

ICT

Other


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Theme One Strategic Planning & Organisation

Figure 2: Strategic Planning & Organisation of CRM Systems

Elements of the handbook which covered strategic planning and organisation of CRM systems

were presented to respondents to gauge opinions on their usefulness from the users

perspective. Encouragingly, the vast majority of respondents expressed overall satisfaction with

these various elements. The review of different operational models for a customer centred

approach to BCE was rated positively by all respondents, with 76% expressing an opinion that

the information was essential to the handbook. Information relating to aligning CRM with BCE

support systems was also deemed essential by 75% of respondents. Responses relating to the

usefulness of information on CRM development stages were more evenly spread across theessential (n=44%) and useful (n=52%) categories.

Respondents were subsequently given the opportunity to discuss improvements to the strategic

planning and organisation element of the handbook. Whilst most respondents did not put

forward any suggestions, four participants felt that the handbook should include information on

strategies that deal with attitudinal/cultural barriers and promote staff buy in. Training and

developing staff competency was also considered an important theme for three research

participants.

Theme Two CRM System Foundations

75%

76%

44%

23%

24%

52%

2%

4%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Intergration of systems that support BCE,

where would a CRM System 'fit'? (n=73)

Adopting a Customer Centred approch inBCE, different operational models (n=72)

Identify your current CRM development

stage and subsequent stages to reach

'maturity' (n=70)

%

Essential

Useful

Not Important


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The online Questionnaire sought to capture research participants views on the information

provided on the prerequisites of a successful CRM system.

Figure 3: Operational Development of CRM Systems

Figure three shows that information across five of the six topic areas was deemed essential by

the majority of research participants. Information provided on engaging stakeholders and

developing relationships between marketing and CRM were rated positively by all respondents.

Advice and guidance for change management scored lowest amongst respondents, with less

than half (47%) rating it as essential to their information needs.

For all respondents based in colleges (n=5), raising the profile of CRM for BCE in the institution

was considered essential. Similarly, their perception of the information provided on engaging

stakeholders also differed from the wider group three of the five (60%) found it useful while the

remaining two (40%) considered it to be essential.

A small number of participants made suggestions on other topics to cover within this theme.

It would be useful to have a detailed stakeholder map of CRM sector activities including all

professional bodies and key contact points

Developing new products and services - demand led through market intelligence

Point 3 could be expanded to include relationships across the institution not just between

marketing and CRM.

73%

47%

68%

71%

71%

70%

21%

47%

32%

28%

29%

29%

6%

6%

1%

1%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Raising the profile of CRM for BCE in

your institution (n=70)

Change management (n=68)

Developing and implementing asuccessful relationship between

marketing and CRM (n=69)

Sustainablity of relationships (n=69)

Engaging stakeholders (n=70)

Communication strategies. (n=70)

%

Essential

Useful

Not important


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Theme Three Operational Development

Feedback was sought from participants on elements of the handbook focused on CRMimplementation and the practicalities of making the system operationally successful. As figure

four illustrates, the majority of respondents felt that information on selecting an appropriate CRM

system and data modelling was useful (66% and 65% respectively), although not essential. In

comparison, information relating to business process modelling and development, ongoing

system management and strategies to review the success of the CRM system were all deemed

essential elements of the handbook by the majority of questionnaire respondents (49%, 63%

and 65% respectively) .

Figure 4: Operational Development & Implementation

Further analysis shows that the perceptions of college-based colleagues did not alwaysalign with those of the wider group - these differences are illustrated in figure five.

65%

49%

26%

23%

63%

35%

43%

66%

65%

37%

8%

8%

12%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Measuring the success of CRM for BCE

(n=66)

Business Process Modelling and

Development (n=65)

CRM Systems available in the marketplace

(n=65)

Data Modelling (n=65)

Ongoing managment of a system (n=65)

%

Essential

Useful

Not

important


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Figure 5: Operational Development & Implementation (College-based Respondents)

Only three participants put forward suggestions for additional topics to cover in thehandbook under this theme:

Setting up protocols for data entry and use

Training and re-training (a plan for roll-out), how much inputting to be distributed andhow much centralised...

...Case studies would be helpful. Also useful would be guidance on data migration/takeon as many people underestimate the amount of effort this can involve

Theme Four Regulations and Agreements

Theme four of the handbook deals with regulations and procedural issues for

information sharing, ownership and use. Feedback provided by respondents on theseaspects is illustrated in figure six.

Aspects of the handbook relating to information sharing were rated positively by allquestionnaire respondents, with the majority perceiving it to be essential content (88%).The staff code of practice and information relating to data ownership were alsoconsidered essential by the majority of research participants (73% and 78%respectively). Interestingly, only one third of participants felt that information onagreements between the institution and external organisations was an essential aspectof the CRM systems handbook.

100%

20%

20%

20%

80%

80%

100%

80%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Measuring the success of CRM for BCE

Business Process Modelling and

Development

CRM Systems available in the marketplace

Data Modelling

Ongoing managment of a system

%

Essential

Useful

Base: n=5


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Specific comments and suggestions for improvement focused, in the main, on issuesaround data protection:

As part of Code of Practice I would like to include the governance of data.

Links to DP and FoI and how CRM data might contribute or not to requests againstthese. This places CRM in the right legal context within an institution.

Data protection - the key legal aspects and how to implement them.

Legal issues and risks.

I assume Data sharing is covered within data ownership - if not it needs to be explicit.

User group - it might help to know how the system is being used in all areas of theinstitution (unless control is very tight and central).

Figure 6 Regulations & Agreements

Other JISC Tools

The online questionnaire also sought to determine participants awareness of other JISCtools specifically, CRM Self Analysis Frameworkand Embedding BCE Diagnostics &Evaluation Workbook. As figure six shows, most participants had no prior knowledge ofeither the framework or handbook.

88%

78%

73%

33%

12%

21%

25%

60%

1%

2%

8%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Information sharing

Data ownership

Code of Practice for staff using a CRMS

Agreements between the institution and

external organisations

%Base: n=67

Essential

Useful

Not important


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Figure 6: Awareness of JISC Tools

Additional Comments

Respondents were subsequently given the opportunity to put forward recommendationsto improve the CRM systems handbook. Whilst most respondents did not make anysuggestions, 5 took the opportunity to do additional information. The comments belowconform to findings already presented:

Internal use can also be useful, and it would be beneficial to highlight this as well as a means offacilitating buy-in.

You haven't covered reporting, sharing of information, how easy is it to get data out otherwisepeople won't bother putting it in. What about customer perceptions - could come undermeasurement of CRM effectiveness or quality. Roles and skills (a lot of this is in the EmbeddingBCE diagnostic by the way). Allocation of responsibilities - monitoring of quality of data in the

system and identifying if someone is not using it correctly.

33%

67%

Yes

No

Base: N=67

Embedding BCE Diagnostics & Evaluation Workbook

44%

56%Yes

No

Base: N=66

CRM Self Analysis Framework


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Appendix Four- Handbook Outline

Strategic Planning and Organisation

1) Identifying your current CRM process maturity (and therefore change planning)(Format of questionnaire, 3-4 simple questions to enable people to identify their currentCRM position) (this would need to establish a navigable pathway that readers couldfollow in the handbook depending on which maturity level they self-assess to be)

2) Partnership models (range of BCE partners including business private, businesspublic and Govt, cultural orgs, social and civic, third sector and community etc)NB Could include here the strategic approach to CRM/PRM as promoted byBaaken(see slides 5-9 url below) in diagram formhttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/themes/bce/bceevent0607baaken.pdf

3) Cultural Enablersa. Customer Centred approach/Customer Service in BCEb. Process improvement culture (need to understand own processes across

univ first)i. Benefits of CRM (can refer to the SAF)Principle of whole

university/college benefitii. Individual benefit (as part of i)

4) Collaborative University Approach

a. Scoping the systemb. Trainingc. University Processes working togetherd. Business Intelligence

Operational implementing practices and processes to enable CRM

5) Change management- Link to SAF (maturity pathway too)

6) Raising the profile of CRM for BCE alongside the Teaching and Learning agenda

a. Developing and implementing a successful relationship between marketingand CRM

b. Ditto for IT and information managementi. Using new media to manage customers and interactions and derive

customer value [CRM 2.0 rather than off-the-shelf system]c. Ditto for HR and admind. Getting buy-in from senior and departmental management


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7) Development of Long Term relationshipsa. Consultation with Customers and other HE/FE institutionsb. Sustainability of Relationships

8) What is success in CRM for BCE?

Link to SAF

Practical [i.e. key challenges and how to overcome them]

9) Business Processesa. Businesses process mapping,b. principles of service design & blueprintingc. Principles of Value Stream mapping

10) Quick overview of CRM systems

11) Ongoing management of a CRM system

12) Information Sharing/Data Ownership

13) Code of Practice (Examples from universities: How are these agreed? Whats thebest approach?)

14) CRM for Student relationship management [just a few words here to act as aplaceholder for future additions]


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Appendix Five- Institution Question Index

Questions institutions might want to address approach to handbook index

Introduction with CRM Maturity

Why should you prioritise Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

What should be in your CRM Strategy?

How do you get buy in?

Who are your key internal stakeholders?

What if people won't share?

How can CRM help me build partnerships?

Why are business processes important?

How do you protect data?

What system?

How do we retain Customers?

What is CRM 2.0?

How do you know CRM is working?

How do I manage change?

How can I best use the data?

How can I use CRM for Marketing?

How can we make sure our staff, have the right skills and competencies?


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Appendix Six- Overview of feedback from Validation Workshops

Validation WorkshopsThe workshops were comprised as follows:

A brief familiarisation session allowing participants to understand the index,navigation and contents of the Handbook

An exercise in which participants role-played a situation and used the Handbook

to find guidance

A facilitated discussion allowing participants to discuss their key pain and

decision points in CRM implementation

ExerciseThe tasks set were:

You have been asked to prepare a paper detailing the potential benefits of

adopting a CRM approach.

It is your role to communicate the CRM message and implement the strategy to

staff, how would you start to do this?

You are developing a CRM strategy for presentation to SMT within your

organisation with a view to them giving you the go ahead to proceed.

Summary of Feedback from exercise

General Relationship between the handbook and the key resources e.g Embedding BCE,

Self Analysis Framework and CRM study was an issue as it was not always clear,

the feedback was that these need more prominence at the beginning because

people felt that things were missing from the handbook but these were in the

other resources available.

Work was needed on the style and consistency of writing across the handbook.

A little text heavy in places, more diagrams would be helpful.

Some areas lacked detailed, what needs doing was there but not how to, this was

seen as superficial.

Content Specific

Nothing on Communication Strategies.

More detail on using the data for marketing

More detail on the different models and approaches to CRM and BCE, account

management etc.


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Context may be required for case studies, i.e. what type of institution is Teesside

is it similar to mine.

More tools needed like the code of conduct and access policy

Link required to Just Enough in communicating benefits.

Navigation and Index

Easy way to see all case studies

List of resources and links

Photos, videos and pictures might help to navigate

Numbering the sections may help with navigation

Summary of feedback from the discussion

Key issues Getting people to share contacts on a system

How can a BCE CRM system fit with other CRM systems in the institution

Putting together a business case or a system, how to find financial benefits

Ongoing resources to maintain a system

Buy in from senior management

How to create a corporate culture in BCE

Documents

Handbook in Crm Good Practice Final Report