A CRM (Constituent Relationship Management) system at a university refers to a software solution or platform that helps manage and streamline interactions and relationships with various stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and prospective students. It serves as a centralized database and communication tool to enhance engagement, support administrative processes, and improve overall Constituent experience within the university environment.

Using the CRM platform, powered by Salesforce, fosters a positive and engaging educational experience throughout the student lifecycle.

In order to provide the best service or experience to any constituent, those representing UNM must have a full understanding of that constituent during their point of contact. To create the richest understanding of constituents as possible, CRM data must come from as many of those interactions with UNM as possible.

Given the scale and complexity of UNM—not to mention any given individual or group’s relationship with the university over a lifetime—this is only possible with an enterprise-wide implementation of a unified CRM platform. 

Salesforce is the largest CRM platform in the world and includes several benefits that it apart from other CRM systems. Advantages of Salesforce over other CRM systems include:

• Scalability. It can accommodate the needs of organizations of all sizes, including supporting complex requirements at a university.
• Customization and Flexibility. Salesforce provides extensive customization options, allowing organizations to tailor the CRM system to their specific needs. It offers a wide range of pre-built features, modules, and integrations, and also allows for creating custom objects, workflows, and business processes.
• Strong Integration capabilities. Many systems already used at UNM can integrate with Salesforce, providing for a singular location for Constituent relationships.
• It’s already adopted at UNM. Departments across UNM and north campus have already adopted Salesforce for individual needs. Expanding on the platform will allow for more collaboration and adoption.

After implementation of current projects, IT Applications will begin accepting two methods to adopt Salesforce:

1. Adopt the student success platform currently in implementation, or 
2. Request an expansion of functionality to meet your department’s needs.

Once an implementation option is available, a project will be initiated. If a new project is necessary, the CRM Executive Team will assess for future development.

Staff, faculty and students who have multiple roles at the University will have the ability to view data that is relevant to them and their role. Future enhancements of Education Cloud will be determined by the governance structure.

Salesforce is the company at the core of the CRM solution. Diverse needs and legacy systems make a complex ecosystem at UNM, and accommodating the needs takes a thoughtful approach.

All enhancements, integrations, and expansions require assessment and careful design to ensure platform stability, security, adoption and value.