Challenge
Getting On Board with Digitalization
In an age where digital literacy is a mandatory skill for students to learn, universities have been left behind. Traditionally manual processes have been a preferred way of conducting day-to-day tasks. However, the need for modernization, efficiency, and innovation prompted educational institutions to get on board with digital transformation.
Considered as one of the largest American universities, our customer was no different in this regard. Complete with over 24k students and 1,200+ employees, the university seemed like a tough nut to crack when it comes to digitalization. And yet here we are – introducing an automated appointment scheduling system that facilitates communication between staff and students.
Solution
A Tough Road to Success
The road to digital success began with the introduction of two major automation tools: Salesforce and Pardot. These tools were implemented to make processes more efficient for users across campus. While the University admins were happy with the functionality, they quickly realized that the legacy scheduling application didn’t quite fit in with the newly introduced digital mix. The most obvious issue with their legacy system was the lack of automated appointment reminders and email notifications. They knew they needed something that would cut down on manual work and increase visibility into schedule changes.
Lack of automation between the scheduling app and Pardot resulted in multiple issues with marketing campaigns and didn’t produce the expected ROI. Additionally, the use of Eventbrite for virtual/in-person events proved cumbersome, as it was time-consuming and difficult to manage. This customer eventually came to SUMO in search of an automated appointment scheduling platform that would securely integrate with their Salesforce and Pardot applications.
Results
Results-Driven Solutions
SUMO’s Appointment and Event Scheduling feature connected the dots with its native Salesforce integration which allowed newly acquired digital platforms to reach their full potential and improve customer engagement strategy. The automated appointment scheduling system streamlined the process of tracking appointments and reserving time on calendars for their faculty, staff, and students. With Appointment Scheduling, organizations can automate tasks such as phone call reminders, email confirmations, SMS notifications, automated follow-up for unconfirmed appointments/reservations by leveraging their existing login credentials.
The team deployed several customized and branded Online Schedulers across multiple websites, each focused on different use-cases specific to their website location. Students could book appointments in a matter of seconds, and in the process, choose the right advisor, calendar, and service. With automated appointment reminders, next-generation calendars, and follow-up reminders by phone or email based on user behavior history in the application, they’re able to reduce no-shows by 20% across all departments.
SUMO’s Events Suite brought appointment and event functionality under one roof in Salesforce, drastically improving user experience and maximizing calendar real estate. Double-booking became a thing of the past, due to SUMO’s direct calendar connection to Outlook which allowed advisors to spent far less time on scheduling activities, and more time on meeting with students.
Finally, SUMO’s Marketing Scheduling Links feature entirely automated data collection to help leverage event attendee information for future marketing campaigns. This allowed the university to communicate directly with event attendees from within their Salesforce account.
Looking Into The Brighter Future
The new automated scheduling platform from SUMO has been a major success for this university. While our customer has traditionally lagged behind other organizations in their adoption of new technologies, they have made up for lost time with a project that made automated scheduling a reality. Looking into the future, they plan on keeping the momentum going and continue its success with automated scheduling.
