CRM ideas for small training companies that increase course bookings

08/06/2023 in Marketing Ideas

How can a small training provider use customer relationship management (CRM) to increase course bookings?

Here are six ideas. All of them are relatively simple and inexpensive to implement if you have easy access to good quality data about your clients and the courses they book or make enquiries about.

1. Sort customers by market segment and target your messaging

Apply categories to customers and then view all the customers in a particular category. Create new course offers for that category and then promote those courses with a more targeted marketing message. It sounds simple, but it gets harder if you have a lot of difficult to access customer data spread across different IT systems.

2. Do simple data analysis and spot opportunities to upsell existing courses

Filter courses by category and look at who booked on each course. Do some more sorting of those customers - location, course booking dates or maybe size - and then see if you can spot customers that might be interested in courses that other customers in the same category have booked.

3. Collect and analyse feedback about courses

Don’t collect learner feedback unless you plan to do something with it. Where do you store learner feedback? Is it filed away on paper somewhere or is it in the same system as your courses, bookings and enquiries? Do something very simple - at the end of a course ask your learners to tell you what else they are interested in.

4. Offer discounts or some other kind of loyalty program to high value customers

How easy is it to sort customers by - learners and client organisations - by total sales? It sounds easy, but may be difficult if your data is spread across different systems. It's even harder if the data is in MS Excel.

Nurture your high value customers with extra rewards or discounts. Offer some kind of points-based loyalty system where clients get discounts for repeat bookings. You could develop a more sophisticated system that rewards clients for sharing positive feedback about your courses on social media.

5. Optimise data collection and professionalise customer service

Quick access to all the information you hold about a customer makes it easier for you to offer a better, more joined up customer support service. The essential requirement is that you collect and store information in the right kind of course booking/training management system.

6. Leverage social media for particular audiences and market segments

Don’t underestimate the value of platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram can be a great way to connect with a wider audience if you sell courses to individuals.

Conclusion

Customer relationship management is about using data to improve customer interactions and generate more business.

The key to good CRM is data collection and management. You need to collect data about courses, bookings and enquiries in a system that you can then run reports against. You can sort of do it with Excel, but it becomes too difficult as your business grows. A generic CRM system is a better solution, but a dedicated training management system like Coursedate is even better still because it is designed to give you the right kinds of insights into the training history, interests and satisfaction of the people who attend your courses.

What are the best CRM systems for training providers?

Salesforce CRM for Training Providers - What You Need to Know

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Training Providers - What You Need to Know

The bluffer’s guide to marketing your training courses with a Facebook page