Struggling to persuade prospective students and donors to support your institution? You’re probably not approaching conversations as strategically as you need to be.
In this blog, we’ll explore how integrating your phone system with your CRM, using a power dialer to prioritize personalized conversations, and automating workflows with AI can help you make better connections. Transforming your processes with these elements—all while maintaining compliant calling and texting—-gives your outreach the boost it needs to help you improve relationships.
Building strong relationships with your target audience helps them see the value in the work you do and why it deserves their involvement. Personalized conversations are the key to creating such relationships and generating excitement for your cause—-but they can be challenging to develop at scale.
That’s why choosing the right phone system is imperative to growing your school or nonprofit, and recruiting more eager new faces. Your platform should make it simple to connect with prospects and customize conversations to their unique needs—helping you stand out from competitors and make an impression. While helping reps call and text prospects efficiently, it should prioritize 1:1 connections for a solid customer experience—-instead of dialing long lists of low-quality leads in a spammy fashion. Below are some more attributes you should seek out when selecting a phone system.
Table of Contents
Seamless CRM integration and two-way data sync
When your team makes outbound calls or handles inbound calls, switching between platforms can slow the process and hurt productivity. Reps should have the power to call or text right from their CRM as they interact with customers,accessing real-time phone data there on demand. Equally as important is accessing CRM data in their phone system as they talk or text, so they can provide customers the best possible level of personalization.
They won’t have to ask repetitive questions, and they can enter every conversation armed with the background knowledge they need to further the relationship. Prospects will notice the difference, and your reps will feel more confident to tackle any conversation with comprehensive customer data at their fingertips.
Having this seamless CRM compatibility and two-way data sync helps reps become more productive, professional, and engaging in every prospect interaction. Aloware integrates with all major CRMs in a single click and doesn’t require extensive training or setup—leaving no barriers for your team to start reaping these benefits right away.
Power dialer for improved pickup rates and call quality
Perhaps nothing is more frustrating to reps than dialing number after number with no successful connections. There are many reasons why prospects often decline cold calls, but the right phone system gives your organization the credibility it deserves when conducting outreach. Instead of choosing a predictive dialer that often results in carrier spam markings and leaves customers with a poor experience (read: that awkward pause you’ve heard when picking up an unfamiliar call), choose a power dialer that avoids these pitfalls.
Aloware’s power dialer makes sure there’s always a rep available to handle customer calls, and that no lead gets left hanging. It also doesn’t sacrifice workflow speed and efficiency, enabling reps to quickly move on to their next dial or call any prospect back with a shortcut button. Reps can leave tailored voicemails instantly instead of waiting for a tone to record, and save time taking manual notes with our automatic CRM data sync.
All of this reduces the time they spend on routine tasks and increases the time they spend talking with your next potential students or donors. You’ll also escape being stuck with spam labels, which can make any prospect question the quality of your institution. Thanks to our simplified compliance workflows, carrier registration, and branded caller ID, your reps will start many more quality conversations—instead of getting hung up on.
AI workflow automations and analytics
When you’re pursuing a new lead, it’s critical to follow up immediately after that person indicates an openness to speaking. This might come as a form submission, a website visit, or engagement with a social media post—-but in any case, you don’t want to waste time contacting that party. Research proves that prospects are most likely to enter a conversation right after they request more information—-so waiting days or even hours after they complete an action could cost you the deal.
But optimizing speed to lead can be challenging for nonprofits and educational institutions, especially when small sales and marketing teams are stretched thin. That’s why the right phone system automates the process for you and saves reps from stopping their current tasks to contact a new lead. With Aloware’s AI SMS chatbot, you can immediately text leads and qualify them before passing them along to reps for a conversation.
Since the chatbot is highly trainable and conversational, you can upload your existing marketing materials to make it an instant expert in your organization—equipping it to field even the trickiest customer questions. Then once it confirms a potential fit, the bot can introduce leads to your sales team for a deeper conversation—and hopefully a closed deal.
Easy, managed compliance
When you’re reaching out to prospects, you’ll need to take special care to stay compliant and avoid any Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations. Designed to respect consumer privacy in telemarketing, TCPA requires organizations to respect Do Not Call registries and honor opt-out requests, along with other compliance checks. Your phone system should help your school or nonprofit easily fulfill these requirements hassle-free and avoid the damage that violations can bring.
Similar to calling, texting prospects at scale requires you to stay compliant and register your campaigns with carriers before launching. Aloware’s A2P 10DLC service helps you quickly and efficiently complete this step, so carriers can whitelist your campaigns and optimize your SMS delivery rates. You won’t have to stress about managing opt-outs or sending confirmations—just creating engaging sales and marketing messages.
Summing it up
Selecting the right phone system is crucial for educators and nonprofits aiming to enhance engagement and build meaningful connections. By prioritizing personalized conversations, you can improve outreach effectiveness and foster relationships with prospective students and donors. Leveraging the right platform like Aloware not only elevates the quality of your interactions but also drives mission success, helping you stand out and make a lasting impact in your community.
Build meaningful connections Grow your school or nonprofit through the power of personalized conversations. Sign up for a demo or start a free 14-day trial today.
