Student Recruiting Firm TargetX Unveils Revolutionary CRM System for College Admissions

Bristol, PA (PRWEB) September 25, 2008 -- As colleges feel increasing pressure to build relationships with prospective students, the long-time leader in recruitment technology has created a revolutionary customer relationship management system, providing a one-stop online tool for managing the entire recruitment process.

TargetX, one of higher education's most innovative recruiting companies over the past 10 years, has created the first CRM for colleges that provides a completely integrated, customizable, expandable and reportable suite of recruitment management tools. The new system is called Student Recruitment Manager (SRM).

"We've combined a revolutionary way to manage student information, a consumer-friendly student portal for applying online and scheduling campus visits, and the electronic communication tools for which TargetX has become known and respected throughout the industry," said CEO Brian Wm. Niles.

The SRM (http://www.targetx.com/srm/index.html) was unveiled at the 64th annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, held this week in Seattle.

The new system enables admissions offices to manage and automate the recruitment process, from the first point of contact with a student to the point of enrollment.

"Colleges finally have one tool for managing the entire recruitment process, powered by a single database," explained Niles. "No more moving data around, no more waiting for the IT department to deliver reports, no more struggling to figure out who in the inquiry database received what communications. Everything is in one place, on-demand, with real-time information on prospects, touchpoints and tasks."

With the SRM, the days of importing and exporting data are over, Niles added. The open architecture enables real-time, two-way data exchange with campus information systems, eliminating the need to juggle different silos of data.

TargetX chose to build the SRM on the proven Force.com platform of Salesforce.com, the worldwide leader in on-demand CRM. More than 47,000 organizations and 1 million people are using Salesforce technology for their customer relationship management.

"Rather than reinvent the wheel, we decided to take the Force.com platform that powers the incredibly successful Salesforce CRM tool and mold it into the first truly integrated recruitment management tool," said Niles.

Using the Salesforce framework also makes the SRM easy to expand. Users can add to the capabilities of their TargetX system through hundreds of add-on products that address the specific needs of their office or staff -- including telemarketing, on-demand printing or Crystal Reports for deeper data analysis. And the add-ons can be installed in minutes, not months, unlike many of the traditional CRM tools.

Another strength of the SRM is its automatic integration with TargetX's email broadcasting and online chat tools -- which have a reputation as the most powerful and reliable in the industry. In addition, colleges have the option of using TargetX's popular blogging and social networking tools to further their communications efforts with today web-savvy students.

"People really like our system because it works just the way they want it to -- leaving them to do the job they were hired to do, which is find the students that best match their college," said Niles. "While their direct marketing practices have become more sophisticated, their data management systems have not. They spend countless hours moving data from vendor to vendor and struggling to create reports that are often outdated by the time they get them, or are simply inaccurate.

"We've been there. We know. The experience of the TargetX team includes people who have struggled with various types of enterprise systems only to realize there must be a better way. And that better way is the SRM."

About TargetX

TargetX (http://www.targetx.com) is the leader in relationship recruiting, helping 450 colleges engage prospects through more effective communication and powerful relationship management. TargetX offers technology and services to help colleges build and maintain relationships with today's highly social students -- online, in print and in-person.

TargetX has also developed a reputation in higher education for objective and expert counsel. The company offers a popular series of workshops and seminars; provides presentations at dozens of conferences around the country; generates three different blogs for admissions officers; and produces the only podcast devoted to student recruiting and college marketing.

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