Transforming Admissions with AI and Salesforce

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Table of Contents

What?

Learn how to use AI in the student lifecycle from inquiry to enrollment and beyond.

Who?

Salesforce admins, architects, and business leaders working in HigherEd want to bring AI into the process.

Why?

  • Reduce the manual work for admissions teams.

  • Provide a better experience for students.

  • Offer useful insights through automated data analysis and sentiment analysis.

What can you do with it? 

  • Handle Initial Inquiries Automatically: Use Einstein Chatbot to answer common questions and provide information anytime.

  • Make the Admissions Process Smoother: Use AI to manage more complex inquiries and schedule appointments with the admissions team.

  • Improve Communication: Use insights from conversations to tailor marketing and communication strategies.

Quick Overview of Student Lifecycle

The student lifecycle starts with inquiries, progresses through application and enrollment, includes ongoing support and learning, and continues with alum engagement.

Let’s see how AI can impact each lifecycle stage and help Luke and other departments.

Read more on AI for HigherEd here

1. Inquiries and Recruitment

Let’s take Luke as an example. He is a recent high school graduate looking for universities that offer engineering programs.

One day, he stumbled upon an awareness-paid program your university ran and ended up on your website.

Luke knows little about your university or the programs you offer. He wants to do his own research.

His questions are:

  • What is the cut-off for the engineering program?
  • How many students can enroll in this program?
  • What is your admission process?

For these questions, you don’t want your admission counselor to jump on and help Luke when they are already handling other applicants who are more serious about getting into the university.

In this situation, you can use your Salesforce Einstein chatbot with AI as a digital admission counselor or guide to help Luke get answers to his questions. AI can, with the help of RAG, review your knowledge base, PDFs, and internal documents and get Luke answers to his queries.

You can also have the same for international students and answer their queries in their language so they can get a response from the admission team before 12 hours.

2. Application and Enrollment

Now, Luke has gone through other universities, and he is showing deep interest in your uni.

This time, he has some complex questions:

  • How do I apply for financial aid, and what types of aid are available?
  • How strong is your program in my intended major or field of study?
  • What is the process for changing majors or transferring to another program within the institution?

Your Einstein Chatbot with AI can now answer some of those questions, but Luke wants to talk with the admission counselor for more details.

Now, your chatbot can schedule a meeting with the admission counselor.

The admission counselor has no idea about Luke, what questions he asked, and how he feels about the admission process. Is he frustrated with the bot experience or whatnot?

AI can help your Admission counselor navigate the CRM and view a summary of the conversation, cases, and how AI has enhanced his experience so far.

This will give a complete overview of Luke and what he seeks from the upcoming meeting. It will help the admission counselor prepare accordingly and help him get into the university.

3. Ongoing Support and Learning

After a good conversation with the counselor, Luke felt confident about your university and enrolled in the engineering program.

Now, he has different sets of questions to ask the teaching faculty and student administration, such as

  • What are my grades?
  • How am I doing in Mechanics?
  • How much do I have to pay this semester’s fees?

Luke has a busy schedule. Between his studies, extracurricular activities, and internship, he doesn’t have time or energy to go to the admin office to ask about the fees or teach faculty about the grades.

Now, with AI in your Salesforce, you can get Einstein Chatbot to answer questions related to Luke only, such as his grades, fees, course information, etc.

With this, you have given Luke a personal support bot, and he doesn’t have to spend an hour or two in the admin or faculty office. Also, the admin and teaching faculties don’t have to answer the basic questions they have already added to the students’ records in Salesforce CRM.

4. Alum Engagement

Luke has graduated and become an alum of your university; he is now looking for transcripts and references.

Instead of going to the admin office, he can go to your Einstein Chatbot and ask for the transcript and references, which the AI can extract from his record.

With this, it has reduced the manual effort and workload of the admin teams.

This is how AI can help students like Luke, admission, admin, and other teams get what they want without the manual effort.

Before and After AI and its impact on the student lifecycle

Implementing AI through Salesforce Einstein Chatbot and GPTfy has significantly improved the student experience and reduced manual effort.

Here’s a look at the before and after scenarios for Luke, a prospective student, highlighting the benefits and cost savings achieved through AI integration.

Before and After AI implementation

Aspect Before AI (Today) After AI (Tomorrow with GPTfy)
Student Experience
Manual/Slower; 600 agents for basic chat

Automated/Better; 500 agents or less for more capable chat

Support Cost
$7 Million+ with 600 agents

Saves $3 Million+; savings with 100 agents less over 3 years

Support Hours
Limited support hours, poor experience for international students

24×7 Support, better international experience

Student Satisfaction & NPS
Admission Inquiry Chat only; limited text/chat, forced to talk

Happier Students & Better NPS; Inquiry to Enrollment Chat, Text First, Talk Later

Stage-wise AI Implementation Benefits

Stage Before AI After AI
Inquiries and Recruitment
  • Waits for responses during office hours

  • Delayed responses 
 

Einstein chatbot with AI answers instantly frees up admissions counselors for more complex queries

 
Application and Enrollment
  • Waits for admissions counselor to respond

  • Manual scheduling of meetings
 

Einstein chatbot with AI schedules meetings and provides a summary of interactions, making the process smoother

 
Ongoing Support and Learning
  • Visits admin office for basic information

  • Time-consuming process
 

Einstein chatbot with AI provides personalized information instantly and reduces need for office visits

 
Alumni Engagement
  • Manual requests for transcripts and references

  • Waiting for processing
 

Einstein chatbot with AI handles requests automatically and improves efficiency and reduces admin workload

 

With GPTfy, integrating AI into your Salesforce Einstein Chatbot transforms the student experience from inquiry to alumni engagement, significantly reducing manual effort and operational costs.

This approach ensures a more personalized, efficient, cost-effective process, benefiting students and administrative teams.

Bring AI to Your Einstein Chatbot

Handle questions securely with AI. Works with Pro, Enterprise & Unlimited - your data never leaves Salesforce.

 
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TL;DR / Summary

With GPTfy, you can add AI to your Salesforce Einstein Chatbot to help students with everything from inquiry to alumni engagement. This reduces manual work for staff and gives students a better, personalized experience.

Key Benefits:

  • Automate common inquiries: Free up staff time.
  • Improve admissions process: Handle complex questions and schedule appointments.
  • Enhance ongoing support: Provide instant, personalized information.
  • Streamline alum services: Automate transcript and reference requests.
 

Conclusion

GPTfy and Salesforce Einstein Chatbot transform student interactions, reducing manual work and providing a personalized experience. This AI integration efficiently efficiently enhances recruitment, admissions, support, and alum services.

What next?

  • Book a Demo: If you’re ready to securely bring AI into your Salesforce for Higher Ed, book a demo to see how GPTfy can enhance your student’s lifecycle.
  • Stay Updated: Follow us on Linkedin, Youtube, and X for the latest updates, tips, and best practices on AI and Salesforce.
Picture of Saurabh Gupta

Saurabh Gupta

Saurabh is an Enterprise Architect and seasoned entrepreneur spearheading a Salesforce security and AI startup, with inventive contributions recognized by a patent.

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