In the fast-paced setting of a school, ensuring a seamless parent experience can be challenging.
You might know you need an easy and personalised enrolment process and a well-connected community, but making it happen can be tricky.
That was the case for Norwest Christian College. Like many educational institutions, they faced the challenge of handling a growing number of enquiries and seemingly endless waitlists. Maintaining strong relationships with prospective families was a daily struggle that set them in search of a solution.
With a vision of establishing a vibrant community and inspiring purposeful lives for their students, Norwest embarked on a journey of new tech, finding everything they were searching for. And a little bit more.
The challenge of nurturing an ever-expanding waitlist
Norwest Christian College was determined to manage its ever-expanding waitlist more strategically while nurturing relationships with potential students and their families.
For Norwest's Principal, Felicity Marlow, the hunt for new technology brought attention to their school's values. "Getting back to them, communicating with them in a timely fashion and developing that relationship prior to enrolment is really important for us."
They aimed to find a technology suit that could efficiently handle enquiries, streamline the enrolment process, and maintain a consistent brand message across all their interactions with families. This took them on a journey with Digistorm.
The power of having a suite of tech products with one company
Norwest Christian College quickly recognised the power of having a suite of products with one company, unifying their website, app and CRM. It was the solution they were searching for—a way to revolutionise their enrolment process and improve parent engagement in one easy swoop.
"The tools that Digistorm provides enable us to take our focus off managing paperwork, and that means we can straight away step into our relationship with people. We can greet them in a relaxed manner because we know the paperwork is there, it's uploaded, the stats are there, the data is already being filtered through." shares Felicity.
"We use three of the tools that Digistorm provides: Funnel, website and the app. And because we appropriate all those tools, we're able to have cohesive branding across each of those three tools. The experience for parents from pre-enrolment to enrolment and then to be a part of the community is saying the same vision, the same messaging throughout their journey with the school."
This consistency in branding was vital in delivering a unified message to parents, from their initial website visit to their eventual engagement with the school's app. When families know what to expect, they build trust and loyalty.
An efficient and accurate enrolment process
Digistorm's tech trio brought unparalleled efficiency to Norwest Christian College's enrolment process. According to the College's Student Enrolment Manager, Michelle de Rooy, they've managed enquiries, applications, and data without the fuss they'd experienced in the past.
"It saved us so much data entry time. It's also reducing the errors that are made in typing and human error that's involved in that. It's really enabled us with more accuracy and more quicker processes," shares Michelle.
"We have grown as a school by around 400 students since we first implemented the Digistorm products. And a lot of that growth can be attributed to having really great systems that can convert our enquiries into actual enrolments," Michelle continues.
From the Principal's perspective, well-managed numbers result in being able to focus on the bigger picture. "I can easily visualise the data, make decisions and make recommendations to the board," explains Felicity. "This means I can stay in the vision part of my role."
Building a community with easy-to-use tech solutions
For Norwest Christian College, the journey from initial enquiry to enrolment is more than just paperwork; it's a chance to build a sense of community.
"What we loved about Digistorm was that they had the complete package for us. From the app to Funnel and also the website. We knew that by working with them, they'd understand us and our community here, that we'd be able to have a consistent message and brand across all of those three things." explains Michelle Klomp, Norwest's Marketing Communications and Brand Manager. "When we're looking at working with a technology partner, it's all about partnership for us. We wanted somebody who could come on board with us."
As the person steering Norwest's marketing efforts, another big priority for Michelle was the ease of use within their new tech suite. Sophisticated technology is great, but she knew it had to be easy to use for the people working with it on a daily basis.
"In my marketing team, I have people who have different levels of experience with websites. Bringing on the Digistorm website has been a great experience because it's been quite easy for them to work into the back-end content management system," Michelle shares. "The process of implementing the website and the app has been quite an easy process."
Wrapping up
Norwest Christian College is a shining example of what's possible when technology is seamlessly integrated behind the scenes. By adopting all three of Digistorm's products, the College has not only streamlined its processes and improved parent engagement, but it's managed remarkable growth.
As summed up by Michelle de Rooy, this kind of school technology isn't a nice-to-have; it's integral. "We've got a younger demographic coming through with the next generation of enrolments. Schools really need to be up to date with the tools that they're using to make this experience really easy, accessible, smooth, convenient and informative."