The University of Glasgow is introducing a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to transform how we manage and track our interactions with applicants and students in one place.
The University has selected Salesforce as its CRM system, following a comprehensive procurement process involving colleagues from across External Relations and Information Services.
More than just a technology upgrade, the CRM represents a step-change in how we work, breaking down silos, enabling collaboration, and creating seamless processes across the student journey.
It will support a high-quality, sector-leading onboarding experience, powered by a system that is easy to use, efficient for staff and designed to help us deliver the best possible experience for our students.
What is a CRM and why do we need it?
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system helps organisations manage relationships and interactions with people. For the University, it means having a single view of every student’s journey, making communication smoother and the overall experience more consistent and personalised.
We need a CRM to give us a clear view of every interaction with our students, from their first enquiry all the way through to registration and enrolment. It means no more information gaps for staff or repeated questions for students, as everything is captured in one place.
Every interaction tells a story and with the CRM, we can see all the chapters.
Why is the student onboarding process changing?
Although our colleagues work incredibly hard to deliver a positive experience, the onboarding process is complex, manual and spread across multiple systems. This makes it difficult to get a clear view of where each student is at in their journey and can lead to duplication of effort or inconsistent experiences.
By introducing a CRM and streamlining how we manage interactions, we can reduce manual workload for our staff, improve collaboration across teams and ensure every student has a smooth, consistent, and welcoming start to their University journey.
When will this happen?
The University is rolling out the new CRM in stages to make sure everything works smoothly. We’re working closely with colleagues across Marketing, Admissions and other teams, as well as staff experts who know the current processes best.
- Release 1 - June 2026: Focuses on capturing leads (students who have shown interest) and managing events like open days.
- Release 2 - September 2026: Adds functionality for handling applicants.
- Release 3 - October 2026: Adds scholarship processes to existing functionality.
Each release will have a testing phase and dedicated support afterwards. There will also be decision points throughout the project to check readiness before moving to the next stage.
More information and frequently asked questions are available
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