Ole Miss Success Story: Empowering Education through Salesforce with High Tide
Students at Ole Miss enjoying learning outdoors.
Background
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, has a broad and diverse Division of Outreach, encompassing Ole Miss Online, regional campuses, pre-college programs, and various other departments to support students in a variety of ways.
Harnessing Salesforce Capabilities
Ole Miss needed a knowledgeable Salesforce partner to help efficiently manage prospective student data and correspondence for such a wide array of programs. Despite having Salesforce, the University required expert guidance to harness its capabilities fully.
The Challenge
When Emily Styles joined the Division of Outreach at Ole Miss as the CRM Administrator, she joined with limited knowledge of Salesforce, which is very common. Luckily for her department, she had a deep understanding of the university and other student information systems, having worked at Ole Miss for eight years before she transitioned into this new role.
"One of my biggest concerns was knowing very little about Salesforce. The implementation partner was transitioning out as I was coming in, so there was a lack of continuity in support. We needed a solution that provided ongoing training and support to realize Salesforce’s potential fully."
The High Tide Solution
Seeking a comprehensive solution, Emily set about interviewing various Salesforce partners. Emily recalls, "I felt an instant connection with High Tide, especially with co-founder Karly. I felt that High Tide genuinely cares about their client's success."
Karly from High Tide Co introduced Emily to Alia, who was beginning a transformative journey. Alia provided patient, practical guidance and worked closely with Emily to understand and address the unique needs of the Division of Outreach. This collaboration included continuous training and support for various projects, ensuring a smooth transition and integrating different departments into Salesforce.
Salesforce Training Experience
Emily describes the implementation experience with High Tide:
"Working with Alia has been excellent. She has been patient and listens to what we need, thinking through how we can make things happen without disrupting the way Salesforce is currently used across the university. High Tide’s team is incredibly organized, and their communication is excellent. They are always reachable via Slack and email, and the time difference has never been an issue.
They go above and beyond whenever we have requests and have an excellent organization method to track projects and requests. They can also make comprehensive notes, which I use all the time when trying to refresh my memory.”
Additionally, High Tide supported Ole Miss at the Salesforce Education Summit when Emily and her co-worker, Logan Kirkland, presented about how two newcomers to their role went from head-scratching to problem-solving to show that being new users of software should not stop you from being successful by showing up at the event and being their cheerleaders.
Impact and Benefits of Using Salesforce
The collaboration with High Tide Co has led to significant improvements at Ole Miss. Emily highlights several vital benefits:
Streamlined Processes: "One major improvement is our ability to streamline and customize our Salesforce environment. The new, cleaner page layouts have enhanced user engagement and made training much easier."
Increased Confidence: "Alia’s training has boosted my confidence. I understand Salesforce better and can create effective training materials for our end users."
Enhanced Support: "High Tide Co has provided exceptional support, from practical guidance to sharing best practices. Their team is proactive and always ready to help us move forward."
Since using Salesforce, Ole Miss has reported:Enhanced RFI Completion: Received approximately 25% more completed RFIs utilizing Salesforce Account Engagement (Emily’s Stats)
Increased Created Applications: Received approximately 95% more created applications from inquiries who engaged with one of our email campaigns (Emily’s Stats)
Improved User Login: Increased user logins and engagement by 20% since the new Outreach App went live
Efficiency Increased: End users gained more than 50% of time back due to automated emails, the new simplified app and report/dashboard data management (Emily’s Stats)
Advice for other organizations
Emily was passionate about working with us and said: “I highly recommend High Tide to other universities and non-profits. You can't go wrong with High Tide. They have a personable team with extensive Salesforce knowledge and excellent communication skills. If you're looking for a partner who genuinely cares about your success, this team is the way to go!"
