How John Wood Community College automated applicant data syncs with SyncMatters

Industry

Education

Challenge

Manually importing applicant data into HubSpot limited John Wood Community College’s ability to track application stages, analyze ROI, and ensure enrollment growth.

Results

A 95% data matching accuracy, enabling a 2.5x improvement in ROI, 42% efficiency gains, and full utilization of HubSpot for tracking applicants.

Key Service

CRM Integration

jwcc.edu

42%

Operational efficiency

2.5x

ROI

95%

Match Rate

[SyncMatters' solution] is a workhorse that just runs in the background. Not noticing it means that it is working and making me happy. – Kristen Ritterbusch, Director of Admissions

Kristen Ritterbusch

Director of Admissions @ JWCC

About JWCC

John Wood Community College, a public institution in Quincy, Illinois, provides higher education opportunities with a focus on career-oriented programs and accessible pathways for students across diverse backgrounds. Facing an increasingly competitive landscape, the college aims to not only attract new students but also streamline the enrollment process.

The challenge

John Wood Community College’s admissions team relied on a semi-manual process to update and track applicant data within HubSpot, utilizing Banner for student records and Argos to export applicant information. This process proved inefficient and limited their ability to accurately monitor applicants' progression from inquiry to enrollment.

As they manually imported data via CSV files, admissions personnel encountered data inaccuracies, missing records, and mismatched information between systems. This hampered their visibility into the application funnel and reduced their ability to make data-informed marketing decisions that could effectively boost engagement and ROI.

The admissions team needed a more accurate, automated system to keep up with applicant tracking and eliminate manual errors.

The solution

SyncMatters offered an automated integration solution, designed specifically to enhance connectivity between Banner and HubSpot. The integration automated the daily transfer of Argos-generated CSV files into HubSpot, eliminating manual data handling. Using custom logic, SyncMatters built an algorithm to match Banner applicants with HubSpot contacts accurately, ensuring data alignment between both systems.

This process enabled the college’s admissions team to track applicant stages within HubSpot in near real-time, offering clarity on enrollment pipelines and allowing for data-driven decision-making in marketing and recruitment strategies.

Daily automated syncs and custom matching algorithms brought new efficiency, enabling faster, data-informed decisions.

The design

SyncMatters implemented a robust and user-friendly integration designed around John Wood’s specific requirements. By assigning each applicant to the correct academic term, the integration recognized enrollment cycles, ensuring data consistency and accuracy. The integration's daily syncs provided admissions staff with comprehensive, up-to-date data on applicant stages, allowing them to monitor the progression of each student through the enrollment journey.

In cases where records failed to match automatically, SyncMatters generated an actionable report, enabling the team to review and correct unmatched records, thereby maintaining data integrity across systems.

Custom integration design catered specifically to the admissions cycle, ensuring term-by-term data precision.

The result

John Wood Community College achieved a significant transformation in its admissions process with the SyncMatters integration. By automating data transfers, the college reduced its reliance on manual updates, achieving a 42% improvement in operational efficiency. With a 95% match rate, admissions staff could trust the data in HubSpot, allowing them to focus on strategic enrollment initiatives rather than data management.

The integration provided an accurate, real-time view of the applicant pipeline, enhancing decision-making capabilities and boosting marketing ROI by 2.5 times. The integration also positioned John Wood to better anticipate and adapt to enrollment trends, ultimately strengthening its recruitment efforts and institutional growth trajectory.