Creating an integrated communications strategy with Digistorm technology

Kingsway Christian College is a holistic, coeducational Christian school located in the northern suburbs of Perth. Operating since 1984, they are approaching their 40th year with some 1,400 students across K to 12.

With a values-based approach to education and dynamic multiculturalism spanning 45 birth countries, Kingsway stands as one of the most highly sought-after schools in their region. This high demand called for sophisticated technology to ensure flawless communication through the admissions journey.

The challenge

In the past, Kingsway Christian College was tracking all of its prospects without any kind of sophisticated tools or integrations. They handled enrollment enquiries in an outdated and manual fashion, involving tasks like taking notes, following up individually, and setting reminders in Outlook. As a relatively small team, it was tedious and time consuming. But as an essential part of community engagement, they persevered, waiting patiently for a more advanced solution.

Key goals

Kingsway Christian College had a big vision when looking for an admissions system. First and foremost, they needed technology that would seamlessly integrate with their Student Information System, TASS. Naturally, they also wanted something to save them time and modernise their systems.

Beyond sophisticated, simple, and TASS integrated, they wanted their new platform to be part of a wider communications strategy where everything synced smoothly. Russell Long, Director of Community Engagement at Kingsway, explains that they knew they wanted an app down the track, and the ability to connect these technologies seamlessly was hugely important.

“We saw from the outset that there was going to be no issues in terms of that integration,” explains Russel. “And that's one of the reasons we actually partnered with Digistorm. This is the direction that we're actually going in; an integration between all these communications.”

On choosing Funnel

Kingsway Christian College is now using Funnel as its prospective database, capturing every lead within this single tool, whether from a phone call, an email inquiry, or an event registration. For them, the decision to move to Digistorm was based on the ability to save time, as well as expand and integrate with all future and current technology, particularly TASS.

“Before Funnel, everything was a manual process. There's room for error when you're retyping data. It's much slower. So the integration means we've sped things up so much,” says Russell. “Ultimately, that frees us up to spend time with people. Relating to parents on the phone, in person, that's what we're good at. That's what we enjoy doing. We're not locked into data entry; that's for the software to do.”

Most loved feature

Kingsway Christian College has set up numerous advanced automations within Funnel. The communications they send out do a sophisticated job of nurturing prospective families, sharing information and links to drive action and help them gain an understanding of the school.

“The goal we have is to get them on campus to hear from the principal and the deans. When they're doing that, they're having their questions answered. And we're finding a really good conversion rate from that because they like what they're hearing.”

Russell says he is finding the automations are very targeted to where families are in their buying cycle, whether they're looking years in advance or for enrolment the following year. This means they’re getting heavily targeted communication that’s actually relevant.

“I'm finding that's taking some pressure off me because I'm responding to parents in a timely way,” explains Russel. “They're getting the right communication. So many that would normally have just come directly to me are actually getting the information from the tools.”

Working with Digistorm

The Kingsway team didn't have a system in place that they were happy with when they first approached Digistorm. They more or less started from scratch to create a sophisticated prospect database. Despite this potential for complexities, they found the process smooth and enjoyable.

When asked how it’s been working with Digistorm, Russel shares that he has been very impressed with the service they were provided. “We've been really happy to be honest. The communication worked extremely well and the software has done its job in freeing us up. The team is visiting Perth. There are in-person workshops. I'm often doing online meetings with my account manager and they're always available. I'm always learning and it's always growing.”

For Russel, he likes the way that Funnel is always progressing. “It doesn't stand still. There's been constant improvements and additions, new things coming on all the time.”