Arriving at effective use of CRM (see “What exactly is a CRM?“) practices will require collaboration between the Navigator digital engagement team and the Extension faculty and staff who create and foster valued relationships with partners and constituents across Oregon—all of you, right?
All that collaborative work is done by people.
The single greatest factor to allow people to perform better together is trust. In the case of building a CRM practice together across the Extension Service, I’m thinking of trust we will build upon in these areas:
- Our shared goal to follow through on OSU Extension Service’s organizational mission
- The urgency of collecting information about partners and constituents in a shared resource — a database
- Constant vigilance on issues such as the safety and privacy of all information
- Safeguards on the responsible use of information that is shared among Extension programs
- Ongoing availability of training and support to help use the CRM in effective ways
The current reality across Extension is people’s contact information for various Extension programs ends up saved in different formats, tucked away in different locations, accessible by separate people who communicate sparingly with each other.
Meanwhile, by virtue of their varied interests or engagement with Extension events, our constituents navigate through numerous Extension program areas, popping up in contact lists owned by different programs (or county offices).
The result is ongoing outreach efforts that land in their mailbox or In box coming in from different Extension program areas. Thus increasing the potential for them to become bombarded with messages from Extension… how are we to measure the efficacy of all our time and expense in this current system?
We can do better!
The Navigator team is making plans for our CRM future
The hope, then, is we collaborate to create a new system together.
As our trust — in each other, in our ability to build effective partnerships, and in the awareness how CRM practices save time and build efficiencies — grows, so will our ability to design new online tools to tackle the unique challenges we face as an organization. The Navigator team can’t face these challenges alone! Our planning and design phase relies on your inclusion in understanding where the day-to-day business needs are and how to address them with appropriate, scalable solutions.
And about that training and support…
As we work through the latter half of 2019, the number of opportunities to interact with the Navigator digital engagement team for consultations, trainings, and partnerships will steadily increase. We look forward to working with you!
Our conversations will provide hands-on guidance as to how to use a CRM for your program’s unique business needs. We’ll strive to use multimedia with an aim of broadening availability of learning resources to everyone who needs them. We will have recorded webinars and in-person sessions, viewable online at any time.
If you have any questions about how to begin thinking of the CRM as your next tool to streamline communications, our team is ready to hear from you and listen to your unique view of Extension from where you’re at.
Meanwhile… Extension Website updates.
New example program pages have launched since our previous blog post. These are great examples of how you can lay out your content for program participants, volunteers, and other people who are involved with or interested in your program.
- extension.oregonstate.edu/4h/clackamas (Metro region)
- extension.oregonstate.edu/4h/clatsop (Coast region)
- extension.oregonstate.edu/4h/marion (Western region)
