According to the recent population census survey, nearly 580 million Indians fall in the age bracket of 5-24 years. A substantial Indian population is on the lookout for specialized courses and learning opportunities.

Edtech industry has certainly taken the cue and hasn’t put a foot wrong since the pandemic. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the industry was valued at USD 750 million in 2020 and is slated to touch USD 4 billion by 2025. 

In India, the Industry’s growth is largely observed in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where students want affordable and quality education. To give you an example of Edtech’s penetration in the Indian market, Byju’s has committed to launching 500 Tuition Centers across 200 cities by the end of 2022, ensuring a unique combination of online and offline learning.

Considering the exponential growth, the onus is on Edtech firms to not only help students make informed decisions but actively involve parents in conversations around course selection, enrollment, platform experience, and feedback - using the right set of communication channels. 

Contemporary Edtech customer communication channels

Virtualization and digitization have changed the way we learn and collaborate. Today, students actively seek more personalized course suggestions for upskilling. It is essential for Edtech contact centres to give students a seamless communication experience and address their queries using every available channel. For example, regular queries can be addressed using chatbots and complex ones can be redirected to human agents. 

ParentSquare conducted a survey, in which administrators and teachers shared their perspectives on contemporary communication channels and what needs to change. 

Respondents were allowed to select up to eight channels as their preferred mode of customer communication. According to survey results, 93 per cent see email as their first choice, followed by websites/portals (84%), SMS (73%), social media (71%), and voice calls (66%). In terms of effectiveness and frequency of use, email is the preferred communication channel among educators, followed by mobile apps, SMS texts, and voice calls. 

Irrespective of the channel, educators want to have transparent, secure, and trusted interactions with parents and students. 

Although Email and SMS are preferred over Voice Call, it has a crucial role to play in enabling seamless two-way communication with students. To make it happen, Edtech platforms should focus on creating authentic calling experiences for users. 

Here's how you can enrich your Edtech customer communication

Often users do not answer phone calls from Edtech platforms regarding course enrollment, student counselling, or feedback, because: 

• The caller ID appears to be skewed and unverified (For example - there is no brand name or logo, or the brand name is misspelt).

• Users don't know the caller's intention (why business representatives are calling them in the first place).

• Users fear being scammed by an imposter. Parents are particularly vigilant as their child’s future is at stake.

Therefore, you need to make your calls look trustworthy, branded, and meaningful so that more students and parents pick them up without any hesitation.

1. Empower your Edtech customer communication with Verified Business Caller ID

Believe it or not, how your caller ID is displayed can make or break your Edtech customer communication. You can either make students or parents suspicious with a skewed caller ID or give them visual reassurance with a verified and branded caller ID.

By listing your number on Truecaller for Business program, you can accurately display your brand name, logo, business category tag, and call reason to reach students and parents from major metros as well as tier 2 and tier 3 cities - thanks to Truecaller’s 300M + extensive userbase. 

You can: 

• Instil a sense of trust and safety in consumers. 

• Set the right expectations for them even before they pick up the call.

• Create a strong recall for your brand.

• Impact the buying decisions of students and parents. 

2. Customize your Edtech customer communication 

Besides setting the right expectations for customers, you can use our Business Call Reason feature to customize your caller ID based on your business use cases. For example, you can display different call reasons like:

• We’re calling you for course enrollment 

• Call regarding your query on course fee  

• We’re calling you for student counselling  

• Call regarding course feedback 

You can even display your call reason in multiple languages to create a more localized experience for users. 

3. Augment your Edtech customer communication with Video Caller ID

 You can add an extra layer of brand identity to your calls and deliver a lively calling experience to users, by augmenting your caller ID with multi-format business use case videos (as shown below). Here’s a quick guide on our Video Caller ID feature. 

You can leave a lasting impression on users by having your branded video play even on the After Call Screen.

Conclusion

In a high-touch market like India, where the need to stay connected with customers is paramount, Voice Call is a critical customer touchpoint where users may interact with your brand multiple times a day. You can turn it into your cornerstone communication channel to enrol, educate, and support students. It all starts with an authentic and purposeful caller identity.

Want to empower your business communication and give users a verified calling experience? Reach us at business-outreach@truecaller.com