VeryConnect

The decision to implement Very Connect Software was originally taken to improve the back office systems for the alumni organisation.

The software makes this really easy to manage, both by the members and the administrators. However, what we didn't appreciate was that we were gaining so much more. We have a social media and email platform that enables us to communicate with our members and for them to communicate with us.
This is a private members platform, not available to the public, and we also like the ability that members can choose their own privacy settings. If they want to be contacted by other members, then they can make their details available, but they can also choose to hide their email and other details yet still remain paying members and receive Newsletters and other publications.

The platform connects to our finance system and the time taken to manage subscription payments has been reduced considerably. We can generate a report and follow up any lapsed members really quickly and easily.

The implementation was seamless. However, we did aim for very clean data import and spent months ensuring that each member had correct details and this work paid off.

In the first six months since we went 'live', our membership numbers grew by 27%. The growth was mainly from young members, but we have two members aged 92 who were able to sign up to the new platform with ease. One member said by email "The website looks great! I love it."

The only drawback so far is there isn't a phone App. However, our own web designer is in the process of designing a website app for us and we hope this will go 'live' in May 2022

The platform is simple to use, and we appreciate the ever evolving updates of the software following feedback and suggestions. The ability to seamlessly integrate ISSUU has been fantastic, and our members really love the 'Address Book' feature as a means to network with other professionals within the industry. For me, the customer service offered by VeryConnect has been fantastic - especially [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]! She has helped us work through changing platform requirements and has supported every step of the way to find resolutions to our requests.

The only downside with this platform is the functionality of the email campaigns feature. It is quite basic when compared to other email CRM platform, with only standard formatting and content upload options. This has improved with recent software updates but there is more work to me done to make the feature fully functioning and more user friendly.

We chose VeryConnect to host our Alumni Platform.

What really sets them apart is that they will go the extra mile to help to accommodate all your requests and also help brainstorm new solutions. Their team is very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and flexible which made the whole implementation process very smooth. I would highly recommend using VeryConnect!

There are a few features that could be improved (such as the email campaigns feature) or added. However, as the software is in the constant development I have no doubt that it will improve in the near feature!