WhatsApp CRM · Tuition Academies
WhatsApp CRM for tuition academies and class coordinators
Written for how tuition academies actually work
Institutes with a few subject teachers under one brand and one admin number, and single-teacher classes grown to the point where a coordinator answers the WhatsApp while the teacher teaches.
Before registration this moves in days. Nudge on day three, ask again around day seven, offer to close at two weeks. After enrollment the message that matters is to a student who stopped turning up.
January is the biggest enrollment window, results-release weeks cause spikes that do not sit on the calendar, Avurudu is a dead fortnight, and December is the quietest month.
A normal day in your inbox
- What is the fee for the Grade 10 maths class?
- Is there a seat in the Grade 6 scholarship class for my son?
- How do we register, do we have to come to the office?
- Is the fee monthly, or do we pay for the whole term?
- If my child joins now, can she catch up on the earlier syllabus?
- When is the first class, and what should he bring?
Where the deals leak
- Post seen
- Fee asked
- Fee answered
- Registration
- First class
- Attendance
- Term renewal
Between the fee answer and registration. "Let me think about it" is read as a final answer, the registration date passes with no reminder, and the batch starts without them.
Nothing nudges the parent back. They were comparing classes or waiting for salary day, and the academy that sent a second message was still live in their mind.
A board that matches your job
Run one board per intake window. After results come out, the column that matters is "Details sent": parents deciding now who have heard from you once.
Stage 1
New enquiry
Message in, grade or subject known, nothing sent yet.
Stage 2
Details sent
Fee, batch day and seat status have gone out.
Stage 3
Seat held
A seat reserved, with a date it releases.
Stage 4
Registered
Name and number taken, first class date given.
Stage 5
Attending
In the batch and turning up.
Stage 6
Slipping
Missed classes you noticed, before the fee stops arriving.
Tags worth having
- Grade 10 maths
- Sunday batch
- Scholarship class
- Seat held
- Fee pending
- Joined mid-year
Set it up once
Everything below happens inside WhatsApp Web, on the number you already use. No API, no new inbox.
Add InboxCRM to Chrome- 1
Answer with a next step attached
A quick reply that gives the fee, one concrete thing this batch does, and a question that asks for a decision: shall I register, shall I hold a seat. Winning academies are rarely the cheapest; their reply ends somewhere.
- 2
Put the real seat count where anyone can read it
Keep the seats actually left in a custom field and update it on each registration. Parents have learned to distrust "plenty of seats", and they can tell a number from a reassurance.
- 3
Make "I'll think about it" a stage, not an ending
Follow-up rules watch how long a chat sits in one stage. Three days is a light nudge, a week is a question about the batch start, two weeks is an honest offer to close the enquiry.
- 4
Notice the student who is fading
Move them to "Slipping" and send one message asking if everything is fine and offering the notes. Almost nobody does this, which is why academies find out in the month the fee does not arrive.
The messages that stall a sale
“The fees are high.”
Usually means
They haven't connected your fee to anything that makes this batch different from a cheaper option.What works
Name one honest, concrete thing: a smaller batch, a past-paper routine. Never a pass rate.“Let me think about it.”
Usually means
Still comparing two or three classes, or waiting for payday.What works
Agree it's worth thinking about, then ask one light question that keeps the seat conversation open. It is a chat that dies if you let it.“Can I speak to the teacher directly?”
Usually means
They want proof the class is real and the teacher reachable.What works
Say honestly how questions are handled: admin for logistics, teacher for academic ones.“Are there really seats left?”
Usually means
They don't want to be told yes and then find the batch full.What works
Give the actual status in the moment, as a number if you track one.
Quick replies to save first
Copy these, swap the details in [brackets], and save them as quick replies so you stop retyping them.
Fee with a close
The [grade] [subject] class is [amount] per [month/term], and the batch works through past papers across the term. [Number] seats are left. Shall I register [child]?
Nudge after "let me think"
Hello, just checking about the [subject] class. Have you decided? I can hold a seat if you want one, no pressure either way.
Student who has gone quiet
Hi, [child] has missed the last couple of classes. Is everything all right? I can send the notes from those days.
Free tools that help here: WhatsApp Link Generator, WhatsApp Business Message Templates.
The parts of InboxCRM you'll use most
Follow-up rules
A chat sitting in one stage too long comes back to you instead of expiring.
Quick replies
Fee, batch, register and seat answers go out the same way whoever holds the phone.
Pipeline board
One column per step from enquiry to registered.
Reports
Compare enquiries against registrations for a batch and see where the window leaked.
Questions from tuition academies
Does it take attendance or replace our register?
No. It does not mark attendance and does not replace the register or the fee book. It holds a stage and a note for a student you have already noticed missing, so the follow-up gets sent while it still matters.
Two of us answer the academy's WhatsApp. Does that work?
The board and notes live in the browser profile where the extension is installed, so they are not shared between machines. If everyone answers from one front-office computer, everyone sees the same board. A backup you export elsewhere is a copy, not live sync.
Can we message every past enquirer when a batch opens?
Campaigns go to a list of people who agreed to hear from you, and they send slowly by design: conservative hourly and daily caps, quiet hours and a per-contact cooldown. Numbers copied out of a group are not a fair list.
Do we need the WhatsApp Business API?
No. This runs on ordinary WhatsApp Web in desktop Chrome, with the academy number you already use. There is no application, no approval and no template review. Anything scheduled does need Chrome open with WhatsApp Web loaded when it is meant to send.