Slate
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Most Helpful Reviews for Slate
1 - 5 of 42 Reviews
Ryan
Verified reviewer
Higher Education, 201-500 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed January 2019
This is the BEST CRM for education that you will find
Our organization has been using Slate for 3 years and we are still in love with the product. It might sound strange, but I look forward to coming into work just to use the software. It makes our jobs so much easier that it's released a lot of tension that was in the office with our previous vendor.
PROSThe balance between features, flexibility, and setup is unmatched by any other product I've used. The thing I most like about Slate is that it is so easy to use. I haven't used any other product that gets usability this spot on.
CONSAt the yearly Slate Summit when new features are announced, it can take awhile for them to be added to the software. However, this is really more that they have setup such high expectations on response to issues, that delayed release of a feature seeks like a big issue.
Sarah
Verified reviewer
Higher Education, 1,001-5,000 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
3
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed November 2020
As powerful as your commitment
I'm not an IT person, so Slate has been challenging at times. Being an administrator, I've had to learn a lot about coding and SQL to really make the most of it. I've spent many, many hours troubleshooting issues and reading through their Knowledge Base to understand how everything works—and even then, I don't always get it right. Because of this huge learning curve, I've become the primary contact in admissions for all questions relating to Slate. While it makes sense that not everyone will have the time to devote to learning the ins and outs, I'd recommend having at least a few people who are tasked with thoroughly understanding the product so it doesn't become a burden. Overall, we're extremely satisfied with Slate and we're happy we went with it, but it hasn't always been easy.
PROSSlate is by far the most comprehensive and powerful tool on the market for managing student information. As someone who specifically uses Slate for undergraduate admissions, I can say that our team would not be able to do the type of recruitment nor the sheer volume of recruitment that we're doing now without it. There are so many features that have helped to automate and streamline our processes—from application review and management to event management and email marketing campaigns. It can do just about anything you'd ever need it to, if you know how to set it up.
CONSAs someone who works heavily on the "back end" of the product setting everything up and managing our student data, I can say that Slate is only as powerful as your commitment to it. Because it's so customizable, that means your administrators are responsible for making Slate a useful and powerful tool for your team. There is little to nothing that comes set up out of the box and it's taken our small team of admissions and IT staff roughly 2 years to fully "implement" the product.
Reason for choosing Slate
I'd spoken with several people at other institutions who were switching from both of these products to Slate. That made it pretty clear that Slate was the product to have!
Reasons for switching to Slate
We made the switch for two reasons: 1. EMAS was going into retirement and we needed a new solution, and 2. I had done enough research and had heard enough rave review to know that Slate was the #1 choice, if you had the money.
Stephen
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
1
EASE OF USE
1
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
1
FUNCTIONALITY
1
Reviewed September 2022
Worst Advancement/Fundraising Tool on the Market
Overwhelming negative
PROSThe admission/enrollment piece is solid - we manage our scholarship program via this instance
CONSAnything that has to do with advancement, development, fundraising, donations, constituent management, reporting, queries, communications, or money. Also, customer service is nonexistent
Reason for choosing Slate
Costs - though the consultant costs have negated any anticipated savings
Reasons for switching to Slate
It was an organizational decision to find a comprehensive tool to solve numerous issues. It only made things worse
Kelsey
Higher Education, 201-500 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed November 2023
Excellent Admission CRM
Slate is completely customizable, which seems daunting at first, but is incredibly freeing. It was do absolutely anything we need it to do for our office and has without a doubt allowed us to work both harder and smarter and increase numbers and results across the board.
CONSBecause it's completely customizable, the company leans hard into a community support network. This can be super helpful, but also frustrating when you need support and other schools aren't able to help. The company seems to be actively working to solve this though.
Reasons for switching to Slate
The features Slate offers are far greater than those of JRM.
Nathalie
Education Management, 51-200 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2022
Best I have ever used!
Overall we migrated from Salesforce and it has been smooth sailing! I couldn’t be happier and cannot even imagine us without Slate. Amazing work!
PROSThe most impactful feature on this software is the ease with pulling up data, queries and reports.
CONSMy least favorite thing is if a rule is broken it has a significant impact on the data. Although we have managed this issue better with having a small System team, it is something we keep an eye on constantly
Reasons for switching to Slate
Too many errors with Salesforce and reports restrictions.