Location/Region: Buenos Aires, ARG
Industry: Education
Apps implemented: CRM, Dashboards, Website and Invoicing.
Software
Replaced: Excel
Size of the company: 100
Hosting type: Odoo Online
With more than a century of educational experience in Buenos Aires, St. Margaret’s School found in Odoo a flexible and scalable platform to take a key step forward in professionalizing its commercial and admissions management. Through CRM and dashboards, the school was able to organize critical information, automate initial contacts, and significantly improve the conversion of prospective families, without losing the close, personalized approach that has defined it since its founding.
About the Institution
St. Margaret’s School began its journey in the traditional Belgrano neighborhood and today is one of the most recognized bilingual schools in the city, with a team of approximately 100 people, including teachers, administrators, and support staff.
Its educational approach is built on two clear pillars: academic excellence and the holistic development of individuals, with a strong focus on socio-emotional skills, values, and critical thinking.
"It’s an institution with over 100 years of history and a very strong commitment to education. We work closely and personally with students, developing both their academic and socio-emotional skills."
Before Odoo: Manual Processes and Limited Visibility into the Family Journey
Before implementing Odoo, the school’s admissions process was managed primarily manually. Contact and prospective family information was organized in well-structured Excel files, complemented by some dashboards, but with a high operational workload and limited tracking capabilities.
Family interviews were scheduled via phone or email, and contact history was often scattered across different channels (emails, calls, and conversations without centralized records). This made it difficult to answer key questions, such as how many times a family had been contacted, what stage of the process they were in, or how long an opportunity had been stalled.
Additionally, while the school’s accounting department already used dedicated software, the marketing and admissions team lacked an integrated tool to design a clear strategy for acquisition, follow-up, and retention in an increasingly competitive environment.
"Everything was much more manual. We had the information, but not in a visible or organized way that allowed us to understand what was happening in each case."
A Step Change in Management with Odoo
St. Margaret’s School first discovered Odoo through a recommendation from an IT professional familiar with the platform. The software’s flexibility, the ability to implement modules gradually, and the option to adapt it to the school’s specific needs were key factors in the decision.
"We were looking for a tool that could adapt to our reality and support our growth, and Odoo gave us exactly that flexibility."
Implementation began in mid-2025 and lasted approximately six months. The first module selected was CRM, complemented by dashboards for visual process tracking. Other modules, such as Website and Invoicing, were enabled but scheduled for later adoption.
One of the biggest impacts was seen in the speed and clarity of the initial response to prospective families. Thanks to CRM automations, the team delivered faster, more structured first contacts, increasing the chances of securing the first interview, one of the project’s main objectives.
The system also made it possible to clearly define and visualize the different stages of the admissions process: from initial contact to interviews, proposal submission, and final decision. On a single screen, the team can see which families are in each stage, what has already happened, and what the next step is.
This new level of visibility had a direct impact on results. The conversion rate of prospective families increased from under 10% to over 17%, a significant improvement achieved in just six months of using the system.
"Odoo allowed us to take a major step toward much more professional management, integrating information and making it easier to track each family throughout the admissions process."
What’s Next: More Automation, Onboarding, and New Communication Channels
Looking ahead, St. Margaret’s School plans to continue expanding its use of Odoo progressively. Next steps include integrating invoicing and revamping the website using the platform’s capabilities, directly connecting forms to the CRM.
The school is also exploring the addition of new communication channels, such as chatbots and WhatsApp, as well as automating informational content for both prospective and newly enrolled families. The goal is to develop onboarding flows that help convey the institution’s culture, history, and the context of key events that shape school life.
These initiatives aim to strengthen the family experience from the very first interaction and support them in a more structured way throughout their relationship with the institution, while maintaining the human and personalized approach that defines St. Margaret’s School.
St. Margaret’s School’s experience shows that it is possible to modernize management without losing identity. With Odoo, educational institutions and organizations across sectors can streamline their processes, gain visibility, and make data-driven decisions to support their growth. Find out how Odoo can transform the management of your institution today.
