You may receive enquiries from people who are not students, such as parents, agents, partners or suppliers. You can respond to these in Enquiries, but the module uses Student records to hold the enquirer’s contact details.
If you regularly work with non-student contacts, Contact Manager may be a better place to manage those relationships.
Why Enquiries uses Student records
An enquiry and a Student record are separate records. The enquiry holds the conversation, while the linked Student record holds the enquirer’s contact details.
A new enquiry can be linked to an existing Student record. It does not always create a new one.
An incoming email enquiry may also arrive without a linked Student record. If the Platform cannot match the sender to an existing student, you’ll be prompted to complete the student details step before responding. For more information, see How do I redirect an email into Enquiries? (IEM).
The record is called a “Student” record even when the person making the enquiry is not a prospective student.
How to manage non-student enquiries
Choose the approach that fits how the enquiry arrived and where you want to manage the ongoing relationship.
Option 1: Handle the enquiry in Enquiries and copy the person’s details to Contact Manager
Use this option when the enquiry has already arrived in Enquiries and you also want to manage the person as a contact.
Handle the enquiry in Enquiries as usual, completing the student details step if prompted.
Open the linked Student record in Student Database.
Use Copy student to Contact Manager to create a separate Contact record.
Continue managing the enquiry in Enquiries, and use Contact Manager for the ongoing relationship.
Copying the person’s details does not move the enquiry or remove the original Student record.
Option 2: Collect non-student enquiries through a Contact Manager form
Use this option when you know in advance that the form is intended for non-student contacts, such as agents or partners.
Create a Contact Manager form for that audience.
Direct people to that form.
Manage the resulting contacts in Contact Manager.
This collects their details in Contact Manager without creating a Student record through an Enquiries form.
Best practice
Use a form suited to the audience. For regular enquiries from agents, partners or suppliers, consider a dedicated Contact Manager form.
If an enquiry has already arrived in Enquiries, handle the conversation there. Copy the person’s details to Contact Manager if you also need to manage an ongoing relationship.
Remember that copying creates a separate Contact record. It does not remove the original Student record or transfer the enquiry history.
FAQs
Q. Can I rename “Student” for non-student enquiries?
A. No. The Student label is part of the Platform’s underlying structure and applies to all enquiries created via the Enquiries module.
Q. Will copying a student to Contact Manager delete the Student record?
A. No. Copying creates a separate Contact record. The original Student record will still exist unless you manually remove it.
Q. Which option should I use most of the time?
A. If the enquiry is already in Enquiries, you can handle it there and copy the person’s details to Contact Manager if needed. If you regularly collect enquiries from a non-student audience, consider using a dedicated Contact Manager form from the outset.
Q. Can I reply to an enquiry if the person isn’t a student?
A. Yes. The person does not need to be a prospective student for you to reply. However, the enquiry must be linked to a Student record. If an incoming email enquiry is not linked to one, complete the student details step before responding.
Q. Why does the button say "Create New Student" for non-student enquiries?
A. The button refers to the type of record used by Enquiries to store the person’s contact details. It does not mean the person must be a prospective student, or that every new enquiry needs a new Student record.