Aiming for 2.8x Bookings. Reducing Man-Hours and Challenging Test Marketing by Implementing Jicoo
DMM.com LLC operates "DMM Eikaiwa," an online English conversation service with a 13-year track record. "DMM Eikaiwa Coaching," a new service recently launched for the general public, is an online learning accompaniment service where professional Japanese coaches—who have mastered English through their own ingenuity in Japan—dedicate themselves exclusively to students to help them achieve their goals. Currently, through synergistic effects with other initiatives, the service is achieving rapid growth, with monthly individual briefing session bookings increasing by 2.8 times and the number of contracts by 2.5 times. However, when they initially considered expanding external advertising for further business growth, they faced a challenge: the existing reservation system could not sufficiently track conversions, making it impossible to accurately measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Therefore, they implemented Jicoo, which offers the flexibility of embedding into their own website, a reliable data measurement environment, and the ability to smoothly transition their existing automatic assignment operations. By revamping their reservation infrastructure, they achieved centralized schedule management for their coaching staff and reduced manual confirmation man-hours, while building an environment that accelerates business growth, including taking on the challenge of test marketing.
Monthly Briefing Session Bookings
Monthly contracts
Schedule adjustments made through Jicoo
ProblemThe wall of marketing expansion due to tracking limitations and the risk of on-site confusion during transition
During the initial full-scale launch of the general-public service, they used a different reservation system. However, they faced the challenge of "insufficient conversion tracking" when expanding external advertising for business growth. Because campaign parameters could not be passed along, they could not accurately measure which advertisements led to reservations, leaving them unable to commit to full-scale advertising investment. Additionally, to prevent confusion among the management team and coaching staff, "minimizing switching costs during migration" was an absolute requirement. They needed to upgrade to an infrastructure capable of withstanding enhanced marketing while maintaining their existing automatic assignment operations. Furthermore, because the previous system lacked a Google Calendar integration feature, every time a reservation notification email arrived, coaches had to log into the management screen and manually check the details. With reservations increasing daily, eliminating the burden of these confirmation tasks and determining how to streamline operations had become an important operational theme.
SolutionBuilding an end-to-end measurement environment through LP embedding and a smooth transition that doesn't disrupt existing operations
After comparing and considering multiple scheduling tools, they decided to implement Jicoo, which covered all the requirements sought by the DMM Eikaiwa Coaching team. The biggest deciding factor was the flexibility of embedding it within their own website and the guarantee of a tracking environment with an eye on future marketing initiatives. With Jicoo, they were convinced it would be the optimal infrastructure to expand their options for advertising investment, as they could build a simple, end-to-end tracking environment from the landing page to the reservation page, and finally to the completion screen (thank-you page) without changing domains. For the implementation, they placed importance on how smoothly they could transition while maintaining their existing operational methods. During the trial period, they thoroughly conducted practical tests, such as checking if account registration for all coaches could be done without issues and if notification emails were sent normally when reservations were actually made. Because they were able to cleanly replicate the same functions of their previous tool and the Google Calendar-based automatic assignment mechanism directly on Jicoo, they minimized operational changes. Through this meticulous verification, they successfully transitioned the system smoothly without placing a new burden or causing confusion among the coaching staff.
BenefitZero manual confirmation man-hours on-site, centralized scheduling, and the challenge of test marketing
The upgrade to Jicoo brought about major changes in on-site man-hour reduction, marketing promotion, and operational stability. The effect on the coaching staff was immense. Previously, there was the hassle of logging into the management screen to check details every time a reservation came in. After the implementation, however, reservations are automatically linked to the Google Calendar they normally use, reducing manual confirmation work, except for some individual message responses. Furthermore, an environment was established where regular interview schedules with existing students and new individual briefing sessions could be managed centrally, earning high praise that "schedule management has become dramatically easier." Since they only need to open and close their shifts on their own calendars, they realized a significant reduction in man-hours. On the marketing front, embedding the feature into the landing page enabled reliable tracking up to the thank-you page, making it possible to take on the challenge of test marketing using external ads. With synergistic effects from other initiatives, the number of briefing session reservations has grown rapidly by 2.8 times, and the number of contracts by 2.5 times. Because Jicoo operates stably, they can focus on expansion measures without fearing operational collapse. Moreover, freed from the burden of manually checking whether reservations were successfully linked each time, both the management side and the on-site staff now have an environment where they can dedicate time to core business tasks. Moving forward, they aim to further optimize team operations by utilizing features such as the upper-limit setting. For personnel troubled by adjusting multiple members and measurement environments, it is a tool highly recommended for active implementation.
Customer Interview
Could you tell us about your current role and your assigned mission?
I am in charge of marketing in the coaching team within the DMM Eikaiwa Division. My main mission is strategy planning and execution to achieve KPIs such as the number of reservations for 1-on-1 "individual briefing sessions" held for prospective students and the subsequent number of contracts.
Could you give us an overview of the "DMM Eikaiwa Coaching" service?
It is an accompaniment-style service where professional Japanese English coaches exclusively support students and consult on learning methods through online regular interviews and quizzes. While offering an affordable price at about one-third of other companies, it provides an end-to-end service with the 13-year track record of DMM Eikaiwa lessons, and its strength lies in the fact that coaches can give specific advice based on recordings of actual lessons.
What kind of organizational structure do you operate under?
The coaches providing the service are all Japanese who mastered English through their own ingenuity domestically. Therefore, a characteristic is that they deeply understand the walls and worries learners face and can build a strong relationship of trust with students. The individual briefing sessions are also conducted by the coaches actually providing the service. If the schedule of the coach in charge of the briefing session and the prospective participant align, we have a system where the assignment (matching) can be decided on the spot.
Could you tell us the background of implementing Jicoo (switching the reservation system)?
When we initially fully launched the service for the general public, we were using a different reservation system. However, when we started considering rolling out external advertising like Meta ads for business expansion, we faced a major issue: the previous system could not adequately perform conversion tracking, preventing us from passing campaign parameters. We needed to prepare a data measurement environment to take the plunge into full-scale advertising investment, so we began considering switching tools.
What were the deciding factors for implementing Jicoo?
The flexibility of embedding it within our own site (LP) and the assurance of a tracking environment looking ahead to future marketing measures. Because we could build an environment that measures end-to-end from the LP to the reservation page and the thank-you page, we were convinced it was the optimal infrastructure to expand our options for advertising investment. Also, since it was right after I took over from my predecessor, the "low migration cost (switching cost)"—which wouldn't disrupt the existing automatic assignment operations and would prevent on-site confusion—was an important deciding factor.
Where have you seen the implementation effects on-site?
The confirmation man-hours for the coaching staff have been reduced. Previously, they had to log into the management screen to check the details every time a reservation came in. After implementing Jicoo, reservations are automatically linked to the Google Calendar the coaches normally use, so aside from some individual correspondence, the hassle of manual confirmation has almost disappeared. Furthermore, schedules for regular interviews with existing students and new briefing sessions can now be managed collectively on the calendar, receiving high praise from the field that "schedule management has become dramatically easier."
How about the effects on the marketing and operational sides?
Because we can now track data, we were able to take on the challenge of "test marketing" using external ads. Thanks to synergistic effects with other initiatives, the number of monthly individual briefing session reservations has grown rapidly by 2.8 times, and the number of contracts by 2.5 times. Even with this increase in traffic, Jicoo operates stably as a foundation, allowing us to focus on expansion measures without the fear of operational collapse. Additionally, the manual schedule confirmation work that used to occur every time has been automated, reducing the man-hours for reservation management.
Could you tell us about your future outlook and utilization of Jicoo?
Moving forward, we plan to further optimize our team operations while maintaining the system of smoothly assigning reservations to coaches' free time using Jicoo. With the time freed up from manual confirmation work, we want to create an environment where we can dedicate even more time to core business initiatives, improving service quality, and business expansion.
Finally, what kind of companies or personnel would you recommend this to?
It is highly recommended not only for companies facing challenges with schedule adjustments and calendar management for multiple members but also for marketing personnel who want to conduct appropriate advertising investments and streamline their measures. It frees you from the anxiety of checking every day whether reservations are successfully captured and sets up your tracking environment, so I think it is a valuable tool that should be actively implemented.