e-commerce in International Student Recruitment: Three Years of Virtual Marketing by Four Australian Universities

e-commerce in International Student Recruitment: Three Years of Virtual Marketing by Four Australian Universities

Professor Tony Adams Director of International Programs Macquarie University, Sydney Melissa Banks Director Banks Consulting, Melbourne Alan Olsen Director SPRE Pte Ltd, Singapore

The Service Centre What is it? Who is it? How does it work? What makes it unique?

What? Purpose built e-contact centre Melbourne Prospective international students e-business strategies On behalf of education institutions

Who? The Good Guides Group Hobsons Asia Pacific Daily Mail and General Trust DMG Information: Hobsons and Study Group DMG Radio Australia DMG World Media

How Does It Work? Prospective international students through email or web forms Self-selection: fitness, match, financial, visa Web form In name of institution CRM technologies and strategies

What Makes It Unique? e-commerce facility Transparent Clients own data but technology enables scale Relies on marketing of clients Only presence is virtual Virtual presence is global

The Service Centre Drivers Strategy Lessons from other industries

Drivers Geography: diversify geographically and broaden marketing Technology: students bombarding International Offices

Telstra 1999 Voice is well on its way to becoming a specialist application in a data-dominated world which is a complete reversal of fortune in a very short time indeed

UWA 2002 Some universities did exceptionally well, but as a rule universities are missing out. I can also argue that some universities are cleaning up because they are doing such a good job.

Lawrence 2000 In 2000, the internet had become the most popular source of information, used by 30% of all students, including 36% of students from China and 40% of students from India.

Strategy Benchmarking NSW/ACT 1998, 2000 Victoria 2000

Conversion Rates NSW/ACT 1998: 4.9 applications per starter NSW/ACT 2000: 4.6 applications per starter Victoria 2000: 3.9 applications per starter

Raw Numbers NSW/ACT 1998: 13 universities processed 40,936 applications to get 8,331 starters NSW/ACT 2000: 9 universities processed 45,946 applications to get 9,946 starters Victoria 2000: 7 universities processed 46,765 applications to get 13,031 starters

Paradigm Web will replace print media Essential task will be to funnel large numbers of deliberate and accidental enquiries from the web to virtual and physical sites where these prospects can be converted to enrolments Management and conversion of web prospects Admission processes distributed electronically

Lessons from Other Industries Dotcoms and Telcos Amazon.com Qantas.com and e-tickets Ryanair.com

University of Southern Queensland Five generations of distance education: Correspondence Model Multimedia Model Telelearning Model Flexible Learning Model Intelligent Flexible Learning Model

Intelligent Flexible Learning Model Institutional variable costs approaching zero Personalised response following a quick scan and with a single click

The Service Centre Opportunities Benefits Complications

Opportunities Virtual presence is global Direct, virtual presence: client owns prospects Outsourcing processing of enquiries CRM: diaries, reminders, closure, contacts

Benefits Lists of prospects and applicants Integration of web, print and other communication strategies Re-engineering: response management, brochure development and distribution, application and admission processes Market intelligence on connection between enquiries and enrolments

Complications Overseas and local markets Students outside Australia (65% of higher education student visas): long buying cycles Students already in Australia (35% of higher education student visas): short buying cycles

Research Findings Source countries of enquiries Source countries of commencements Level of study Buying cycle

Higher Education Student Visas 2001: Top Ten Source Countries Country China USA Singapore Malaysia Germany Hong Kong Indonesia India Thailand Canada Top Ten Countries % 14.9% 14.5% 10.0% 9.8% 7.2% 5.5% 5.5% 4.3% 3.1% 2.0% 76.8%

Service Centre Overseas Clients: Top Ten Source Countries Country China India Pakistan USA Malaysia Singapore Bangladesh Indonesia UK Canada Top Ten Countries % 17.7% 14.6% 7.4% 5.4% 4.0% 3.9% 3.0% 2.7% 2.5% 2.1% 63.3%

12.0% Chart 1 Student Visas by Regions 2001 1.5% 1.6% 3.5% 0.9% 31.3% South East Asia North Asia South Asia North America Europe Sub Saharan Africa 16.5% Pacific 7.8% 24.9% Middle East and North Africa Central and South America 10.6% 2.0% 6.3% 5.6% Chart 2 Service Centre Clients by Regions 2.6% 0.4% 13.9% 23.1% South East Asia North Asia South Asia North America Europe Sub Saharan Africa Pacific 7.5% 28.0% Middle East and North Africa Central and South America Other

Service Centre Commencements 1/2002: Top Ten Source Countries Country China Malaysia Indonesia USA Hong Kong India Japan Singapore Thailand Korea South Top Ten Countries % 22.2% 8.8% 7.7% 7.3% 5.9% 5.4% 4.2% 3.6% 2.8% 2.6% 70.5%

Chart 3 Service Centre Commencements by Regions 1/2002 South East Asia 10.4% 1.4% 1.6% 1.6% 2.8% 0.8% 25.5% North Asia South Asia North America 9.5% Europe Sub Saharan Africa 9.5% 36.9% Pacific Middle East and North Africa Central and South America Other

Level of Study Baseline 31.5% postgraduate Service Centre 59.9% 72% 21 years +

Buying Cycle Average time from first to last contact with the Service Centre was ten months. Average number of inbound contacts was four. In terms of whether an agent was involved in assisting the student on matters such as visas, 60% of students did not require agent assistance.

Buying Cycle of Commencing Students 1/2002: Top Ten Source Countries Country % of Starters Average Months Average Inbound Direct % China 22.2% 12 5 73.1% Malaysia 8.8% 9 3 34.8% Indonesia 7.7% 10 3 44.9% USA 7.3% 9 3 44.9% HK 5.9% 8 3 54.7% India 5.4% 11 3 31.9% Japan 4.2% 11 7 84.9% Singapore 3.6% 11 4 45.7% Thailand 2.8% 11 4 50.0% Korea Sth 2.6% 8 3 42.4% Aggregate 100% 10 4 59.5%

The Development of an Ongoing e-business Strategy The Service Centre as a purpose-built e-contact Centre, proactively managing student enquiries and applications on behalf of education institutions, can be seen as an early initiative towards a long-term e-business strategy for international student recruitment, involving a paradigm shift in the internationalisation of Australian education institutions.

Six Stages of a Long Term e- Business Strategy Stage 1: Electronic Prospect Management Stage 2: Reinventing Printed Publications Stage 3: Reinventing the Web Stage 4: Increasing the Enquiry Pipeline Stage 5: Automating Prospect Management Stage 6: Online Applications

Electronic Prospect Management All enquiry, email addresses and telephone numbers leading to the Service Centre Responses normally within 24 hours Counsellors dedicated to each university provide prospect management and are fully integrated as externally based staff of International Office. Prospective international students managed in accordance with protocols prescribed by clients in consultation with the Service Centre

Reinventing Printed Publications Principle that printed publications contain summarised information with the detail maintained on the web is at core of strategy Documents limited in general to 10 or 12 pages Consistent use of logos, images, text, edited professionally for style, consistent with web design, flow on into flyers, business cards, posters, advertisements and newsletters

Reinventing the Web Principle is that web is prime source of material about the university Information correct, non redundant, compliant Navigation simple and consistent, style and layout consistent, external links maintain the web integrity, data base technology provides consistent means of updating, presenting and maintaining course information, specific automated self-assessment tools

Increasing the Enquiry Pipeline Already web is prime source of information Enough experience in the Service Centre operation to begin to judge the relationship between prospects, applications and commencements The essential question is how to drive prospects to our web site, rather than for them to go to someone else s

Automating Prospect Management Development of a Brochure Builder Enables a personally tailored electronic brochure emailed in HTML First line enquiries handled automatically and instantly Free text and human to human interaction available only when prospect has completed structured forms University brands enhanced through provision of personalised, customised and immediate responses in a cost effective manner

Online Applications The development of on-line application processing is the capstone stage of an e- business project. It is only when the key elements are in place, as represented by the first five stages, that the environment exists for an integrated on line application and admissions strategy.

Online Applications: Features On line application forms generated as a byproduct of prospect management Secure web sites to allow editing of applications, and checking status on line Management of application task queues Electronic document handling Integration of self-assessment tools to prepopulate forms Completeness and eligibility checks Integration of sponsor (including agent) based online application systems Integration with university student systems Handling of all classes of applications

Increasing Prospect Pipeline Automation of Prospect management Prospect Management Reinvention of the Web Re Invention of Print Publications Quality Assurance ON LINE APPLICATIONS Application Systems E-BUSINESS SERVICES Stakeholders; Prospective Students, Students, Staff, Agents, Partners