Hobsons is a name many know but The PIE for one didn’t really grasp what Hobsons did. Duncan Findlater, Head of Client Services and Operations in the UK, spilled the beans on its savvy enrolment support systems.
The PIE: So what does Hobsons do?
DF: We help universities communicate better with students. In the UK this means we provide technology, an education specific CRM, and Managed Services to support enquiry management and offer conversion. In Australia, we publish the Good Universities Guide too.
The PIE: Please explain more!
DF: The technology services are a one-stop shop for email and letter campaign management, text messaging, events management, online application for admissions, social media, and FAQ. We have an “Answer” online product powered through a database of answers – so students can ask questions about an institution online and receive instant answers, delivered via technology.
The PIE: This sounds like the sort of system O2 [mobile network provider] uses.
DF: [Laughs] Yes I guess you could say it is similar, but this one is education specific and is used globally by hundreds of universities.
The PIE: And what are your Managed Services?
DF: Managed Services are a specialist service Hobsons provides in the UK and Australia. A lot of institutions are concerned that they don’t have the resources to meet targets around fee income, diversity and student numbers. We help them design, build and execute strategies. It is a completely “invisible” and integrated service that aims to fit in with the institutions’ existing processes and provide a personalised student experience from enquiry to enrolment.
The PIE: What might a strategy include?
DF: For each university we have structured communication plans which include online chat events, SMS campaigns, call campaigns, surveys – anything that we feel will build that relationship with the student before their feet even touch the ground in the UK.
Research still shows that the majority of international students still rate email and phone as their preferred communication channel
The PIE: How does Hobsons provide personal consulting?
DF: Our Students Support Officers’ interaction with international students is built on email and phone work; why this is good is because research still shows that the overwhelming majority of international students still rate email and phone as their preferred communication channel.
To be as effective as possible we have staff with specific language capabilities, including, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian and Arabic; we also work closely with our colleagues in Australia where they have Vietnamese and Korean language speakers. You often find that while the student will speak good English the phone will often get passed to a parent who doesn’t!
The PIE: Do you operate globally?
DF: Yes, we have offices in the UK, Australia, the US and most recently in Malaysia but have partner institutions in many more countries. We are now working with universities in NZ, India, Pakistan, Ireland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the number of universities we work with in mainland Europe are rapidly expanding.
The PIE: What gets you excited about your role? [more>>]
DF: The global nature of our business means that on the reporting side, this is information you just can’t get elsewhere. For example we can tell clients the difference between typical conversion timeframes, based on their country of origin. We can track what percentage of a cohort enquired 1, 2 or 3 years ago, which helps an institution measure their marketing ROI.
We can also track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and in country fairs/visits based on what really matters – enrolments.
The PIE: I suppose you must have a macro-view of international enrolment trends?
“It is something that universities need to have a handle on and ensure that they keep up communication”
DF: Yes now that is something really interesting! Not only can we see the direct and immediate impact of a policy change in a particular country, but we can see how changes in one country affect another. On the first point, when you track enquiries to UK universities in the 2012 calendar year there is a clear and marked drop right around the time that UKBA announced the proposed changes to the post study work visa.
In Australia, meanwhile, since the Knight Review enquiries have shot up. We also can tell you the average length of time between enquiry and application. In one case an Indian student enquired 12 years before making an application!
The PIE: Really, 12 years before they applied?!
DF: Yes, really! You’d be surprised how long it sometimes takes between first enquiry and application and how much this varies from university to university, country to country, course to course. It is something that universities need to have a handle on and ensure that they keep up communication, don’t just assume they aren’t interested if they don’t apply the next year – and certainly never ever delete a prospect from a database!
The PIE: Are your clients reporting better conversion since using you?
DF: Overall most definitely – we find that carefully managed engagement, including regular calling can increase conversion rates by up to 43%. However it does depend on what the institution is trying to achieve, some are not all about conversion. We are all about helping institutions decrease their reliance on one or two core markets.
“What’s on my mind is rolling out an additional service to aid retention of international students”
The PIE: If institutions aren’t using company like Hobsons do you think they track data themselves?
DF: In this market, I am not sure how you can plan without doing this level of tracking. The benefit of working with us is that we are measured and paid on success.
The PIE: What next in terms of service developments?
DF: Globally, there are so many exciting developments including personalised videos, microsites with facebook integration and virtual orientation. However what’s on my mind is rolling out an additional service to aid retention of international students and we are talking to a handful of universities about how they might be able to use all the lessons learned converting international students to AAB domestic students. And.. we don’t yet track graduate outcomes but it is something we would like to in the future.
