Presentation by Mike Elms, Hotcourses CEO, from NAFSA 2014 in San Diego. The presentation focuses on best practice in international student engagement following student inquiry on the part of higher education institutions. Consisting of findings from Hotcourses' own student survey and mystery shopper exercise involving universities, as well as examples of tracked responses in other sectors.

1. Best Practices in International Student Engagement: From
Inquiry to Enrollment
Mike Elms, Hotcourses CEO
NAFSA Conference 2014
29th May 2014

2. Hotcourses overview
• Since 1996
• Ultimate search
• 13 languages
• 15 million visits
• Webclicks, inquiries
Applications and
Enrolments

3. Back then…
481,000
819,644
1997/98 2012/13
International Students

4. San Diego 2030
2030

5. Back to reality - Agenda
Part 1: Student Survey - What do they want to
hear from you?
Part 2: Mystery Shopper Exercise Results -
How are universities currently meeting
these expectations (or not)?

6. Why are inquiries important?
72%of all students would always enquire before applying to a university.
Taking a closer look...
92% of Latin American students & 89% of Brazilian students said ‘Yes’.
Yes
No
Maybe
Can't say

7. The inquiry funnel – optimized
500 QUALITY INQUIRIES/LEADS
250 APPLICATIONS
100 STUDENTS *2.5 applications per student
50 FINAL OFFERS
40 ENROLLED

8. So, how do you make those inquiries convert?
1. Respond quickly
Almost all students expect a response within 48 hours.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Abroad Malaysia Singapore Brazil Latin America Middle East
Thailand
India China
Within 24 hours
24-48 hours
Within 7 days
Within 2 weeks
More than 2 weeks
Latin America is the exception, 38%
selecting 'Within 7 days'
* Abroad = Students using Hotcourses Abroad

9. Competitive advantage
Students from Abroad, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, India and China indicated that if they had to
choose between two similar universities, they would apply to/enroll with the one that responded
fastest!
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Abroad Malaysia Singapore Brazil Latin
America
Middle
East
Vietnam Russia Thailand India China
Yes
No
Can't say

10. So, how do you make those inquiries stand out?
2. Customize your response
Almost all countries expect a personalized or customized response (i.e. One written by an actual
individual) over an automated, templated response.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Abroad Malaysia Singapore Brazil Latin
America
Middle East Vietnam Russia Thailand India China
Personalised response
Templated response
Can't say
Brazil the exception, 67% selecting 'Templated response'
Taking a closer look...
This includes 95% of Singapore students and 90% of Vietnamese and Chinese students.

11. Easy ways to personalize
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Abroad Malaysia Singapore Brazil Latin
America
Middle
East
Vietnam Russia Thailand India China
Individual (named) member of staff
Department
Either
Can't say
3. Sign it from an individual
Abroad, Malaysia, Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam and India all prefer a response signed from a
specific individual staff member (whom they can continue the chain of communication with).
Additionally more than half of all students said they’d prefer all ongoing
communications to be with the same person

12. Preferred Modes of Communication
88% of all students selected
email as one of their preferred
modes of communication.
More than half of Malaysian
and Latin American students
also selected phone to
respond by.
83% of all students expected
email responses to be in their
own language (including 92% of
Latin America students and 89%
of Russian and Thai students).
Over half of all students (54%)
expected phone responses in
their own language, while 57%
of Russian students expected
video chat in Russian.

13. Keep in touch
88% would be happy to receive
further emails with additional content
(e.g. Latest news from your campus)
HOWEVER, these should only be once a
week (although Middle Eastern and
Thai students who would be happy to
receive these more than once a week)
Plus, this is your chance to acquire
them as social media followers!
81%of all students would
follow a university they’re enquiring to
on social media too.

14. What actually happens?

15. Varies by country
Australian and UK universities (70% each) had the best overall response rate
as far as universities actually responding to inquiries.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Australia
Malaysia
Singapore
NZ
UK
US
Australia
Malaysia
Singapore
NZ
UK
US

16. Were the responses customized?
Of those responses received, Singapore (100%) and Malaysia (88%) had the best
rate when it came to producing those all-important customized responses.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Australia
Malaysia
Singapore
NZ
UK
US
Templated %
Customised %

17. Speed…
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Australia
Malaysia
Singapore
NZ
UK
US
Australia
Malaysia
Singapore
NZ
UK
US
New Zealand responded quickest with 80% of responses sent in under 24 hours.
*None of the Singaporean universities responded in under 24 hours.

18. The Good Responses: Saamir
Name: Saamir Abdullah
From: Turkey
Enquired to: Royal Agricultural University (UK)
Interested in: Agriculture BSc (Hons)
Seeking: Admissions and English language requirements for a specific course
Inquiry:
‘Hi, Please can you let me know what are the English Requirements for this
course along with other admissions details?’

19. The Good Responses: Aaron
Name: Aaron Jose
From: Brazil
Enquired to: Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (USA)
Interested in: Geology
Seeking: Further information about a specific subject area
Inquiry:
‘Hi, I am interested in completing my degree in Geology. What are my options? What are the
degrees you offer relating to this?’
PLUS: In addition to a confirmation of inquiry being received, a further email sent to student to
make aware of possible delay to response due to term break.

20. The Good Responses: Malik
Name: Malik Ayesha
From: Qatar
Enquired to: University of Nottingham – Malaysia (Malaysia)
Interested in: International Communication BA (Hons)
Seeking: Further information about a specific course and career opportunities post-
graduation
Inquiry:
‘Hi, Please can you give me more details about this course. Also information about
the career opportunities post completion of this degree.’
PLUS: In addition to response answering query completely and further information
about English support offered by the university, university also set up a private chat
session for further interactions with the student with access to information
specifically for them.

21. The Good Responses: Mike
Name: Mike
From: USA
Enquired to: University of East Anglia (UK)
Interested in: Film and media studies
Seeking: General information about UEA

22. The not-so-good responses: Divya
Name: Divya Natrajan
From: Malaysia
Country of institution enquired to: America
Interested in: Arts & Philosophy BA (Hons)
Seeking: Further information about a specific subject area
Inquiry:
‘Hi, Could you please provide me with some for information regarding the Arts and Philosophy course that is offered at your
University?’

23. The not-so-good responses: Divya
Name: Divya Natrajan
From: Malaysia
Country of institution enquired to: UK
Interested in: American History MA (Hons)
Seeking: Further information about a specific subject area

24. The not-so-good responses: Aaron
Name: Aaron Jose
From: Brazil
Country of institution enquired to: UK
Interested in: English and Italian Literature BA (Hons)
Seeking: Further information about a specific subject area
Inquiry: ‘Hi, Could please send me some more information regarding the course English and Italian Literature BA
(Hons).’

25. In fact...
In every response we received, universities left it to the student to get back in touch and
continue the chain of communication (i.e. no plans to follow up themselves).
Is this good enough?

26. Learning from other sectors:
Who they are: Auto motors company
What we did: Requested a test drive via
website
Frequency of responses: 7 over 28 days
Types of responses: Phone (voicemail
when unanswered), print information
pack via post and email
What we can learn:
• Be persistent and frequent in your
responses when you don’t hear from
students
• Provide information about similar
courses you offer
• Use different forms of
communication to increase chances
of making a connection

27. Hotcourses Initial Inquiry-Handling
What we provide:
Following up with enquiring students via email,
telephone and Skype to sort the strongest leads,
and forwarding these on to the university.
Case study: Kansas State University
Preferred method of communication:
77% indicated email, while almost ¼ said phone
or Skype.
How students respond:
•1st email – 20% respond
•2nd email – Additional 5% respond
• 3rd contact (phone call) – Additional 10%
respond
Lesson: Keep engaging students on a
consistent time frame.

28. If you have any questions, get in touch:
mike.elms@hotcourses.com
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