The 2024 Enquiry Experience Tracker report was released by Edified and UniQuest today. It is a syndicated global mystery shopping program designed to help colleges and universities understand how well they respond to enquiries from prospective students.
Posing as prospective students, a team of mystery shoppers place course enquiries through key channels and analyse the responses. Experts score and benchmark the experiences against local and global competitors so institutions can better understand their performance.
Elissa Newall, Partner at Edified and Project Director of the Enquiry Experience Tracker, says of the 2024 results “It’s exciting to see universities using the Enquiry Experience Tracker to refine their lead management practices. Some are transforming into real conversion powerhouses. In tough times, those that make students feel valued and keep them engaged gain a major recruitment advantage.”
Jennifer Parsons, Chief Market and Partnerships Officer at UniQuest, adds “With so much uncertainty around immigration policies, students are understandably anxious. Proactive, ongoing engagement has been crucial in calming these fears, and our data shows that students who experience this are three times more likely toenrol.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Participation
The 2024 research round included a total of 102 colleges and universities worldwide.
- 35 institutions are located in the UK, representing approximately one quarter of UK universities.
- 26 institutions are from Australia and New Zealand, representing half of Australia’s universities and more than half of those in New Zealand.
- 24 institutions are Canadian, including more than one third of higher education institutions in the Ontario province.
- The sample also included 11 institutions from the United States, from the states of New York and Ohio.
- Mainland Europe was represented with a smaller group of just six universities, located in Estonia, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Spain.
The sample includes institutions of different sizes and types, and from various groupings.
The summary of results
The global average Enquiry Experience Score was 55 out of 100, representing an improvement on 2022 and 2023, up 4 pts.
Australian and New Zealand institutions continue to perform better than the global average at 63/100, up by 8 pts, followed by the UK at 60/100, also up by 8 pts.
European institutions improved overall compared with 2023 up 2 pts, but still averaged lower than the global mean at 49/100.
Average scores for Institutions in Canada and the US remain below the global average at 46/100, and have declined slightly year on year by 4 pts.
The Methodology
The following scores were allocated on each benchmarked activity to obtain the overall score for an institution and country.
Communication Quality (0-40) – Clarity, relevance, personalisation, persuasiveness and mobile-friendliness of the response.
Impact (0-20) – Student sentiment and likelihood to continue engagement.
Enquiry Channels (0-10) – Availability and findability of key enquiry channels.
Responsiveness (0-20) – Time between initial enquiry and response.
Follow-up (0-10) – Receipt of a timely follow-up message after the initial response.
Best in Class
The awards for best in class go to the following institutions:
Best live chat experience: Griffith University
Student favourite: Australian National University
Best Phone experience: Kingston University, London
Best in ANZ: The Australian Catholic University
Most Improved: The University of Edinburgh
Best in North America: Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
How to improve?
The 2024 Enquiry Experience Tracker research indicates that higher education institutions can do more to improve the experience for prospective students enquiring to them.
Here are some tactical recommendations that institutions can implement to optimise their performance and recruitment outcomes.
- Celebrate and recognise good practice
Student ambassadors can make a positive impression on prospective students. Encourage ambassadors to keep up the good work and to maintain a helpful, responsive culture. Share positive feedback and make sure students have access to the latest resources so they can keep providing accurate advice.
- Set your tone to ‘warm’
Make sure students feel at ease by using warm, informal language. Use positive words like ‘pleased’, ‘welcome’ and ‘thrilled’ to show students you are genuinely happy to be hearing from them. Invest in regular professional development to help team members develop and practice student-centric communication skills.
- Entice students deeper into the funnel
An enquiry is the opportunity for direct and personal communication with potential students. The core task is answering their questions, but, while you have their attention, capture their imagination. Share something powerful and inspirational – something extra that will draw students deeper into your recruitment funnel. Perhaps a campus tour video or upcoming event where they can meet academics and fellow students.
- Be bold and ask for marketing consent
If students are interested enough in your institution to ask a question, chances are that they are willing to hear more about your events, scholarships or news in the future. Make the most of the opportunity to engage each new prospect and offer them a way to opt in to receive marketing communications from your institution. This can be as simple as adding a tick box to your web enquiry form or live chat registration or asking the question when on the phone.
The full report can be found here.
The Koala congratulates Edified and Uniquest on adding value to the continuous improvement in equality management and ultimately working towards a better experience for students as they seek to engage with potential education institutions abroad.
