FastLane Q&A with Griffith University

With 23 Australian universities now live, Fastlane is quickly revolutionising the way we match the right students to the right institutions.

We recently chatted to Rick Chapman, Director of International Marketing at Griffith University to find out why they decided to onboard with FastLane, how it aligns with their student-centred approach and recruitment strategy, and what positive metrics they are beginning to see since going live.

Why did you decide to become a FastLane partner and how does it support your recruitment strategy?

We decided to join FastLane because we could recognise the enhancement it was going to provide from a customer service perspective. By offering prospective students an OIP (offer in principle), it reduced that doubt for them to be eligible to apply for Griffith University, and overall, improved their customer experience which is completely aligned with our strategy. We recognise that when you look at the world of customer experience, students get a better experience from other industries than they generally do with the international education sector, which is why we want to bridge that gap.

What synergies do you see between IDP’s student-centred approach and Griffith’s values and key strengths?

Our aim is to put the student at the centre of everything that we do, so we’re completely aligned with IDP and that’s demonstrated through their whole approach in working with prospective students. We think that caring for the students is at the heart of our values and beliefs, and we also demonstrate that in lots of ways, in which we care for the student when they first enquire with us and work with them to ensure we’re the right choice for them.

Why do you think it’s important that innovative technology, like FastLane, is leading the sector rebound in Australia and New Zealand?

We have the opportunity as a sector to leverage technology in a way that really supercharges our ability to improve our customer service with prospective students. If we benchmark ourselves against other industries, we are behind – but in turn, that offers a great opportunity. Harnessing FastLane’s technology and innovation to improve customer service is a great example of what we need to do to get Australia back to where we were in regard to a first-choice study destination. FastLane will be key to enabling us to bridge that gap as soon as possible.

How has FastLane delivered for your institution?

In the early days, we have seen a very high conversion rate (approx. 90%) from an offer in principle to becoming an application, which is great! We want to attract more IDP customers wanting to study at Griffith, and so we are doing everything we can to support FastLane and make it easier for the students. We appreciate just what a powerhouse IDP is in being able to attract prospective students, so we want to increase our share of those customers that enquire with IDP, and we believe FastLane is a key way in doing that.

What are you most looking forward to in the next couple of years?

In relation to my job, it is the excitement of seeing significant improvement in the way that we work with prospective students. I see a massive opportunity for us as a university, as part of an industry, to really turbo-boost our ability to put the student at the centre of everything we do and enhance that customer experience. The next couple of years provides great opportunity, after what has happened in the last couple of years to really focus on improved customer experience, invest heavily in it, and exemplify best practice. This will be critical for us to get the industry back to where it was and to even higher levels of success.