How Melbourne University Sport Improved their Customer Experience with Xplor Recreation
About the University of Melbourne
As the first collegiate institution in the southeastern state of Victoria, the University of Melbourne is one of Australia’s oldest universities.
Serving a community of over 54,000 students, staff at the university are responsible for more than just the educational programs. From athletics activities to community events, the team at the University of Melbourne manages a large portfolio of offerings for the student body, across multiple campus facilities.
Jo Massoud and Billy Allen are just two of the hardworking staff members who contribute to the extracurricular experiences that students can take advantage of while studying at the University of Melbourne.
With more than 20 years’ experience in leisure and recreation, Jo is the General Manager of Sport and has been at the university for more than five years. In her role, Jo is tirelessly working to ensure that the University’s leisure and sports programs are running smoothly. From finance to facility management, she is extremely involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization, as well as the overall governance and business planning of the department.
Billy, on the other hand, is the Acting Guest Services Manager at Melbourne University Sport. In this role, he leads the staff members who are responsible for assisting the entire student body, leveraging his decade-and-a-half of experience in the leisure and recreation industry.
As is common in this line of work, prior to their partnership with Xplor Recreation, Jo, Billy and their team members were frequently wearing multiple hats. Their time and attention were often pulled in many different directions.
They were in need of an all-in-one leisure and recreation management software that could help streamline their operations across departments.
In this case study, we’ll share the University of Melbourne’s key challenges, why they selected Xplor Recreation as their solution, and the results they’ve experienced since adopting our software in 2023.
Featured Quote:
“A little while ago, we had our gates go down on a Friday afternoon at about 4:50 pm. I put in a case ticket saying we needed an urgent fix. Within five minutes, I had a phone call from Xplor Recreation, and it was done."
- Billy Allen, Acting Guest Services Manager, Melbourne University Sport
The University of Melbourne’s Key Challenges
With a full-time team of 25 and more than 200 casual employees, Jo and Billy were finding it difficult to balance managing their staff, serving their students, and maintaining the progression of their sports offerings.
“The limited online capabilities through [former provider] resulted in a lot of manual work that we were doing through Excel spreadsheets and whatnot. It just wasn’t ideal. It was very outdated.”
- Billy Allen, Acting Guest Services Manager, Melbourne University Sport
Extremely manual functionality prohibited efficiencies
Specifically, the University of Melbourne’s previous software solution was extremely manual and offered their team very limited online capabilities. Basically, there was almost no functionality in terms of creating efficiencies and freeing up what little time they had.
"The limited online capabilities through [former provider] resulted in a lot of manual work that we were doing through Excel spreadsheets and whatnot,” shared Billy. “It just wasn’t ideal. It was very outdated."
Jo added, “It wasn't efficient. As Billy said, there was a lot of manual handling. The software was behind, and not just compared to other newer systems, but as a whole solution.”
Inability to improve due to end-of-life software
The team at the University of Melbourne was also faced with the challenge that their former recreation management software solution had gone to end-of-life by way of acquisition.
“No further updates were coming,” shared Billy. “Advancements, improvements, none of that was going to come. If we wanted to do something new, the software just didn't have the capability.”
Restrictive user and reporting capabilities
The University of Melbourne requires the ability to restrict different users' permission levels within their management system. This meant they needed to find a solution that was able to customize user profiles and limit access to various data in their system.
For those responsible for running reports on the university’s athletic programs, their former solution didn’t have the proper functionality. They needed a more streamlined, intuitive and automatic way to evaluate their data.
"With [previous provider], we didn’t have reporting processes, and we weren’t able to report on different programs,” Billy told us.
Solution: A Partnership with Xplor Recreation
Despite concerns about changing management systems and introducing new processes to their team, the University of Melbourne found an ideal solution in Xplor Recreation’s university management software.
Knowing that they wanted to make the best long-term decision for the school, they enlisted the help of a consulting firm once they decided to go to tender. The firm assisted the team in creating a brief that would ensure their future leisure and recreation management software provider would tick all the right boxes for their organisation.
After thorough evaluation, the University of Melbourne discovered that Xplor Recreation met each of their requirements, helping them land on a partnership with our team. Specifically, our flexible solution enabled their staff to configure their backend to suit their unique business needs.
From a venue perspective, the University of Melbourne staff were particularly excited about our membership management and facility hire capabilities.
Jo shared, “The online and facility hire capabilities were big for us. They've been extremely important.”
The Results of Our Partnership
Since switching over to Xplor Recreation in 2023, the University of Melbourne has experienced a number of benefits.
“People can now sign up themselves and create their own profiles. They can purchase their own memberships and put through their own suspensions. With Xplor Recreation we’ve seen an improvement in membership retention because of the online capabilities.”
- Billy Allen, Acting Guest Services Manager, Melbourne University Sport
Innovative tech has led to improved customer service
The team at the university is busiest at the beginning of each semester. Previously, around these high-volume periods, Billy and his team had to sign each student up individually. This was incredibly inefficient, leading to frustrated staff and students.
With Xplor Recreation, they’re able to leverage our innovative technology to serve their student population much faster and with fewer staff.
“Previously, on [former software solution] we were signing each person up individually,” shared Billy. "So, we'd have a line up out the door. Now, we have a few QR codes up, a couple iPads out, and people are able to set up their own profiles. It’s a more seamless process.”
Students can also sign up for their memberships and set up their profiles before they even step foot in a campus facility. “It saves a lot of time,” said Billy.
Improved user experience for their team
The intuitive workflows offered through our leisure and recreation management software enabled the team at the University of Melbourne to adopt the platform seamlessly.
“For my team,” Billy shared, “learning how to use it was quite simple and easy. They picked it up really fast.”
With such a smooth transition process, the team experienced a boost in efficiency, and a reduction in staffing requirements. Simply put, fewer people can now accomplish more than ever before.
“Xplor Recreation’s online capabilities has allowed us to reduce the manpower that we need during our busy periods,” said Billy.
Our easy-to-use platform has also improved the team’s reporting capabilities, a task that used to create a lot of friction with their previous provider.
"Having one software program means less work for all of our admin staff,” said Jo.
Online registration has increased membership retention
Xplor Recreation has also helped the University of Melbourne in reducing redundant workloads and improving membership retention by empowering students to access services online.
“People can now sign up themselves and create their own profiles,” said Billy. “They can purchase their own memberships and put through their own suspensions.”
These capabilities have supported a higher membership retention rate, alongside the university’s ability to better handle their busiest times of the year.
"With Xplor Recreation we’ve seen an improvement in membership retention because of the online capabilities,” Billy shared. “Thanks to everything being so accessible for our student population, retention has been much, much better.”
Overall reduction in debits and overdue debts
Since the university has transitioned to Xplor Recreation, the team has also noticed a decline in payments owing to the organisation.
Our software solution enables automation for things like outstanding payments and follow-up reminders. These functionalities help with keeping accounts up to date.
“It’s been much easier on our finance team,” said Billy. “The decline of debits and overdue debts that we've had from our membership base has been really good. It's been way, way better.”
Incredible customer support for their team
Before partnering with Xplor Recreation, the University of Melbourne had to rely entirely on one support person from their previous software provider. They were at the mercy of that individual’s schedule.
Now, they have access to round-the-clock customer support.
“A little while ago, we had our gates go down on a Friday afternoon at about 4:50 pm,” Billy told us. "I put in a case ticket saying we needed an urgent fix. Within five minutes, I had a phone call from Xplor Recreation, and it was done."
Jo added, “The support's been fantastic.”
Would the University of Melbourne Recommend Xplor Recreation?
When asked if they would recommend Xplor Recreation’s software, Jo and Billy were 100% in agreement.
“Yes,” said Billy. “We've already had discussions about Xplor Recreation with other universities.”
