In this competitive age just signing up an agent and hoping that results will follow is not enough. Our video interview with Chris Price, taken at ICEF North America held in Montreal last month, offers valuable tips on how educators can better manage, motivate and communicate with their agency partners.
Price is the Chief Information and Marketing Officer and Regional Director for North America at PFL Group International (Preparation for Life), one of the world’s largest UK-owned and managed student recruitment agencies.
By working closely with your key agents and involving them in your marketing efforts, Price is confident that your agency can achieve the results you need: “For any educator, the key to the relationship with their agent is about partnership.”
Price advises educators to treat agents like a member of the team and share the marketing communications plan for the market with them. It’s essential to ensure that the agent can contribute to this, and that your aims and objectives are their aims and objectives. In making the agents a vital part of your plan, they can become one of your greatest assets.
Agents can also provide valuable market intelligence and should be consulted for things like product development, ideas on popular courses in demand, or to garner tips on how to enter new markets.
Watch our video below to learn more about how to get the most out of educator-agency relationships and be sure to listen to Price’s advice on digital marketing strategies and the contentious issue of how to deal with negative comments that current and prospective students share online.
Established in 1997, PFL places in excess of 3000 students a year on a 95%+ visa success rate from countries like Nigeria and Pakistan, amongst many others. Price also serves on the board of the marketing and recruitment professional section of the EAIE, the international committee of NAGAP, and is the course leader for the British Council’s digital marketing programme and the EAIE’s professional development programmes.
Price has said it all. Agents need to be treated as members of the international team.
Imagine, international officers flying to do presentations without providing marketing budget. The budget used for transportation should be sent to agents instead for them to do the presentations.