Educations agents have been working with universities for decades and have been delivering large volumes of students across the UK. However, in the increasingly competitive realm of international education, agents play an ever-increasing, vital role in connecting aspiring students with their dream institutions.
With the global demand for higher education on the rise, agents are faced with the challenge of managing vast amounts of information and maintaining strong relationships with students and partner institutions.
In this digital age, where efficiency is paramount, agents can greatly benefit from the utilisation of a Customer Relationship Management system. But before we explore the reasons why agents should embrace CRM systems to streamline their operations and pave the way for future success, let’s understand what happens if they don’t.
Without a CRM system, agents often resort to manual methods of data management, such as spreadsheets, sticky notes, or multiple software applications. This scattered approach leads to disorganisation, difficulty in retrieving information, and an increased risk of data loss or duplication. As a result, agents may struggle to track student progress, manage deadlines, and maintain accurate records, which can lead to errors, miscommunication, and missed opportunities, resulting, ultimately in the loss of business.
Let’s consider the student journey.
Without a CRM system, agents may find it challenging to maintain consistent and timely communication with students and partner institutions. They may rely on manual methods like email threads, which can lead to overlooked messages, delayed responses, and a lack of centralised communication history. Consequently, the quality of service provided to students may suffer, and opportunities for engagement or conversion may be missed. Students who are at the receiving end of this disorganisation, may be tempted to walk away from the agent and either try and complete the process on their own, or commission a new agent.
“Without a CRM system, agents may find it challenging to maintain consistent and timely communication with students and partner institutions”
It is, for these reasons, that agents need to consider a CRM system as an investment and not a cost. It’s almost a basic requirement for a business to operate and compete in a congested marketplace where technology is moving at pace and becoming the modus operandi for both students and universities.
But it is important to understand that not all CRM systems are equal. Subscribing to a generic system which requires agents to have a clear understanding of their own processes, those of the universities and the student’s buyer behaviour, can be both time consuming and a resource drain. What agents need, is an easy, ‘out of the box’ configured system that has the entire student journey already mapped out, in a language that they understand.
That’s where we come in. Our CRM system has been designed by agents for agents and delivers an extremely solid punch. We’ve already done the hard work of mapping every aspect of what an agent needs, by keeping the student firmly in mind. Everything from nurturing leads to guiding counsellors through applications, uploading documents to flagging status updates, we’ve got it covered.
With multiple subscription options, offered at extremely reasonable rates, the SAMS CRM can be implemented easily and is fully maintained by us. Whether you’re running a multinational operation or a small set up, our system offers a solution that works. To find out more check out our website, www.samscrm.co.uk and book a demo, where we can discuss you needs in detail.
About the author: This is a sponsored article from Shamim Ghani, Sales & Marketing Director at SAMS Global. Shamim has over 20 years’ experience in international student recruitment and joined SAMS Global in 2023 having spent 5 years as Head of International Projects at the University of Huddersfield and almost 2 years as Associate Director, International Recruitment at UCLan. At both universities, he was the agent lead and responsible for agent efficiency management. Shamim had also worked as an agent in his early career.
