As director of one of Brazil’s top agencies, Victor Hugo Baseggio reveals how he manages his more than 300 person sales team and what Brazilian students are looking for in their international experience.
The PIE: You send a substantial number of students abroad and you’re one of the longest serving agencies in Brazil, right?
VHB: That’s right. Actually this year is our 25th anniversary. We’ve been growing consistently and we regard the organisation as the fastest growing among the top agencies in Brazil. When we began, there were other players that are still there but we’ve managed to do it more rapidly.
The PIE: And how have you managed to grow so quickly?
VHB: From the first days of the company we always looked at what the consumers would like to have, and we listened very carefully to what they want. Today we have different tools like social media and other means of listening to what they want and we have managed to continue on that track.
The PIE: And how many students are you sending out of Brazil now?
“From the first days of the company we always looked at what the consumers would like to have, and we listened very carefully to what they want”
VHB: In 2013 we will be sending 65,000 people overseas, including all the different programmes and also the travel arrangements that some people continue doing with us.
The PIE: What sorts of programmes are particularly popular right now?
VHB: The most promising sector that we see is the teen programme. We realise that they are starting traveling much younger than they used to, so we have options from the age of ten.
The PIE: How did you start CI?
VHB: CI had two founders, Celso and myself. Over 25 years ago we were in charge of an internship programme that used to send university students overseas, under the umbrella of IAESTE which is a sister organisation of AIESEC. IAESTE stands for the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience. And together with that we’ve been adding new options and new programmes. CI has always been different in that we also do inbound programmes under a different brand named ABIPE.
The PIE: Where are the students typically coming from to come into Brazil?
VHB: For internship options, most come from Germany. I would say that around 40% are from Germany because in this internship programme for every place that we get overseas we have to open a position in Brazil. They do a lot in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computing, science and other technical fields of studies.
The PIE: With the government’s Science Without Borders programme, it seems like now there’s a national commitment to language, capabilities and international education, has it always been like that?
“The most convenient and the wisest way to learn a language is to do it overseas”
VHB: No, I think that the initiatives from the federal government are very positive for our sector because it helps set the minds of Brazilians in a broader way. Latin America is not as integrated as other continents. Brazilians still see things more domestically in a way and less internationally. I believe that this programme sponsored by the Brazilian government is very constructive in many ways. Unfortunately there are not many English teachers in Brazil so the language barrier is very difficult to overcome. The most convenient and the wisest way to learn a language is to do it overseas. It is a particular situation that is sound for CI businesses because Brazilians must speak better English.
The PIE: Do you ever consider offering English language training domestically?
VHB: We had some experience in that area and we thought it would be more connected to what we do, but it’s a very different business altogether. It’s a very competitive market in Brazil. I would dare saying that a country of our size has the highest number of language schools; I would estimate something around 10,000 different schools. And unfortunately with poor teaching opportunities because there are not enough English teachers in place. As a result, re-enrolment is very low as participants don’t improve their language skills.
The PIE: How have your education partners changed and improved their products over time?
VHB: The quality of the schools, their facilities and the way they provide the content for the students have been upgraded a great deal. In the past there were the labs now there are smart boards and Wi-FI in the classrooms. It’s a new era of interactivity although I still believe the traditional way of learning brings consistent results.
The PIE: What do Brazilians look for in a programme?
VHB: The cultural experience that the partner schools can guarantee our students and the nationality mix are irreplaceable, I don’t think you can get it through e-learning for instance. Maybe in the future there will be new technologies coming but I don’t think that it’s possible to compare with a real life experience. And the Brazilian way of enjoying interacting with other people will continue for a long time.
“We are the only language agent in Brazil that have both tele-sales and customer care services open seven days a week”
The PIE: Let’s talk about the operational challenges of running a company that big. How do you ensure all your staff know your products well?
VHB: We created our own academia which is an e-learning tool available 24 hours a day for our staff. We can track all the content that our staff has access to, and the managers can control it. It’s not just a power point presentation. On top of that we also do the web seminars and we record them so people can watch them at any time.
The PIE: How has the way your client books and interacts with CI changed?
VHB: We have a mobility problem in the big cities in Brazil as you know. Sometimes to go to one area to another can take up to two hours so going back and forth is not very wise. The telephone is used a great deal. Since approximately 2,000 100% of our customers have visited our website before contacting us. There is e-mail interaction and the use of social media as well. Then we have the call centre which has been pretty helpful. We are the only language agent in Brazil that have both tele-sales and customer care services open seven days a week.
The PIE: How often do you change your product line?
VHB: We review it constantly, but we have a process– before we start dealing with a new service we go through a lot of analysis and its impacts on training our staff. There are some programmes that you need to have a specialist to deal with like the high school or au pair. We have to make sure that all stores have that, or if that particular store is not going to have a specialist then the call centre is going to come in. We have a call centre that supports both the final consumers and the B2B as well. CI hotline serves our 330 store sales staff if they need any help or assistance.
The PIE: Do you think there’s going to be a rise in interest in higher education and is that a market you’re in?
“There is still a considerable number of US universities that don’t care about us or do not see us as a distribution option for their programmes”
VHB: Yes definitely, we’ve been trying to enter that market. But as you well know, it’s so vast and there are so many players. We can make sure that we know all the English schools operating in London but all the different university options available in London is not a piece of information easily available. I would say that 99.9% of all language schools would like to cooperate with agents. Maybe half of the existing universities think the same.
The PIE: Considering the NACAC ruling in the US allowing members to use agents, have you seen any tangible change in universities reaching out to work with you?
VHB: No, I see that some universities are more and more trying to expand their own distribution, while others are reconsidering the sales through agents. I would remark that there is still a considerable number of universities that don’t care about us or do not see us as a distribution option for their programmes.
The PIE: What will the next 25 years bring CI?
VHB: We will continue with the focus on listening to our consumers but I think technology is going to be a key factor for the surviving agents. Additional services in different areas are going to bring interesting opportunities. The old say ‘High Tech High Touch’ still moves us forward.
