3rd International Conference on Management in ELT
26-28 November 1999 - ESADE, Barcelona
Impact Marketing- a new approach to ELT marketing for the Millennium

Introduction

"Impact Marketing" has been developed over the last year in response to requests from UK ELT organizations suffering from declining numbers and feeling that:
a) the competition is doing better than them
b) marketing activities are no longer having their desired effect

It is not a new theory as such, but it argues for a different focus and application of current marketing theory in the face of a rapidly changing market.

Over the last 2 years a number of fundamental things appear to have changed forever, e.g.
a) decreasing enrolments from countries in the Far East, Russia, South America
b) decreasing demand for more expensive general English language courses
c) increasing competition both from more aggressive language schools and language school groups
d) increasing competition from new destinations - e.g. Canada, Australia, Malta, South Africa

At the same time access to English is increasing widely in countries where English is not the first language, not only due to better language schools and better teachers (many trained in the UK), butt also through increased access to cable TV and most significantly perhaps through the use of Internet and email. Whilst agents fight to get reasonable commissions and help with promotional costs, an increasing number of students are bypassing the agent altogether, surfing the net for the most appropriate course and booking direct.

The ELT business in the UK seems to have become increasingly polarised . At one end of the continuum there are the huge publicly quoted operators such as EF, Study Group, Nord Anglia; at the other end, small family owned business with under 50 students year round. In the middle there are the the owner/director mid size schools and the "EAQUALS" schools: Bell, IH, Eurocentres - alongside a large number of unaccredited organizations. All of these are fighting for a slice of the same market.

This paper argues that existing marketing in many UK private language schools is tired, unable to keep pace with changes and prone to panic attacks when numbers are down. If marketing is to have an impact in terms of sales there needs to be a change in approach, which will involve not only ensuring that courses and services are actually what people want but that marketing itself becomes faster, more flexible and more focussed. How it actually achieves this is the basis for this paper.

In the good old days marketing was simple. Indeed, the Chartered Institute of Marketing definition of marketing still remains the "management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirement profitably." All you really needed to do was to find out what customers wanted, think what they might want in the future and give them what they wanted at a price which allowed the organization to function profitably.

In the best schools internal promotion concentrated on providing excellent courses and good customer service to students, whilst external promotion concentrated predominantly on producing brochures, videos, mailshots and attending agents' workshops such as the ARELS International Fair and the Berlin workshop.

Agents were always important to the majority of the schools, but they were somehow less demanding, and if they liked the school sufficiently they were often prepared to accept commission rates as low as 10% of tuition fees. ELT in turn was making every effort to become more professional with teachers encouraged to take DipTEFL courses, attend conferences and keep abreast of changes in ELT methodology.

The key word was 'quality'; all British Council accredited schools at least attempted to provide it, ensuring not only that courses were excellent but that accommodation was regularly inspected and the social programme extensive.

2.1 Economic Crises
When it all started to change is difficult to pinpoint, but this stage probably began with the Asian crisis in 97, when suddenly the Thai and Korean markets collapsed, and the Japanese market started to show signs of instability. Russia was the next economy to collapse and Europe was already showing signs of suffering from the effects of the strong £ . Brasil for a few years took up some of the shortfall, but in early 1999 it too suffered a maxi-devaluation resulting in an overall 40% drop in student enrolments.

In the past there were always some countries that were down when others were up and vice versa, but the effect of the collapse of the so called 'tiger economies', coupled with the strength of the £, immediately worsened the overall effect.

At the present time Japan and to a certain extent Korea are starting to come back on line, but other countries in Central/Eastern Europe and China have not yet lived up to earlier promise and many of the newer markets are additionally extremely price sensitive.

2.2 ELT Changes Overseas
Whilst the market for courses abroad may have been declining in some places, the interest in English and the need for English has anything but declined. However, a number of other developments have taken place which have made it less essential for students to travel abroad to gain communicative knowledge of the language:

1. English language provision has in many countries improved considerably- with better trained teachers, and better technology in the shape of OHPs, language labs, videos and computers.
2. There is more access to cable TV than ever before with many people tuning in to CNN, BBC World and Sky.
3. Use of email and the Internet is growing at a phenomenal pace with much of the communication taking place in English. Accuracy is no longer of paramount importance: what is most important is getting the message across.
4. A further blow to the necessity of accuracy is the increased contact of non-native speakers with other non-native speakers, both using the medium of English. Mistakes seem somehow less important; again it is the communication and often empathy which build the relationship.

2.3 The Perception of "Quality"
In the 'old order' I mentioned the importance all of the better schools were giving to 'quality' whilst many were simultaneously complaining furiously about the defection of students to schools down the road which offered an 'inferior' product.

The changing environment has not created a market for those who think quality does not matter. On the contrary demands are ever increasing in terms of courses, accommodation, welfare and the social programme.

What some schools have failed to realise, however, is that possibly their idea of quality is not the same idea of quality as that held by the client. That where quality in the classroom may mean to the school native speaker teachers, all DipTELFLAs with years of experience, to the student quality may mean teachers who not only know how to teach but who are also motivated and enthusiastic and interested in the students they are teaching.

Similarly, where 'quality' on young learner courses may, to the school, mean safety and regimentation, and constant supervision at all times, quality for the students themselves may well mean just a bit more freedom (albeit within restrictions), more trips to places that they are interested in and more chance to really enjoy themselves. Social programmes cannot be run by jaded oldsters; social programme organizers must be chosen, just like teachers, at least partly for personality.

2.4 Changing Customer Demands
The key market for ELT in the UK still remains short course General English, but not all short course General English courses are the same. With increased competition amongst schools, students can insist on courses which offer perceived value for money. They can also insist on free access to computers and the Internet.

Accommodation has also taken on increased importance with an increasing number of people insisting on a private bathroom, telephone, television, as well as host families which actually want to talk to them.

Customer service is of prime importance and students will increasingly fight for their rights rather than accept inferior service. Using a questionnaire once a month is no longer sufficient, if indeed it ever was, for building customer loyalty. Students need to feel their problems are not only being listened to, but also being acted upon.

As regards agents and educational consultants, the dynamic has changed here as well. The majority of schools need agents - more so now than ever - and agents can pick and choose which schools they want to work with. Increasingly, financial help is being requested for fairs and exhibitions- in addition to that which was often requested in the past for brochures.

But they are also asking for extra commissions and discounted tuition fees to give them room for manoeuvre in the face of increased competition from the Internet. No longer are they able to charge service charges when students can bypass them and pay less by booking direct. Whilst they may not answer your email for 2 weeks they will be expecting an immediate response to theirs together with an immediate solution to any problems occurring whilst their students are studying In the UK.

This paper has only given a short idea of some of the changes which have taken place in the market over the last couple of years. but it is quite clear that the business has changed radically during that time. Marketing can no longer be seen in the same way as it has been before. In the introduction I mentioned that it had to get much faster, much more flexible and much more focussed, but it also needs to consider a few more "Ps" to add to the 4 Ps traditionally given as product, price, place and promotion.

3.1 People
ELT is a people's business where, in a sense, people are the product, and there are some superb professionals in the business who are not only highly trained, but also highly motivated, interested and interesting.

What has happened over the last 10 years, however, is that in some places (and it is some places only) some very well qualified teachers have got stale and uninteresting, and have failed to keep up with the changes in ELT - which in turn affects class motivation and student satisfaction.

Teachers need to be treated well but they also need to be aware of their importance in the marketing of the school, and their importance in "word of mouth" promotion.

Similarly, administrative staff need to be aware of the importance of their role, and empowered to deal with non-academic problems as they come up, rather than always directing them to management.

Schools in turn need to recognize the fact that all key front line people including marketing people going on trips need to be projecting the image of the institution as they want it to he seen. Academic qualifications and specific skills are frequently essential, but personality, efficiency and a "can do" attitude should also be considered in times when customer loyalty is of paramount importance.

3.2 Partnerships
With increasing competition and the increasing importance of 'influencers' strategic partnerships are essential - with agents, consultants, suppliers, host families - in short anyone who has a business relationship with the school.

Brasilian agents, for example, who felt schools understood their difficulties following the 50% devaluation in January 1999, automatically felt more inclined to send students once they started coming back. Schools that attempt to undercut agents offering special deals direc t- often to students or teachers who had previously come through agents - will find the market rapidly slipping from their grasp.

Agents in general appreciate schools which work with them to develop the market, and to solve problems with students. Internet booking may take over a larger percentage of the market in the future, but particularly in long haul markets the agent often remains the most important link to the market.

3.3 Planning
With all the difficulties ELT is presently experiencing and the speed with which the market is changing, there is an increasing tendency not to bother with planning. The result: re-active rather than pro-active marketing, and increasing panic attacks.

The production of a marketing plan involves looking closely at sales figures and trends which in itself should provide a sense of reality, and indicate which areas specifically need to he addressed. Marketing plans can always be changed. If they are not done and suddenly a downturn is noted, it is much more difficult to negotiate with staff, and marketing people have a tendency to go off in every which direction, often pursuing non-existent sales.

3.4 Processes
Alongside planning, all the systems and processes in the school need to be functioning. Speed of response has already become crucial in people's buying decisions and if schools cannot respond within hours, they will often lose the business to someone who can.

In this day and age it is simply incredible the number of institutions which do not have an up-to-date database for targeted mailings. Not a mailing list but a fully operational database, and one which is actually "owned" by someone and updated frequently.

Similarly it is amazing the number of organizations which continue to work through an inadequate ISP. If the email is down for a day, customers will understand; any more than that will simply lose business.

Web-sites will of course take on even more importance in the future than they have now - but people need to be trained to take advantage of this new media. Putting 40 pages of brochure onto the Internet is unlikely to hold the attention of anyone surfing for an English course for any more than a couple of seconds, even though it may have cost thousands to produce.

3.5 Promises
Increasingly as schools try to cut overheads and unprofitable courses, promises are forgotten. It is extremely easy to do and of course it is very easy for the school to justify. However, for the student who has already bought their ticket, and wanted to do that particular course, it is nothing short of a disaster, both for them and for the reputation of the school. If there are no provisos regarding minimum numbers in the brochure then promises must be kept; if special deals are made then these must be written down and signed by both parties. The bad feeling generated if this is not done is not only unnecessary, it is extremely bad for business.

3.6 Personal Service
Finally, personal service. Excellent service levels have long been considered important in the marketing ELT, but again with increased competition it is personal service that gives the competitive advantage.

These days it is very difficult to tell the difference between one school offering General English courses and another, except by price and location. Where price is the crucial factor then service levels are of less importance, and less is expected. Where this is not the case, it is often the school offering the most personal service and the best treatment of agents and students which wins in the end.

If we go back to the polarisation of language schools and consider the massive groups such as Study Group and EF, it is increasingly impossible for most other language schools to compete with these in terms of pricing and commission levels. Smaller organisations, however, can have a good chance of survival it they are not only fast, flexible and focussed, but can crucially provide that personal touch.

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