EL
Gazette
Setting
up as a "school agent": a profitable business development or a waste of
valuable time and resources?
With increased competition everywhere and the constant desire on the part of language schools not only to 'add value' to the student's experience, but also create a differentiation from the competition, many schools are setting up, or thinking of setting up as "school agents"- i.e. sending students on courses abroad in return for commission.
Alison McGowan offers a few words of advice to people thinking of offering placement services, and some valuable tips on how to make the whole operation as stress-free as possible.
1. Choice
of schools
Firstly and most importantly choose the schools you want to work with
well. Quality of teaching is of obvious importance, but equally important
are the standards of accommodation, the social programme and student welfare.
Students with problems inevitably phone their parents first followed by
the agent and the school, and unsolved problems or major complaints can
create untold problems for the reputation of the school -apart from being
a drain on time and resources.
2. The
right school for the right person
If possible make sure you visit the school or schools you use before you
start sending students, or at least have strong personal recommendation
so that you are aware of the type of person who would fit in best there.
Not all schools suit every person, and not all towns and cities are ones
which offer the things the student wants. If you have been there and seen
the facilities offered it is obviously much easier to advise the student
on the best choice for them.
3. Service
levels
You will save yourself a huge amount of stress by working with schools
where a) you like the people and b) the service levels are
the highest. Schools which send the right material at the right time,
that always put the students' needs first, which give fast and accurate
response to enquiries and which solve problems before they become issues
are worth their weight in gold in terms of peace of mind.
4. Range
of Possibilities
Whilst you might prefer to specialise in schools in one particular country
or area, it is useful to have options in other areas for individual adult
students with different needs. It is much easier to have agreements already
in place with schools rather than have to research the market or turn
away a potential client.
5. Commissions
Always contact the school and get an agency agreement before you start
promoting the school. This may sound self evident, but it is much easier
for future relations if it is done this way round- and there may be instances
when the school either has exclusive relationships with a local agent
that you are unaware of; or has too many agents in your particular area.
6. Terms
and conditions
Make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the deal. If it is
15% commission is that 15% of tuition, accommodation or both? If you get
a quote for a group, is the quote a net rate or is it gross? When will
commissions be paid, and how? And will the school help you with any extra
promotional costs such as local advertising or locally produced promotional
material?
7. Payment
When you make the initial agreement with the school they will need to
know whether the invoice should be net or gross, who the invoice should
be made out to, and who will be responsible for paying the fees. Many
schools now accept credit cards which facilitates payment, particularly
when students are paying the school directly, but paying this way may
incur extra charges. If you are paying by bank transfer you may be able
to reach an agreement to pay deposits and fees at the same time to avoid
extra bank charges, but again this would need to be agreed with the school
concerned in advance.
8. Interviewing
and placing students
Interviewing students is very time consuming, and making bookings call
be very expensive in terms of fax and phone calls. It is well worthwhile
ensuring students give a non-returnable deposit after the initial advice
and before you go ahead with the booking, as this discourages them from
subsequently visiting other agents and going through a different one!
NB It is worth noting that commissions an generally paid only to the agent
who sends in the application form, irrespective of who first said the
student was interested- so telephone bookings should be followed up immediately
in writing.
9. Group
bookings
Group bookings can be very lucrative and with one free teacher's or group
leaders place normally given by the school for every I5 students, it is
also a way of offering a working holiday to a member of staff. What needs
to be clear from the beginning, though, is how long the school will hold
the places open for you, and what happens if the eventual group size is
lower than 15. It is also very useful to know whether group leader accommodation
is given as well as a free course, and what role the group leader is expected
to have, as this varies markedly from school to school. In the more expensive
schools for example, group leaders are expected to have very little contact
with students once they have arrived, whereas in others the group leader
is expected to organise a large part of the social activities.
10. Selling
the experience
Finally, make sure that the person or people who are doing the selling,
and the potential group leaders are the right people for the job. Running
a placement scheme can be very profitable, but the job has to be done
by people who are not only super-organized, but who actually like people,
enjoy the selling and really believe that they can offer what is often
the experience of a lifetime.
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