1. How to Sell to US Schools
Two decades of experiences
Mark Shay
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2. WARNING
Language used in this session is focused on the
commercial aspects of commerce. It uses words that
may be viewed as contrary to the mission and vision of
those who educate students. Those with an aversion to
commercialism may find this session offensive.
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3. Why Listen to Me? (Bio)
Mark Shay is an entrepreneur with a long history of
helping higher education institutions recruit and retain
students, serving thousands of academic customers in
his 20-year career. He is well known for balancing the
non-commercial spirit of educators with the commercial
realities of operating efficiently and effectively.
At IDP Education, Shay brings his deep understanding of
the American market to the world s largest student
placement firm. As Regional Director, Shay is
responsible for bringing IDP Education s network of
prospective students to the US market. He will oversee relationships with
universities that are looking to expand their international student enrollments
and improve their brands overseas.
Before coming to IDP, Shay was the founder of EDU, a leading computer-based
student recruiting company that produced GradSchools.com and
StudyAbroad.com. Shay is known as one of the leading authorities in the field of
online marketing and using the Internet to communicate with students. 3

4. Why am I here?
• AIRC and ICEF are in essence our industry s trade associations,
IDP is the industry s largest player
• Competition is key to any industry s success as it builds buyer
confidence
• Today s American market opportunity – Land Grab, not market
share
• The better everyone does at selling , the better the credibility of
the industry and the more receptive the market is to my company
• Rising tide lifts all boats
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5. Why Listen to Me? (Stuff I’ve Sold)
• Poster distribution services
• Advertisements in 11 different university s Directory of Classes
• Web links in online academic directories
• Web site development services
• Online advertising media buying services
• Online marketing consulting services
• Academic Brand Strategies
• CRM (student inquiry management) systems
• Internet generated student leads
• Database of student profiles
• Association partnerships
• Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index
• University admissions
• Student placement services
But ultimately, what I really sell…
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6. What really you sell is you!
Because no matter how good the
product,
no matter how great the value,
if they don t trust you,
they won t buy from you.
Me!
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7. Personal Trust
Academics buy from people they trust.
They greatly value the advice of their peers
They value honesty and candor instead of boldness and hype
The respect patience and they appreciate support of their
academic values
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8. Risk Adverse Clients
University Culture:
It s worse to make a mistake than it is to underperform
Academics like to buy, they don t like to be sold
Business protects intellectual property (protect confidentiality),
universities share best practice (collaborate, share)
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9. Organizational Trust: Responsibility to the student
The wider responsibility of institutions and agencies is to the student.
Trust develops when institutions and agencies work in
partnership to fully meet the needs of foreign students.
• Commitment to ethical practice
• Student support infrastructure
• Recognition of cultural differences
Despite a desire to achieve numbers, university
administrators are bound to serve the student.
It s a trust that is build into their value systems.
It is part of their ethics.
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10. “Educational Ethics” versus “Business Practices”
Teaching is often referred to as the noble profession
They define profitability as an ethical challenge
They don t like to consider themselves part of an industry.
Many senior administrators still hold faculty positions and consider
themselves educators
Mission of American higher education is demonstrated by
EducationUSA s inclusion in the Department of State as opposed to the
Department of Commerce (Ministry of Trade)
In the United States, there is pressure to have educational institutions act
like a business, but not to have businesses run educational institutions
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11. Colleges Get Refunds After Translators at Chinese Fair
Turn Out to Be Recruiters
The Institute of International Education is reimbursing several American colleges
for the fees they paid to participate in a recent college fair it co-sponsored in
China, amid complaints that translators hired to work with the Americans there
were actually student-recruiting agents who took advantage of their position to
sign up students.
The nonprofit organization, which holds higher-education fairs in countries around
the world to bring together colleges and students, forbids third parties to seek to
represent colleges or potential students at the events.
… told him she could "smell" the recruiters. "If you've gone to one fair, you
can discern them in a second," he said.
The use of paid recruiting agents is one of the most controversial issues in
international education today. Universities in Australia, Britain, and elsewhere
commonly use overseas recruiters to attract foreign students, but the practice is
not widespread among American institutions. Critics worry that agents may take
advantage of students.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 29, 2009
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12. State Department Issues Guidance on Student-Recruitment Agents
The State Department has waded into the contentious issue of international
student recruitment, issuing policy guidance that bars its EducationUSA advising
centers from forming partnerships with commercial recruiting agents who have
contracts to represent specific American universities.
…saying that such recruiters lack objectivity and may restrict foreign
students' college options.
.
… the directive reflects the attitude of many in American higher education, who
see the practice of commercial recruiting as improper and even unethical. The
idea of awarding commissions to agents to sign up foreign students has
long been controversial in the United States:
College associations, such as the National Association for College Admission
Counseling, have been critical of the practice, arguing that when recruiters are
being paid by colleges, students' interest is no longer their first priority.
"Working with agents narrows that mission and confuses students,
- The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2009
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13. The Chinese Are Coming,
and They Need Help With the Admissions Process
From an director of college counseling at an IB school in China:
… In a society where unrelenting competition is a fact of life, the allure of the
world's best system of higher education is growing by the year.
With no reliable source of information that they can understand, the parents turn to
a motley collection of agents who purport to offer the inside track to American
colleges. A Chinese colleague recently told me about a friend who paid $10,000 to
an agent who guaranteed her child five acceptances from among "the top 100
universities" in America. Such promises are standard procedure among the
agents, who create or doctor transcripts, manufacture essays and letters of
recommendation, and package everything in a neat bundle. Americans would
call this fraud. In China it is simply the procedure for applying to U.S.
institutions.
…Despite our advice, assurances, and occasional warnings, we estimate that
about five of the 28 families of students in our graduating class did pay agents
various sums for real and imagined services…
- Commentary in The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 2, 2009
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14. So, Now Do You Trust Me?
In the USA, agents have a
soiled reputation.
Media paints overseas
recruiting practices as
aggressive, ruthless even
ethically unsound.
As an industry, we have an
image problem.
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15. AIRC Provides Industry Integrity
The AIRC certification process provides a “seal of approval” for student
recruitment agencies to be considered by U.S. institutions, students and
families, government agencies, and other organizations concerned with
quality and transparency in the international student marketplace.
Applicants for AIRC certification must undergo a background check, a
rigorous self-study based on the AIRC standards, and a site review. They
must demonstrate their capacity for ensuring the standards are adapted
throughout their agency and that counselors and agents have a full
understanding of the American higher education system.
AIRC’s Standards for Certification call for a certain level of quality practiced
in five operational areas:
1. Organizational Effectiveness
2. Integrity of Recruitment Process
3. Institutional Engagement Pre and Post Enrollment
4. Institutional Engagement Pre and Post Recruitment
5. Complaints Process
- Source: American International Recruitment Council
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16. Pre-enrollment Responsibilities
The AIRC statement of rights and responsibilities asks institutions to assure
that:
• Marketing information is of a high standard, professional, clear and
unambiguous
• Prospective students can access information about the institution s
academic program, fees and refund policies, facilities, services,
resources and policies, as well as information about US education and
living in the US
• The integrity of the recruitment process is upheld, including ethical
practice in admission and transfer
• Students who are admitted are adequately prepared for post-secondary
education, including appropriate language skills and age consideration
• Accurate information is shared transparently with recruiting agencies
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17. Post-enrollment Responsibilities
The AIRC statement of rights and responsibilities asks institutions to:
• Provide the best possible academic advising to assure student progress
• To provide adequate support services for international students including,
but not limited to:
• Orientation to living in the US
• Health, lodging, meals and travel
• Visa conditions
• Student activities
• Policies relating to due process
• Participate ethically in US visa screening
• Uphold the highest standards of practice relative to international students
and generally assure a positive experience in US post-secondary
education
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18. Best Practice Outcomes
Securing universities as clients comes from a trust, that leads to strong
partnerships between agencies and institutions.
• Cooperation in areas such as marketing and application
processes
• Agency brings market intelligence, local experience, trained
counseling staff and established infrastructure
• Agency adds eyes and ears to the institution
• Agency supports institution building its brand in the market
• Institution supports agency in providing clear and transparent
information to students
• Institution provides quality post-enrollment support services
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19. No Brainer?
It is not wise to assume there is no risk to the university in using an agent.
For many, it is more than reluctance, it is fear. For them, their fears are
very real and recognizing this is very key in starting to establish a trust.
The risks to a university include:
• Brand damage – Exaggeration of the stature, reputation and
recognition of a universities degree
• Liability – Misrepresentation and false statements about to
program offerings, admission requirements, eligibility
• Orphaned Students – Arrival of sub-standard students and
problems that need resolution
• I-20 License Suspension – Fraudulent documents and immigration
scams risk suspension of the university s ability to recruit
international students.
• Professional Reputation – Picking a bad agent could be a career
ender.
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20. Recruitment Agency Checklist
Institutions should focus on a few quality agencies that meet the check list
below.
Do they:
Do your agencies have:
Work in partnership with you
Established reputation Build on your brand strength
Institutional client base Provide market feedback
Large footprint Provide market research
Experience
Market knowledge
Trained counseling staff Can they:
Effective infrastructure
platforms Deliver your desired student profile
(eg volume, diversity)
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21. Selling Tactics: Step One
Establish Trust (personal, company, industry)
- Academics like to buy, they don t like to be sold
- Understand the value of personal referrals.
Testimonials and introductions from other clients are
important door openers and confidence builders
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22. Selling Tactics: Step Two
Understand the Need
When possible, Listen, don t speak.
Tell me your pain.
Patience, take notes, be deliberate.
Ask for examples to understand their bias
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23. Selling Tactics: Step Three
Address the Objections
Identify and re-state the clients objections
Debate if cordial DO NOT ARGUE
Provide truthful answers where possible
Recognize unknowns where necessary
Defer answers if further research, proof is needed
DO NOT INTENTIONALLY MAKE FALSE STATEMENTS
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24. Selling Tactics: Step Four
Present the Value
Interpret the client fears, create new ones such as:
Risk of being stagnant
Risk of falling behind competitors
Risk of loosing travel justification
Create Pain, Create urgency, Be the solution
Trust builds over time, ask for a chance to prove yourself
through a three year plan
Discuss the contract, define non-negotiable terms
Set reasonable expectations, plan to slightly over perform
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25. Selling Tactics: Step Five
Close the Deal
Validate the client, focus on the students
Ask for references
Visit the campus
Finalize contract terms
Understand the decision making process, work the cycle
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26. Agree on the Language
Third-party representative: An all-encompassing term identifying a person or
group of persons offering international student recruitment services for a fee. This
can include agents, counselors or other such positions.
Agent: A single entity, often a sole-proprietor, able to assist institutions in
international student recruitment. May work on behalf of an institution to find
students, may be hired by a student prospect to give advice on schools, or may
charge both parties for bringing the two together.
Counselor: A professional responsible for giving guidance and advice to
international students and their families, often to help choose a college or university.
May be separated for ethical reasons from the business aspect of the student
placement industry.
Advisor: A professional able to provide standard information on the U.S. options
available to an international student prospect, but not necessary able to offer actual
counseling and guidance or help with choosing an institution.
Marketing representative: A full- or part-time employee hired by a U.S. college or
university to work overseas in an effort to recruit students from a particular region or
country.
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27. Good Selling!
Mark Shay
Higher Education Sales and Marketing
http://www.InternetCarbon.com
+1-610-357-4648
mshay@InternetCarbon.com
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