USEFUL STRATEGIES TO WORK WITH RUSSIAN AGENTS ICEF-Moscow 2015 Association of Russian Educational Advisors (AREA)
ASSOCIATION OF RUSSIAN EDUCATIONAL ADVISORS Year of foundation 2007 Member of FELCA (The Federation of Education and Language Consultant Associations) 30 agencies from 11 cities (3 years of experience, 3 full-time consultants, legal structure, international education is the main activity) www.studyarea.ru
FACTS ABOUT RUSSIA The largest country on the planet, spanning nine time zones Population - 142.8 million (2012), the world s ninth largest population Russia has the second largest number of US dollar billionaires in the world. At the same time, the income gap in Russia is substantial and reportedly growing
FACTS ABOUT EDUCATION IN RUSSIA Private education emerged in Russia in the early 1990s, but less than 1 percent of primary, lowersecondary and upper-secondary schools are private; at tertiary level, 4.5 percent of undergraduates and 16.9 percent of postgraduates attend private institutions. The Bologna process, which has been implemented since 2010, saw five-year specialist programmes broken down into four-year bachelor s and two-year master s programmes, with only bachelor s programmes being state-funded, resulting in high costs for consumers.
STUDENT MOBILITY IN RUSSIA Tertiary education about 50000 Russian students headed overseas to study (2 per cent of the total international students worldwide). Concentration of the government of research-based programs. Study destinations for tertiary education: Germany (over 13 thousand), the USA (about 5000), the UK (about 4000), France, Italy, Australia. Study destinations for short-term language programs and other levels of education: the UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, the USA, Canada
STRUCTURE OF EDUCATIONAL MARKET Over 350 agencies in Russia (agentdependant market) Visa is required to the most of the countries It is difficult to have the same marketing strategy for different regions of a huge country
MARKETING APPROACH Public Educational fairs consider an endless number of them, can be just a waste of time and money Web-marketing (translation of the web-page in Russian language or marketing of the separate additional page in Russian) high competition, lack of knowledge about Russian search engines Use of testimonials students of former Social networks Support from the government in the public image of the education in your country Agent Web-marketing using the agents websites Participation in educational fairs Publications in the agent brochures Target seminars with the interested students Special prices/discounts for the agents (not available with direct bookings) Russian-speaking representative working at the educational institution or in Russia (no direct bookings involved)
AGENT APPROACH Defining the agents focusing on the market of the country where the educational institution is located and in different regions. WHERE TO LOOK FOR? Workshops, organized with the participation of the professional agents (i.e. ICEF), as well as the activities of the Trade Missions in Russia HOW TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE AGENCY IS PROFESSIONAL? Membership in AREA (FELCA accreditation) www.studyarea.ru IATC certificate (ICEF agent course) References of other educational institutions
AREA AGENT RESEARCH FOR 2014 Participants of the research: AREA members 2578 students for language programs; 77 for high schools; 301 for higher education 60% language programs; 17% - post-secondary education; 8% - high schools; 6% - post-graduate programs. Average booking for language program: 3 weeks
AREA AGENT RESEARCH FOR 2014 Leaders for foreign languages: Great Britain, USA, Malta (Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Canada decrease) Leaders for secondary education: Great Britain, Canada, USA (Switzerland, Germany were in the list) Leaders for higher education: Great Britain, USA, Canada (Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Austria were in the list)
AREA AGENT RESEARCH FOR 2015 The trends in numbers of bookings (decline by per cent, Much more pessimism (in 2014 - the overall number will remain the same less than 60 per cent; in 2013/2011 80/90 per cent of growth): Overall 100% Language programs 100% Secondary and high schools 80% Pathway academic programs 80% Higher education 80% Professional diploma programs 70% Post-Graduate programs 70% MBA 70% Internships 60%
AREA AGENT RESEARCH FOR 2015 Marketing tools of the agents: Website 90 % Public fairs 80% Presentations for the partner educational institutions 70% Advertising in media (printed) 20%
AREA AGENT RESEARCH FOR 2015 Changes in agents behaviour : 40% - concentration on certain areas of education abroad; change of marketing expenses structure; cut off the budget for marketing 30% - concentration on certain countries; diversification of the programs and countries in the structure of the agency s offers 20% - additional services (in addition to education abroad) 10% - no changes
AGENTS EXPECTATIONS HOW TO IMPROVE
WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR PROVIDERS Discounted programs for 20-30 per cent strategy works! Explain how the clients and agents are protected (in case of bankruptcy of the provider, for example) Should I reduce the marketing activity in Russia now and wait (issues of reliability, think about the lower costs because of weakened Russian currency) It s time to build up a great agencies database Testimonials from current students whether they experience any change in the relation towards them because of the political pressure
HOW TO BUILD UP RELATIONS WITH THE AGENTS IN RUSSIA What to consider the speed of the feedback from the institution flexible approach to the programs structure and to the individual request Materials in Russian language level of the commission the agents approval process (including the agreement itself) programs of agents support and education in your country Understanding of the visa procedure Participation in marketing activities together with the agents How to improve o Employ stable and efficient representatives o CLEAR POLICY of direct bookings and refund procedures o Show flexibility when adjusting the course for the students individual requests the education system in Russia is different o VISIT the agencies, try to address them directly o Implement full use of online booking and acceptance of electronic documents, but avoid sending a lot of blind links o Perform availability and courses updates on regular basis / agent portal in the website o Provide exhaustive information on the host family
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! QUESTIONS? CONTACT INFORMATION: Anna Ryzhova, info@studyarea.ru AREA Board member