Parents hand over their child's application to the place they find transparent.
Studying abroad is a big decision, and the consulting market is full of overblown promises. Sinh Vũ helps a consultancy state its process and who is accountable, so trust comes from clarity rather than advertising.
Three things first: a process written out step by step, a named person accountable, and a set of materials parents can read carefully at home. Those three help parents trust the consultancy rather than the advertising.
Who does what, when, and what each step produces, so parents know where the application stands.
The name, photo and role of whoever handles the application, so parents know whom to contact.
A handbook and company profile that can be read at home and are honest about what is uncertain.
Each kind of consulting sells something different and meets different worries from parents.
Their customersStudents and parents who must choose a country, a school and a major; they read a great deal and ask many people.
Brand challengeShow that the advice is based on each student's profile rather than pushing one school for everyone.
Their customersFamilies who have chosen a school and need someone to prepare the application accurately; their biggest worry is losing money and time.
Brand challengeBe transparent at each step: who does what, and what the consultancy cannot decide in place of the reviewing authority.
Their customersStrong students who want to lighten the burden; they hear many scholarship promises and are wary.
Brand challengeState the conditions attached to a scholarship and how the consultancy helps, and avoid promises it cannot control.
These are the places where consultancies lose parents even when they work seriously.
Ads that guarantee scholarships and visas make parents doubt every consultancy, including the serious ones.
Go against the crowd by stating the conditions, the limits and what the consultancy does not promise.
Start from this problemOnce the application is submitted, news goes quiet and parents have to keep messaging to ask.
Design a process chart and an update template sent regularly, in one format for every application.
Start from this problemThe backdrops, flyers and reception tables are all laid out alike, so parents cannot remember which consultancy was which.
One set of seminar materials in one visual language, from name badges and backdrop to the takeaway documents.
Start from this problemIt lists only countries and partner schools, with nothing on the process, the team or how problems with an application get handled.
Write the company profile around the process, the people accountable and the difficult cases already handled.
Start from this problemAt the Research stage. Parents read, ask acquaintances and compare many consultancies before meeting anyone. A place that offers only promises, with no process and no accountable person, is ruled out at once.
Touchpoints are where parents see and read about the consultancy. These five build most of the trust before the first meeting.
The document parents read most closely before deciding to meet.
Shows parents that the consultancy truly understands, and gets kept to be read again.
Where parents check what the consultancy says against what others say.
A chance to meet in person, where both the look and the advisors get a close inspection.
Where parents bring their child's precious documents to hand over.
Listed in the order to do them. A small consultancy can stop at step two or three; a multi-office network goes all the way.
An honest way of talking about the process and about what the consultancy does not promise.
Company profile, study abroad handbook and process chart.
Seminar materials, backdrop, name badges and merchandise.
Name, mark, colors and type unified across every document.
A website that presents the process and the team.
Sinh Vũ has not published a study abroad consulting project. The two projects below solve the two closest problems: standardized academic publications, and the trust of language learners.
The HPU2 Faculty of English, training English teachers since 1967, now has a visual identity that knows how to shift tone: serious in the lecture hall, youthful on the admissions page.
Guidelines and academic publications for a foreign languages faculty: a hint for handbooks and company profiles that need a serious yet approachable voice.
Edupia, an online English platform for millions of Vietnamese students, needed a steady identity across every screen. Sinh Vũ built the identity and digital product to hold it together.
An English learning platform that has to be trustworthy and friendly to many families at once: a hint for a consultancy that needs parents' trust.
The principles behind it
State the conditions attached to a scholarship and the part the consultancy supports, and avoid asserting that one will definitely be won. The scholarship decision belongs to the school; the consultancy only helps make the application stronger.
A step-by-step process, a named team, cases already handled (when clients agree) and what the consultancy does not do. Write it in an honest voice, with few slogans.
Usually a backdrop, name badges, a flyer for each country, takeaway documents and a registration form. All in one look, so parents remember which consultancy said what.
Show them the process, the person accountable and how problems with an application are handled. Parents trust clarity more than promises.
Avoid globes, paper planes and graduation caps, since so many consultancies use them. Look for a detail unique to the company's story and test it small on a business card and an avatar.
A few lines about the consultancy, your parents and what is holding you back is enough. Sinh Vũ reads it and replies within one working day.