Cynosure Designs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operational director for Success Finders Ltd. We work globally as a student recruitment and education consultancy company. We’ve been in business for over 10 years, recruiting students for universities in the UK, Australia, and Canada. In summary, we’re an educational consultancy company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cynosure Designs?

We wanted to reach out to a global audience, so we needed a simple, handy website where students could find most of the information they’d get in an initial consultation. We wanted to have a professional and realistic site that allowed visitors to answer queries online and showcased our business and work. Most importantly, we wanted to gain admissions, primarily to local universities and colleges because global admissions take a long time to convert from an inquiry to an admission.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cynosure Designs has built a custom website and is currently developing an attached CRM system. The site directly communicates to WhatsApp with a time limit of two minutes. The first step was ensuring we had a simple and easy-to-use website, as well as systems in place so students could upload information and communicate with us. We also looked for sub-agents for companies willing to partner with us and refer students.

The team has done everything from scratch; when we changed the region and wanted to get social media on the website, they redid it. When we ask them to make changes, they don’t add the buttons or sections, they revamp it completely. We just give them our requirements, and they work proactively to come up with more solutions and creativity. Additionally, Cynosure Designs has suggested improvements to make the website more professional, attractive, and easier to use. 

When we asked them about the online management of the student base, they suggested adding a CRM to the website so we don’t have to carry our laptops with us even if we’re traveling. We can log into the site in the admin areas and get straight into the database. They’ve also told us about TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and organic SEO. They’ve done detailed and informative SEO, research on our competitors, and keyword analysis.

What is the team composition? 

They specifically dedicate two team members every time we give them a project.

How did you come to work with Cynosure Designs?

We were looking to recruit students from the UAE and Southeast Asia. They did a comprehensive research on how to capture a bigger market and didn’t charge us for that. Overall, we could rely on Cynosure Designs as our strategic partner.

How much have you invested in them?

I’m unsure of the budget; I don’t deal with the payments.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them around March 2020. They gave us the first draft of the website within a week. Starting January 2023, we’ve agreed to run an extensive social media and SEO campaign with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We rely on them 100% blindly and are extremely happy and satisfied with their service. Cynosure Designs has taken our expectations on board and gone beyond by coming up with creative solutions. Moreover, our business has grown thanks to them. 

We wanted to make a case for our directors in the finance department. Cynosure Designs suggested an SEO budget of £20,000 (approximately $24,000 USD) a year, but they offered to give us a heavy discount if they didn’t get good inquiries in the first week. When we did a test run on a TikTok video, they spent £20 (approximately $24 USD) a day, and we got about 95 phone calls in that week. When we got those 95 phone calls, the conversion rate for the local recruitment was 32 learners, and the rest were inquiries, which was an impressive conversion rate. Since we get referral commissions from the university for each student, it was a great ROI for us. Overall, we spent £100 (approximately $120 USD) on that PPC and saw great results.

Additionally, one of our directors asked them if we could offer online courses while we discussed recruitment. The team came up with a complete solution for delivering online career progression diplomas, which are about 3–6 months in length. They devised the whole strategy, and we have a meeting towards the first week of December to go through that.

How did Cynosure Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had issues in terms of timelines; they deliver way before the deadline. Communication is also excellent. We can talk to them through WhatsApp, phone calls, emails, and Zoom. Moreover, they’re always available to speak with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As non-technical people, we’ve been impressed with their knowledge of social media campaigns. They know their stuff really well and have done an impressive job. We went in with certain expectations and project requirements, and we’ve gotten more than we expected. In fact, Cynosure Designs’ team has delivered more than they promised.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, I can’t think of anything. They’re a trustworthy company.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to disccuss the project openly with their team. The more we give them details, the more they find facts for us. Many people are scared to share their business ideas in case the IT service provider sells the concept to another company, but we’ve discussed everything with Cynosure Designs, and they’ve come up with even more positive suggestions for us.