My name is Claudia and as you probably know, I am part of the Marketing team at Langports.
I am the Regional Marketing Manager for Brazil & LATAM. LATAM stands for Latin America (that is all the Spanish Speaking countries in South America).
I joined the Langports family in November 2016 and one of the many requirements of my position description was “going on business trips”.
Business Trips
Some of you might probably see us on social media while we are abroad and wonder what we are up to!
Our team goes on business trips for many reasons: to visit our international education agents, strengthen our relationships with these agents, meet new potential partners, and receive feedback about Langports.
We also participate in education events to promote Langports and remain up to date with everything happening in each country that we visit.
The last one is fundamentally important to us because it helps our team to make decisions regarding prices, current courses, new products students might need, etc.
Each country is different
It is important to consider is that each country is different.
For example, Brazil is a completely different market to Argentina, Colombia, or even Chile – even though they are neighbour countries.
Some countries are able to apply for a Working Holiday visa while others cannot.
That makes a big difference in terms of the approach we take when visiting our agents.
It also requires great adaption skills, cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication skills!
The planning
Before flying overseas, the Marketing team spends weeks planning not only meetings, but also topics that we will address during those visits.
Since we are on the other side of the world, a flight to LATAM usually takes 2 days. (If you are lucky enough and your flight does not get delayed!).
Therefore, we need to make the most of our trip and try to visit as many cities and agents as possible during the week.
On the weekends we also attend as many fairs as possible.
This means that our days/weeks can be quite long (especially in Latin America where cities are quite busy and it could take a while to get around …).
The people you meet
On the other hand, this is such a valuable and rewarding experience.
We get to meet so many interesting people from so many different backgrounds and cultures!
I know it sounds weird but I always have to use a timer for my meetings: as a Latin-American, I love talking to people and to get to know more about them!
And don’ forget… we still have to commit to our 24-hour reply policy, so a new working “day” starts when you get back to your hotel at night!
Even though this sounds like running a marathon, we do get to know many places and beautiful people during these trips.
This makes it all worth it! It is also a perfect opportunity to learn a few good life lessons.
My background
As some of you know, I am from Colombia.
6 years ago I came to Australia as an international student myself.
I have always been fascinated by people who decide to get out of their comfort zone.
Also, I really enjoy talking to students who are considering going overseas to study, and sharing my experience with them.
I love hearing about their study plans and find it incredibly rewarding when I can contribute to those plans somehow (even if they don’t come to Langports), and change their life!
As a family business in the education sector, we do have a social responsibility to the world.
That is why we exist and that is why we love what we do! (Ok, I am getting too emotional).
We are also very fortunate that our agents are always happy to welcome us to their cities and share their food and culture with us (who doesn’t love coxhinas?).
My next trip to LATAM is from August – September this year.
I hope to see all our partners, ex-students, potential students and anyone that would like to be part of the great Langports experience!
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