Sales is a Dirty Word
Practical insights from Sales Marvel’s higher education consultancy. Ideas to improve student recruitment and conversion, strengthen graduate outcomes and career opportunities, and build productive partnerships between universities and employers.
University operating model: why cost-cutting won’t cut it
Universities can trim costs or freeze spending all they like…for most, it won’t be enough. Many years ago, my old boss, Eckhard Pfeiffer, gave me a piece of advice that has helped me many times throughout my business career: If you want to reduce costs by 5%, squeeze your supply…
HE Transformation has a Problem. But Not the One You Think.
After HE Transformation 2026 last week, Robert Solow’s productivity paradox raised an interesting question for me: with all this investment in HE Transformation, where are the measurable improvements in financial sustainability? It’s time to critically assess how HE Transformation aligns with individual institutional objectives. HE Transformation must be at the…
If You Apply for Everything, you might just interview for nothing.
Open to Anything? That May Be Why Nobody Knows How to Help There is a sentence that comes up regularly when you talk to graduates looking for work: “Honestly, Keith, I’m open to anything.” I understand it. When applications disappear into silence and another week passes without an interview, being…
KEF6 and 5 Key Benefits of University-Industry Partnerships
Your next transformational university-industry partnership may already be in your pipeline, waiting for somebody to unlock its full potential.
Increase Income from Alumni: Are You Asking for Their Money (again)?
We’ve all got one. Heck, some of us more than one. Yes, I’m talking about friends. To increase income from alumni, it is essential to highlight the successes of former students regularly. Not your preferred type of friend. You know, I’m talking about that kind of friend. The one whose…
The Future of Universities: Protecting What the Markets Cannot
The Future of Universities Depends on Protecting What the Markets Cannot Institutional Excellence is Essential to Preserving Universities’ Public Mission UK Universities, more than just about any other industry sector, are being asked to sustain the full breadth of their public mission using a funding model that, frankly, rewards only…
The Impact of Number 10 North on Universities
We all know that most journeys look easier on the map than they are in real life, and the Impact of Number 10 North on Universities is likely to prove no exception. York to Manchester, for instance, is a pleasingly clean line when viewed from a polite distance, the sort…
Protected: Section 18 Letter to Rachael Maskell MP
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