Selling education isn’t optional anymore. It’s essential.
And it’s time our sector stopped pretending enrolments happen through “charm,” “luck,” or “once they’re in, it sells itself.” We need to be smarter than that.
(Frankly, this is the hill I’m prepared to die on. Feel free to check in occasionally to make sure the hill hasn’t won.)

Professional sales skills and processes - the same ones multimillion-pound businesses rely on - are what turn enquiries into enrolments. Education has been slow to catch up.
And no, marketing is not the same as sales. That belief needs to shift before we see even more closures.

For 30 years, I’ve helped independent schools, language schools, and education agents strengthen their enquiry-to-enrolment processes with practical, ethical sales techniques designed for education.
Palatable. Pupil-led. Time-efficient. (Because everyone’s spinning plates.)

What I help with
• Fixing enquiry-to-enrolment pipelines
• Increasing offer-to-acceptance rates
• Training admissions and agency teams who want confidence
• Building long-term nurture frameworks (proven & practical)
• Saving time by qualifying smarter and following up better

Some outcomes
• School: +25% enrolments vs pre-pandemic
• Agency: doubled placements into boarding in one year
• School: a “lost” enrolment secured 15 minutes after using my method
• School: +12% offer-to-acceptance in 12 weeks
• School: +25% open day registrations from one process tweak
• Agency: +17% conversions in 12 weeks

Why work with me?
Because professional sales is my craft and education is my home.
What makes me different from someone who’s in marketing or “sold a few places” and thinks it’s the same?
Rigour, depth, and decades of sector specificity.
I’m a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Professional Sales (so yes, I’ve been thoroughly checked out), a bestselling sales author, and a Director at StudyTravel. I’m invited to deliver 20+ keynotes each year on selling education.  I run sales teams both full-time and fractionally. That takes nuanced coaching, clarified processes, and sleeves-rolled-up work - not generic advice.

I run No Fluff Fest, the flagship annual 'selling education' event.
I host the Selling Education podcast - ideal for a dog walk or a commute.

And I help you manage the revenue-generating side without compromising your values.
I’m well known as the expert in selling education.

If you want to ask a question, explore support, or see whether we’re a fit, just DM me or book a chat:
https://calendly.com/nicolalutz/chat-with-nicola-lutz

Let’s get off the virtual networking and into real life this year!
Which events are you going to? Gatherings?

I should do better at saying where I’m going to be so we can catch IRL!

January IRL
🍺 Taunton currently! Working with the fab Helen Kingaby and team on Friday  
🇪🇸ST Alphe Malaga (Junie Louise S. is going for No Fluff) 
🎓Oxford
🏙️ London several times
🥳No Fluff Fest
🇬🇧StudyWorld (Junie at this too)

And so the Q1 event season starts!!

Nicola Lutz

More admissions, less stress.

I have been helping agencies, and schools not just recruit more students more, but do it WELL, in a way that doesn't feel like selling but holds dear to the 'consulting' and 'matching' service we value in international education.

I help you boil down the 'stuff' you're doing to what will really move the needle in your enrolments. This saves you time, as well as boosts conversions. It saves you money, too. 

Higher conversion rate = less need to expand the advertising spend.

Better conversion= less time wasted.

Let's look at some ways I have helped  in the last few months:
Working with me:
- a school client increased sales 25% over 2019 levels
- a school chain increased conversion rates by 7% within 6 months
- a small, new agency went from annually sending 24 boarding school pupils to 47 
- an independent school got a new pupil within 15 minutes of working with my technique
- another increased offer-to-acceptance conversions by 12%
- another had 25% more families register for an open day
- an established agency team increased conversions by 13% in 12 weeks
- another increased bookings over 200% in Q4

And it's not just about 'sales'

- one agent said they have grown sales, but also feels like she isn't just reacting, she is planning for growth, even her house seems tidier
- one school owner 'feels like he got his school back' by involving himself more in the sales function
- one school MD learnt what the team were doing and introduced more solid KPIs and an improvement scheme
- one agent reduced their marketing spend by improving sales/conversion techniques with me.

How do I help?

-Accelerator Programs - one to one for 3 months including roadmap sessions, weekly calls and daily support. These programs are golden - it's like having me as your ‘sales’ personal trainer for 3 months! Therefore, limited availability 

- Admissions Team Accelerator Program.. similar to above but for the whole team for 6 months including monthly CPD to increase skills needed to boost admissions.

- Done For You - if you just want me to come in and set up your sales function (particularly for small schools or agencies) I get it done, show you what to do next and off you rock.

- on-site days, in person with you and the team. 

- No Fluff Fest - inspirational sessions with added take-aways you can actually use to grow enrolments. Network with agents, independent schools and language providers.

If you want a quick chat about converting more of those leads into enrolments- DM me for my diary link, grab a cuppa and we can go from there. ☕️

Director of International Admissions specializing in International Admissions

Sales & Client Success Executive @ No Fluff | Let’s connect

📈The ‘Selling Education’ expert | No Fluff | student recruitment | best-selling author | Founding Fellow ISP | 30 years in education | increasing conversion rates = more pupils supported 🥳

Junie S.

In beautiful Oxford with the Admissions & sales teams (& marketing) of St. Clare's, Oxford working on aligning the processes and comms to increase conversions.

Setting standards
Establishing rules 🤓
Best practice guides
Process outlines

I’m excited at the progress we made and the thing that stood out was how passionate everyone was about St Clare’s! Wonderful to see.

I have the pleasure of supporting for 3 months too with my Admissions Accelerator Program - a day gets things going and sets us up - the coaching,mentoring & training program after makes it stick, irons out wrinkles, holds everyone accountable and keeps the focus where it should be - to increase numbers efficiently and ensure clear and streamlined processes to give better outcomes for their time, their agents and their many pupils 💪🏻💪🏻

We were so caught up in it all I forgot a pic with everyone so here I am with the wonderful 
Suzanne Mowat 
Simon Talbot 
Dobrila Arezina  

#sellingeducation #edusales #admissions #nofluff

St. Clare's, Oxford

Director of Marketing, Admissions and Development at St. Clare's, Oxford

Director of Summer Schools and Short Courses

Director of the International College

Networking, discussion.. part of any event. But at No Fluff Fest we seem to have a magical mix.

People come for the sales learning.
The speakers.
The energy.
And leave with fresh perspectives and new connections.

#nofluff #sellingeducation #educationsales #admissions #noflufffest

what went WRONG at No Fluff Fest?

It's all very well showing you all the shiny good stuff (which was 99% of it!) but to maintain balance we did have some things go wrong!

Too many delegates? 👋🏼 👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼
Not really something that went wrong, we are proud we sold out and were at capacity, BUT - I didn't get to speak to everyone! As a born hostess this worries me, I would hate for anyone to feel it wasn't a welcoming, personalised space by No Fluff.
Solution? Not sure yet - maybe we have some online mingling beforehand or make more of the pre-Fest event..

Pre-event gathering 🍻 .
- not really an official part of No Fluff Fest, but becoming a must-attend - the informal gathering of anyone arriving early the night before seems to be a hit with around 40 people rocking up. However, as it wasn't a sponsored event, and therefore out of our budget, the hotel didn't put on extra staff so there was a looong wait for a beer or food.
Solution? Find a willing sponsor for the pre-Fest mingler! Fancy it..? Get in touch!

Microphones failing 🎤 
the venue is well-run and efficient but the microphones had to switched all the time as they seemed to fail. Not something we could control and didn't detract from the speakers and audience, but was a tech issue we could have done without.
Solution? Make sure there's back up and do more testing.

Speaker down! 😨 
The usually indomitable Dominic Moon was sick so couldn't make it (we'll save his for next time!) so we had a 40 minute slot to fill with genuinely useful content. We could have just had another break but instead I sent out the bat signal and gathered those I knew would add their tips and take aways from training and coaching on sales with No Fluff. They didn't let me down! And with so many in the audience that I know really well, and know had gems to share, it turned into a useful and practical sessin
Solution? Always have amazing people around you - and a back up plan!

Sponsors limited 🙌🏻 
This was a plus for sponsors as they had more eyes-on, and we will always want most space to go to the delegates, but I think a wider range would be really good. Hands-up - I didn't focus on this aspect as I should have done - it's a prime sponsorship option and I didn't sell it enough! (confessions of a sales coach.. 😑 ). With a wider team and most sponsors already repeating for '27, we should be more 'on it'!

Out of all the things that could fall down I think we got away lightly!
Thank you to my fabulous team - we are small but mighty!
Charisma Andrews
Junie Louise S.
Helen Tideswell
and adopted wider team that we couldn't do it without on the day
Ruth Hughes MSc
Thom Jones

Senior Education Consultant | Schools Strategist | Boarding Specialist | Pupil Recruitment Adviser | Publisher & Editor

Social Media Manager @ No Fluff

Helping criminal defence firms manage busy caseloads, urgent attendances, and client care — without the overhead | Police Station | Prison Attendance | Case Preparation | Trusted, Empathetic, Client-Focused Support

Helping curious humans to change, succeed, thrive and connect, using coaching psychology and positive psychology. International Wellbeing Champion | Coaching | Supervision | Training | Wellbeing | Performance

Speaker, trainer, motivator. Helping clients share what they need.

Go Junie Louise S. ! 💪🏻🚀🇪🇸
NEW… ‘fluffy dip’! Go try it!

Representing No Fluff at ST Alphe Malaga and a full schedule of agents and schools - exciting! 
StudyTravel 
#stalphespain26

No Fluff

StudyTravel

Well.. when you sell 1/3 of tickets for next January’s No Fluff Fest with 2 HOURS of this one closing,  you can be pretty confident it’s ✅a good event
✅you have the action-takers 
Thank you. 

The challenge is bettering it next January!

We already have plans.
Surprises.
Format tweaks.
Speaker wish lists.

It’ll be in London in January ‘26. 
Tickets are on early bird sale for ONE week, so grab yours now! https://lnkd.in/ezac_Rsg

(If plans change - there’s an easy refund available until 1 December, so zero risk)

Seen the reports? Want to chat about sponsoring No Fluff Fest London 27?
Let’s talk!

DM me for a meeting link.
Tell me what you want to achieve.
Ask me how we can get you greater reach.
From dinners, displays and merch to Fringe sessions.
It’s a special event for those that ‘sell’ education. 
Decision makers. Founders. Influencers. Grand Fromages. 
Let’s see if we can find a match - we limit sponsors so it’s got to feel right!

Thank you to Andrew Elias for his Virtual Fringe session today - some great tips and food for thought. And whilst attending another event (the juggle is real).

To catch the recording and the other sessions (and attend tomorrow’s) you need to register but it’s free-we’ll upload the recordings as quickly as we can. 

Thank you to all Virtual Fringe speakers for giving their time for free to support the sector!

https://lnkd.in/eskr8P9z

Zena Everett 
Andrew Elias 
Nicola Lutz 
Lindi Smit 
Genevieve Abela 
Wendy Ratcliff-Luiz 
Basia Salamon 
Giovanna Veronezi 
Ana Josefa M. 
Laura Goodsell 
Ruth Hughes MSc 
Amelia Johnson 
Sital Patel 
Andrew Thomas 
Brendan Schneider 
George Hughes

Brand. BD. Do-er.

Professional Speaker 🎤 - Crazy Busy: Achieving Priorities in an Overwhelming AI World | Leadership Team Coach & Decision Sounding Board 🧠 | Author of Mind Flip, The Crazy Busy Cure & Badly Behaved People 😈 |

Admissions Manager - Sherfield School

EduWorld Malta: Innovating International Education through Premier Networking Events

Head of Admissions & Marketing | Strategic Growth | Data-Driven Enrolment in Independent Education

Educational consultant

💫 Helping Educators take International Recruitment to the next level with agents from 129 countries. In-Print | Online | In-Person Package Offer: Get a free Alphe

Helping international schools connect with agents in 129 countries - In print | Online | In person

Certified Canva Community Trainer, Canva Creator and Canvassador, Helping you unleash creativity one click at a time | Canva & Ai trainings, workshops and talks for entrepreneurs | #canvassador #canva #bizdesignacademy

Commercial Photographer at Amelia Johnson Photography

Business Development Manager | Helping Businesses Scale with AI, CRM & Digital Strategy | Nexa Cognition (HubSpot Elite Partner)

Conversational commerce will revolutionise the way we converse and convert with brands and organisations.

28 years inside K-12 schools taught me what actually fills seats. Now I help tuition-charging schools get more inquiries through SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, and marketing automation. Book a call to see if we’re a fit.

Creative Director @ Ardent | Strategic Content for the Education Sector

And we’re off!
Zena Everett kicking off Virtual Fringe.
You can get the recording and watch the other sessions freeee
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eskr8P9z

No alternative text description for this image

If getting to No Fluff Fest isn’t realistic this year, this is the next best thing.

Term time. Travel. Budgets. Team cover.
Sometimes getting out of the office just isn’t going to happen.

That’s exactly why Virtual Fringe exists.
Two days of short, practical sessions designed for admissions teams, agents and school marketers who need things to work in the real world, not in theory.

You’ll get ideas you can actually use around systems, messaging, visuals and follow-up, all aimed at helping you start 2026 feeling clearer, more organised, and far less reactive.
No fluff. No selling. Just people who understand the pressures you’re under.

It’s free. It’s online. And it’s built to give you quick wins without adding to your workload.
Save your spot and join us.
https://lnkd.in/eskr8P9z

#studentrecruitment #salestraining #education #admissions #noflufffest

If your business supplies to the education sector, did you know I’m trialling a free fast networking space for us to collaborate, refer, recommend and brainstorm?

It includes so far
Consultants
Accommodation providers
Software companies
Event companies
Coaches
Marketing companies
Graphic designers
Web developers 
Branding experts
Photographer/videographers
Social media managers

It’s NOT for 
Schools
Ed providers 
Agents
(sorry-but I have other things for you, DM me)

How to join:
- find the group and ask to join! On here - The Education Suppliers Sessions
- the pinned post directs you to some questions (strictly only suppliers)
-once in, invite to the WhatsApp group and zoom 30 min sessions
- sessions are the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 2pm (uk time) for 30 mins.
- pitching encouraged, sharing info and referring is positively the point of the thing!

100% free but use it or lose it!

Not selling out yet - with just 5 tickets to go / is making me crazy! Like missing a bus  by one minute, or being 1st in line in the call queue then getting cut off 😫

We have a few weeks to go, I know, but targets are my thing!

And I know this is twice the size of the first one but STILL! 😂

If you’re 
- undecided about going
- are coming but a colleague may also want to go
- are heading to StudyWorld already

drop me a DM! We’d love to have you at the only event focused on selling education.

I know “early bird” can sound like a marketing tactic, but this one actually matters.

Not because of the discount, although 40% off helps.
Because booking early gives you time. Time to plan, time to bring the right people, time to actually use what you’ll take away.

No Fluff Fest isn’t a last-minute inspiration day. It’s the kind of event where the value comes from stepping back, seeing what’s really going on in your enquiries, your follow-up, and your conversations, and fixing the small things that quietly cost you places.

If you already know next year needs to feel calmer, more structured, and less reactive, this is a smart decision to make early rather than another thing to scramble over later.

Early bird tickets are now available.
If you’re coming anyway, you may as well save the money and secure your place now.
https://lnkd.in/ezac_Rsg

#studentrecruitment #salestraining #admissions #sales #marketing #education #noflufffest

Feel epic!

Grab your ticket for the only event about rolling up your sleeves and selling education - No Fluff Fest!
40% off tickets for a few days only 

https://lnkd.in/ezac_Rsg

#noflufffest #sellingeducation #admissions #studyworld #studytravel #boarding #education

Still relying on one or two fairs and a handful of trips to “do agent engagement”?
That is expensive, time-heavy and no longer enough.

In this Virtual Fringe session, Ana Josefa Morales and Giovanna Veronezi from StudyTravel  get practical about how schools can reach, engage and stay visible with agents digitally.

This is not theory. It is about how agent behaviour has shifted, why travel budgets are tighter, and what actually works now when face-to-face time is limited.

They will walk through how to use magazine advertising, digital ads, webinars and sponsorship properly, not randomly, not reactively, but as part of a joined-up agent engagement plan. You will see why digital visibility matters, how to reach agents where they already are, and how to turn activity into relationships rather than noise.

If you want a more cost-effective way to reach hundreds of agents, stay top of mind year-round, and stop guessing where to spend your budget, this session is worth your time.

Come for the clarity. Leave with an action plan you can actually implement.
Register for free
https://lnkd.in/eskr8P9z

#studentrecruitment #salestraining #admissions #education

Do I know anyone with AuDHD or ADHD that works in sales/student recruitment/admissions? It's for a special session at Virtual Fringe as part of an online panel session, so someone happy to share tips and insights (not a presentation) to open up the discussion. DM me if so ideally by this Weds!

We love having action-takers in the room!

So when I said we’d give prizes to the first person to buy a ticket there was elbowing-out-of-the-way, frantic button tapping! So we had another prize for number 5 and number 10!
Then the fab team at MLC Ireland bought for the whole team (again!), Susan Fang bought for her team too so now we’re keeping it going as my dopamine receptors are loving it!!

There’ll be an extra cool prize for the 50th and 60th ticket person - without checking again - we were at 44 so goooo!

MLC Ireland

East Asia Education Strategy Advisor | HNW Family Pathways (K-12→University) | Helping Schools & Universities Win Trust | Advisor to Banks & Family Offices | First Client in 30 / Zero to Hero

Many of the people who attend No Fluff Fest aren’t struggling because they don’t care or aren’t capable.
They’re struggling because they’re juggling too much and don’t have a clear structure to lean on.

The event helps you simplify how you handle enquiries, follow-up, and conversations so you’re not constantly second-guessing what to do next.
It gives you a clearer framework that feels human, ethical, and manageable for busy teams.

If you want to feel more in control of your process again, this is a very good use of your time.
Tickets are 40% off, book your ticket now at the cheapest price
https://lnkd.in/ezac_Rsg

#studentrecruitment #salestraining #sales #admissions #education #noflufffest

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