How to Choose a CRM for a Study Abroad Consultancy (2026 Buyer's Checklist)

Most consultancies choose a CRM the way they choose a phone: someone they know uses it. Six months later they discover it charges per counsellor, cannot track a CoE, and their data is in a format nobody can export. This is a buying checklist to prevent that — vendor-neutral, and honest about where Qylantis stands on each point.

Twelve questions, and what good sounds like

1. Does it have a visa pipeline, or a sales pipeline with renamed stages? Good: stages carry country-specific requirements; a student cannot move to "Lodged" without the checklist complete. Bad: "Stage" is a dropdown with no logic behind it.

2. Are country document checklists built in? Good: choose Australia, get CoE / GS / OSHC automatically. Bad: "You can create custom fields."

3. Does it track document expiry? Good: passports, English tests and TB certificates have expiry dates and alerts. Bad: documents are files in a folder.

4. How does commission work? Good: each application knows its university, course and counsellor; expected and received amounts are reconciled; counsellor incentives compute from it. Bad: a "commission" text field.

5. Is there a student portal? Good: the student logs in, sees their stage and missing documents, uploads directly. Bad: "We send email updates."

6. What does a counsellor see on mobile? Good: a native app with tasks, students and documents. Bad: "The website works on a phone."

7. Can a lead that goes cold generate a task automatically? Good: rules — if no contact for 3 days, assign a follow-up. Bad: reports you have to remember to run.

8. How is pricing structured for my headcount? Good: a flat monthly fee per consultancy with unlimited users. Acceptable: per user with a clear number. Bad: "Contact sales" for a ten-person office.

9. Is there a student or storage cap? Good: no, or a cap so high it is irrelevant. Bad: tiers that force an upgrade at 200 students.

10. Where is the data hosted, and can I export everything? Good: a named cloud region and a one-click full export. Bad: vague answers.

11. Can I import my existing Excel in one step? Good: upload, map columns, deduplicate, done. Bad: a paid migration service.

12. What happens during the free trial? Good: full features, real data, no card. Bad: a demo account with sample data.

The pricing trap

Per-seat pricing looks cheap on the website and expensive on the invoice.

| Office size | Per seat at ₹2,999/user/month | Flat at NPR 5,499/consultancy/month | |---|---|---| | 3 staff | ₹9,000 (~NPR 14,400) | NPR 5,499 | | 8 staff | ₹24,000 (~NPR 38,400) | NPR 5,499 | | 15 staff | ₹45,000 (~NPR 72,000) | NPR 5,499 |

Per-seat pricing also creates a quiet incentive to share logins. Once two counsellors share an account, the audit trail — who changed what — is gone.

Data ownership is not a detail

Ask for the export before you sign, not after. You want students, documents, applications and commission history in open formats (CSV, PDF, original files). If a vendor will not show you the export during the trial, assume it does not exist.

A scoring sheet for demos

Score each question 0–2 (0 = no, 1 = partly / with work, 2 = yes, built in). Anything under 16 out of 24 will cost you more in workarounds than it saves.

| # | Question | Vendor A | Vendor B | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Real visa pipeline | | | | 2 | Country checklists built in | | | | 3 | Document expiry alerts | | | | 4 | Commission reconciliation | | | | 5 | Student portal | | | | 6 | Native mobile app | | | | 7 | Automated follow-ups | | | | 8 | Flat pricing for my headcount | | | | 9 | No student / storage cap | | | | 10 | Full data export | | | | 11 | Excel import | | | | 12 | Real free trial | | |

Where Qylantis stands, honestly

Built-in pipeline, checklists for fifteen destinations, expiry tracking, commission reconciliation, a student portal, native apps, automation rules, flat NPR 5,499 per consultancy with unlimited users and students, Excel import, a full export, and a free month on real data. Hosted in Google Cloud's Mumbai region.

Where we are younger than some competitors: integrations with third-party tools are fewer, and our customer base is concentrated in Nepal. If you need a mature integration marketplace today, ask us directly what exists before you decide.

Start the free trial — bring your spreadsheet.