This post is about the question I am undoubtedly asked the most by large and small businesses alike: how do I reach the right person?  Everyone wants to be able to get an audience with the elusive ‘decision maker’ and it still remains one of the most difficult challenges facing growing businesses.

The reality is that, within education, the actual name of whichever person you are trying to contact (be that an Assistant Head at the local secondary school or an Assistant Director of Children’s Services at a local authority) is usually quite easy to find.  The real question is not how to ‘reach’ them, but how to engage with them.  These are my top tips for engaging the right person to help drive your business.

Do your research

Due to the nature of the education landscape, contact names within schools, academies and local government can almost always be found either with a bit of online research or by putting in a phone call to the relevant organisation.  A lot of info can be gleaned from DfE lists (although I would double-check the details as this goes out of date quickly) and there are lots of companies who will provide data for you.  Spending time on getting the right contact details will not only increase your success rate, but also present a professional and credible image for your company.

Approach your contacts in the right way

Much as we would like it to, cold-calling and traditional telesales campaigns rarely work when it comes to reaching high-level decision makers in the education market.  Ultimately the people you are trying to contact are unlikely to ever be in a position to answer the phone to an unknown outside organisation.  They are more likely to be busy with teaching and pastoral duties, dealing with parents and working with the SLT.  However, our research shows that these decision makers do make time to go through their email and open their addressed post so it’s likely that first contact made in this way is likely to have a greater impact.

Say something that’s relevant to them

All too often I see letter and email campaigns based around how good a company’s product or service is which implores the decision maker to find out more.  In reality, the way in which your solution works is never going to create engagement with the high level contact you’re trying to reach as, while its important to you, it’s unlikely to be important to them.  Think about what is on their mind, what’s keeping them awake at night.  For example, a school may be having a particular issue with truancy; as a result the Assistant Head may be looking for something which helps ensure that school is safeguarding children.

Ultimately, if your campaign shows that you understand what’s important to them and, better still, articulates how your solution will help with the issue (the ‘value proposition’ which I will cover in another post) then you have a far better chance of engaging with the right person and creating a meaningful relationship.

Good luck and be patient; it is possible to reach the magical ‘decision makers’ but it takes a bit of planning and a lot of effort!

Sarah

So you’ve created a product, be it a piece of technology, clever software or an invaluable service, and you’re pretty sure it’s something schools need and would love to buy.  But when you start contacting schools to tell them about your fabulous product by post, phone and email you get no response.  Where are you going wrong?

Selling to schools is VERY different to business and consumer selling.  Schools are under enormous pressure to perform from the government and parents alike while, at the same time, managing a complex and usually dwindling budget.  Here are the top 3 mistakes nearly everyone makes when selling to schools:

1. Schools are buildings – they don’t buy.

Companies tend to try and sell to schools generically as if it is the actual school that’s going to buy.  But schools are buildings, bricks and mortar, it’s the people inside who will have a need for your product.  Have you thought about who it is you need to target?  Will your product support teaching and learning and, if so, do you know which teachers to try and contact?  Is your product designed to save time and money in the office and, if so, do you know who the business manager is?  Thinking about your end user will help you reach the right person.

2. Decisions take time because there are lots of people involved

Salespeople often wonder why a school hasn’t purchased because they don’t take into account the decision-making process for schools; they almost always forecast the sale to close way too soon (if at all!).  In schools, it’s not unusual for the vast majority of purchasing decisions to go to a Governors meeting for discussion and approval and this may only happen once a month.  In addition, if a purchase is over a certain threshold then they usually need to speak to other suppliers and get quotes to be absolutely sure they’re getting best value.  This means the sales cycle can be quite long and is very competitive – you need to make sure your product offers real value!   In the case of really large purchases a full competitive tender will be required which can take months so you need to forecast carefully.

3. Never underestimate the power of peer-to-peer recommendations

Teachers, school leaders and support staff respect the opinions of their peers within the education industry.  If you can build a relationship with a team at a school and prove the value of your product or service then the introductions they can make for you could be priceless.  However, it works both ways so not making good on a promise or delivering something of low quality could lead to a dent in your reputation.  Either way, never underestimate the power of peer-to-peer recommendations, education networks are vital when selling to schools.

These are my top 3 common mistakes but there are many, many more!  What’s your biggest challenge when selling to schools?