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?

All too often businesses embark on sales and marketing activity, both inbound and outbound, with one single goal – to reach and engage with the elusive ‘decision maker’.  And if you are lucky enough to reach and engage with an actual decision maker then that is a wonderful thing, but it’s unlikely to result in much of the way of business if you haven’t engaged with other people in the process.  Here are two good reasons why you should never obsess with the decision maker when you’re creating your sales and marketing strategy:

They’re not the person with the need

The person who can place an order may not be the person who has the ‘need’ you are trying to fulfil with your solution . . . meaning your marketing efforts are likely to fall on deaf ears.  For example, if your product or service helps businesses close sales more quickly, target those people who have the greatest need for this (e.g. sales managers).  If they are sold on what your product does then they will become your biggest asset when it comes to influencing decision makers.

Making decisions does not necessarily equal placing orders

Within most businesses there is rarely a single point of decision-making or a single budget holder.  Of course there will be somebody who physically places orders but they will do so based on the consensus of key stakeholders – ignore these at your peril.

A successful sales and marketing strategy needs to be built on clever targeting based on the answers to a few very simple questions.  Who are my stakeholders?  Where are they?  What do they need?  Understanding the answers to these questions can create all sorts of new opportunities for your business to engage with your customers.

If you’re reading this then I’m guessing you have a blog and are creating lots of content designed to interest and attract your target market over to your website.

However, it’s hard work coming up with ideas, and takes time to write a decent blog and share it across the relevant platforms.  It makes it all the more frustrating when, after all the blood, sweat and tears, no-one seems to be reacting to your blog.  It’s like nobody cares.

So what’s the one simple thing you can to generate more business from your blog?  Add a visual Call To Action.

A Call To Action is a clickable image which drives the reader to take additional action once they’ve read your blog.  They’re most traditionally associated with e-commerce (think the ‘buy now’ button you find on websites) but they should be used with all content marketing to drive the type of behaviour you want.

It’s important to think about what it is you’d like your readers to do after reading your blog post and this will depend on your type of business.  If your business offers services and consultancy then your Call To Action should encourage the reader to get in contact to discuss their requirements so you can make some recommendations on how to help.  If you sell software or solutions then perhaps your Call To Action could offer a free trial.

Once you’ve decided on your Call To Action all you need to do is create a nice visual image which clearly states your desired action and include it with every blog post.  Easy peasy eh??  Actually it is.  I created the Call To Action image below for my education consultancy using a powerpoint slide and a free stock photograph (if you’d like the template just get in touch and I’ll make it available).

Fancy a free 30-minute phone consultation?

The vast majority of my clients offer products and services, but visual Calls To Action such as the one above sound obvious but are often over-looked as a marketing tool.  The key is to make them clear, simple and highly visible; they’re fantastic for creating deeper engagement and make it easier for your potential customers to come to you.

A couple of years ago during an interview I was asked the almost inevitable question “Are you an introvert or an extrovert?” to which I responded “neither”.

The interviewer was adamant that I must be one or the other and it made me question why this should be the case.  It seems to be unquestioned wisdom that the best sales people are extroverts and if you are in least bit introverted then there’s no way you’ll be successful in sales.  However, there are lots of reasons why this simply isn’t the case.  For example, I used to work with a man who’s friendly, outgoing, confident, enthusiastic, great at getting along with people, but couldn’t close a sale to save his life for the simple reason that all that enthusiasm meant that he didn’t listen.  Equally, another ex-colleague of mine was quiet and unassuming but his unthreatening nature and methodical way of working meant he was really rather good at sales – the only frustration being that he could have been absolutely amazing if only he would come out of his shell a bit.

So who ARE best at selling?  Ambiverts.

Ambiverts sit somewhere between introversion and extroversion and display personality traits from both.  And it absolutely makes sense that it is this personality type that makes the best sales people as, ultimately, selling isn’t about foisting your personality onto your client.  Successful selling involves listening to and relating to your client, presenting to them a person they would like to deal with and a company they want to engage with.  The best sales people are the ones who adapt their behaviours to the situation in front on them.

So, which personality type are you?

Now this is a dangerous phrase because when businesses say this they are often referring the fact that they feel they have a product that does something or has features that perhaps other products don’t have.  And, based on this, they feel no product compares to theirs and, therefore, they have no competition.  But the phrase “we don’t have any competitors” is a dangerous one for three main reasons:

1. That piece of unique functionality that your product has may seem like the most important thing in the world to you but your customers may think differently.

If they don’t see it as a deal breaker then they will look at all the similar products on the market – so you need to be conscious of the fact that you’re also competing with them.

2.  Even if your product or service is completely 100% unique, you are always still competing for budget.

It may be that your customer chooses to spend their budget on something completely different as they consider it more important to them at that moment.  The challenge is finding a way to ensure your potential customers consider what you’re offering as high priority.

3.  The belief that no competitors exist in your market can ultimately lead to complacency.  

If you feel that your product is the best out there then there’s a danger that the needs of the customer will stop being the priority and you’ll fall into the trap of believing that “the product sells itself”.  To successfully sell you must always be asking yourself ‘what’s important to the customer?’ and making sure your value proposition is based on this.

Ultimately knowing your competition is the key to creating a great marketing and sales strategy and, believe me, they definitely exist!

No matter what the question or situation my 4-year old niece will always, always ask “why?”  And she asks this because she genuinely wants to understand what’s going on, what is the reason behind it.  As grown-ups we become experienced in our field and come to know our customers and competitors well and, as a result, we stop asking why because we feel we know the answer – and to be fair there’s a good chance we do know the answer.  But the point at which you stop asking “why?” is the point when you start becoming a less effective sales person for two reasons:

1. Things change; you may be able to able to make a fairly good guess at what’s important to your client right now but never assume – you don’t know what’s around the corner for them so you should ask.
2. You may stop asking “why?” because your experience tells you the answer, but asking questions is so important as it shows your clients you are interested in understanding their specific needs. They may be different or similar to everyone else, but you need to take the time to let them explain what’s important.

So try it, keep asking “why?”  I’m not suggesting doing it in the manner my 4-year old niece does (e.g. relentlessly, and often accompanied by tantrums) but I would certainly be sure to ask the question as you’ll be surprised by the results – especially when you’re the only person to have taken the time to ask.

Is your To Do list off the scale? Is Covid making you feel even more overwhelmed than usual? Here’s how to break your list down and get it done.

What does your To Do list look like?  Does it fit on one page?  Does it span a few pages covered in scribbled notes and updates?  How many things ever actually get crossed out?

For many people their To Do list has become a form of torture.  Either too unruly to ever make sense of or too unwieldy to complete in a day – or even a week.  When you run your own business you’re always focusing on the next thing you should do to try and grow, the next place you should be to win new business.  And that To Do list continues to grow with no end in sight – sadly you usually end up being less productive as a result.

So how do you ever complete it?  Here’s my top 3 tips for getting things done and throwing that list in the bin.

1. How many points on your list are Tasks and how many are Objectives?

It’s not unusual to see To Do lists which include the relatively small and mundane (e.g. log July expense receipts) next to the wide-reaching strategic stuff (e.g. set up social media presence).  You feel you need to do both to keep your business running but one is a task and one is a much larger piece of work.  It’s a good idea to go through your list and divide everything up into Tasks and Objectives as it will help you better understand what to do next.

2. How can you get the Tasks done quickly?

With each of the tasks you’ve identified, now think about what the timescales are for these.  If you’re aiming to have your July receipts logged by the end of the month then use your calendar and schedule in an hour to get this done.  If you want to get a newsletter out to your customers by the 15^th of the month then schedule time to write and send it on the 13^th or 14^th.  By moving these tasks into your calendar you’re making sure you allow time to actually get them done and you’re also moving them away from the never-ending To Do list which will allow you to focus on the bigger, strategic tasks that will help grow your business.

If you’re too busy to be able to schedule the time for tasks it’s a good idea to see what you can ask someone else to help you with.  Virtual Assistants can provide valuable business and operational support and can free you up to concentrate on what’s important.

3. What are your priority Objectives?

Once you’ve moved all the Tasks away into your calendar or have enlisted extra support to get these done, it’s time to look at the remaining objectives and prioritise them based on what’s most important to your business.  Again, be ruthless – if there are things on the list that don’t necessarily suit your skillset and you know you could get some help with which means they’d be actioned quickly and more effectively then look for outside support.

Identify your top 3 most important objectives based on: how will it benefit my business, what are the consequences if I don’t do this, and will it take me away from my main goal of running a successful business.  Have you been meaning to set up a blog but have never gotten around to it?  Set an objective to create and share a great blog post today.  Have you reached out to any potential clients this week to see if they’d like to chat?  Make it an objective to contact 10 prospects this week.

Make your top 3 objectives your ONLY objectives for the day/week and focus on them 100%.