Are you guilty of bad love?

Bad love: when your affection for customers is solely based on the revenue they bring. Ask yourself, if they didn’t contribute financially, would you still talk to them, believe in them or invest in them? Is it the money you love, or the customer?

Good love: genuinely caring for your customers, regardless of their financial value. Even if the relationship ends, your business gains in reputation and brand loyalty. You become the go-to for recommendations, known for going above and beyond.

Love your customers for who they are, not just what they bring financially. Strong relationships lead to happier outcomes for everyone involved.

💖 Happy Valentine’s Day! 💖

As it’s Valentine’s Day it seems only right to tackle the issue of love and, specifically: is your company any good at it?  Many, many companies will say they ‘love their customers’ but do they really?  Or are they guilty of bad love?

 

Bad love is where you really absolutely genuinely love your customer . . .  based on the fact they provide you with £XX revenue per year.  Would you still love them and spend so much time on them if they didn’t provide that income?  If you were being honest, would you say it’s the money you love, not the customer?

 

Good love is where you absolutely genuinely love your customers and if it ends a fruitful financial relationship then great!  And even if it doesn’t then your business will still gain in brand and reputation as you build a network of contacts who regard you as helpful, professional, willing to go the extra mile and not just interested in the next order.  Yours will be the sort of business they recommend to others even if they don’t need your services themselves right now.

 

Love your customers for who they are, not how much they are worth to you financially.  As with all relationships, the stronger they are the happier you will be.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you’re lucky, you would have had the Christmas period off, and today will be your first day back. For the vast majority of us, it’s time to crack on with January and I for one am looking forward to the New Year despite the weather/new exercise regime/lack of daylight that goes with it.

I’ve read a lot of articles and blogs recently about January blues and how to overcome them, usually by easing yourself into it slowly. As someone who’s growing a business I’m not entirely sure that works for everyone so, having given it some thought, my three top tips to help you hit the ground running are:

 

1. Talk to people

You might be feeling a bit bloated and bleary-eyed after Christmas and New Year and may not be feeling that sociable. However, the sooner you start engaging with people (colleagues, customers and suppliers) the sooner you’ll start to get your mojo back and remember what your business is all about.

 

2. Do one good thing well on your first day back.

You could easily spend your first day or even the first few days back in the office shuffling emails around and doing admin. However, I find that you feel much better if you find a task that needs doing which will genuinely help your business develop and then do it well. You could pick up the phone to those potential customers you met at that event last year to see how they’re doing. You could write that blog about the product you’re due to release to give your customers something to look forward to.

Whatever it is, make sure it has a tangible business outcome as it’s bound to make you feel better.

 

3. Book your next break

It might not be realistic to have that dream holiday to the Maldives booked, but you should definitely have a look at your calendar and your workload and plan for your next break from work. Just knowing that you have a week off during the February half term will give you something to look forward to helping you get over the January blues.

And it’s only 6 and a bit weeks away anyway. Blimey — better get cracking!

 

Here’s to a successful 2023 🙂

Why are some businesses more successful than others?

Is it because they provide a better solution technically?

Is it because they were first to market?

Or is it just luck?

You could say all these statements are true, however, more often than not it is the way you look at a solution and how easy it is for a potential customer to purchase, on board, reduce their pain, and continue to enjoy the experience of working with your solution and business. It’s all about reducing friction.

We work and continue to work with several businesses across the edtech world and, in the main, the majority of companies that are not growing as quickly as they would like comes down to how hard are they making it for customers to either buy in the first place or make it hard for them to choose to stay, its all in your power to solve!

Look at your Customer Journey, look at every step, and understand when you are making it hard for the customer/user.

Ask yourself:

• Have you made it easy for the potential customer to find you and know what you stand for? Where do they receive their information?
• Have you made it easy for them to purchase? Do they know you are going to take away a problem better than your competition?
• Have you made it easy for them to onboard? Through little to no manual or human interaction.
• Have you made it easy for them to get to the value? This may include human intervention to understand best practices, however, if you can make it light touch this is great for the business and your customer.
• Do you have processes of ensuring that the customer continues to have a great experience of the solution and the business? To make the decision to be loyal easy.

 

If you say yes to all these questions, ask one more! Are you looking at this from your perspective or the customer’s? If you answer from yours, as we know best, you are not reducing Friction!

Is signing into a multi-year contract for your MIS a good thing?

If it’s something you’ve actively chosen to do as a school, academy or trust then, yes, it’s a great idea. It means you’ve had the chance to look at the options out there, and you’ve asked your suppliers for three-, four- or five-year pricing to guarantee a bit of budget certainty for the future.

If a multi-year contract is something you’ve had sprung on you in the small print – leaving you a very short window to either agree or cancel – well, it’s unlikely to be very popular. No one appreciates feeling like they’re being backed into a corner ☹

An unforeseen change in contract terms like this poses all sorts of questions for everyone involved in MIS:

❓ How does this affect the relationships schools have with the local support teams out there whom they’ve worked with and accessed their MIS licence through for years? It leaves Support Teams having to manage a difficult message from the MIS provider.

❓ How does this affect how Support Teams work with suppliers? More and more Support Teams have moved to be a multi-MIS support team, choosing to support their schools irrespective of the systems they use as opposed to only offering one option. All of the ‘big 5’ MIS have established Support Partner programmes (some useful links are below), as well as many of the newer entrants to the sector.

❓ How does this affect everyone (both schools and LAs) in terms of meeting procurement rules? Does everyone now need to get quotes and go through a tender process to even just stay with the MIS they already use?

❓ As academisation continues, what happens when a Local Authority maintained school is tied into a multi-year contract that converts to an academy?

Lots to think about which will hopefully become clearer soon.

 

If you’re a school, academy or trust and you’re affected by this and are wondering what to do, I’ve seen lots of posts on this already but it seems like the best advice is:

• Remember, YOU are the customer, so don’t be afraid of looking at alternatives and moving as it can all happen a lot quicker and easier than you think. Everyone is well-versed in migrating data from your system and it’s possible to be up and running very quickly.

 

• If there’s too much time pressure to look into things right now, don’t feel you have to lock in for a further three years, but do definitely contact your supplier to negotiate an alternative term length. They may be open to shorter contracts in the face of schools cancelling altogether, and this will give you time to plan for 2022.

 

• Talk to people! Get in touch with your local MIS support team if you use one, or with any of the MIS companies directly. They are all friendly and knowledgeable and will walk you through everything you need to know (or send a message to me or Nick as we’re more than happy to introduce you).

 

‘Big 5’ Support Partner programme links:

RM Integris https://www.rm.com/products/rm-integris/partner

Bromcom https://www.bromcom.com/LA-partners

Arbor https://arbor-education.com/become-a-partner/

Scholarpack https://scholarpack.com/who-we-help/support-partners/

ESS SIMS https://www.ess-sims.co.uk/products-and-services/sims-support-units

 

 

 

The extent to which an MIS is used by a school is usually dependent on quite a few different factors:

 

• How well they understand what the MIS can actually do for them over and above standard pupil census type stuff
• How easy it is to use, but also how intuitive it is to learn for new users (which we’ll explore more in a future blog)
• The training the users received at the outset; did it inspire the implementation of new ways of doing things and leave the users enthused?
• How easy MIS companies and support teams make it for users to gain the value they are after? E.g., completing a process or gaining the insight they require.
• How easy it is to get help in the event of coming across a problem (or, looking at it from the opposite side, how soon will users abandon it if it feels too much like hard work)?

 

For all MIS suppliers, providing an innovative but intuitive product is only half of the story. It’s the support that goes around it which makes it a solution that will really satisfy your customers and embed the solution throughout the school with staff, parents, governors and students alike. Every supplier offers direct user and tech support to their customers – either included as standard as part of their cloud MIS or, for some, via the purchase of an additional support contract.

However, there is another very important group of stakeholders here who play an important role in supporting the use of MIS, and that’s local support teams. It’s a relationship that has evolved over the years, so this blog aims to look at the role of support teams, the MIS suppliers, and schools’ views on the support they receive.

 

Historically, the concept of who provided MIS support to a school was closely tied to how the MIS licences were procured to begin with. Back when all schools were LA-controlled maintained schools, the majority of Local Authorities in England and Wales, plus Northern Ireland, procured MIS on behalf of their schools on the basis that it would be them who provided the support those schools needed in the use of the system. The LA support teams would only then contact their MIS supplier (the majority were SIMS users) for 2^nd and 3^rd line support.

 

As the way in which authorities and schools are funded has gradually changed, and especially with the introduction of academisation over a decade ago, the dynamic between schools and support teams has changed (check out this blog post for more on this subject). Independent teams have formed out of the old authority-schools-only teams; commercially-focused, multi-MIS support teams are building great support partnerships with schools and MATs alike.

 

Everyone is happy to work with schools and academies outside of the traditional LA boundaries, and schools are no longer beholden to their LA choice of MIS offering when they are able to procure any MIS direct from any supplier they wish at a competitive price. The dynamic has changed, and more choice will undoubtedly benefit schools and users.

 

What impact has this had on where schools get their MIS support?

A recent survey¹ of 2,146 schools asked, amongst other things, who they contacted most often for support with their MIS. The chart below shows the survey results for the ‘Big 5’ who, between them, make up 96% of school market share² ( Arbor, Bromcom, RM Integris, ScholarPack and SIMS):

Chart: Response to the survey question “Who do you contact most often for support?”

 

The first thing that stands out here is the big chunk of respondents who said a colleague was who they contact most often for support, ranging from around 28% to 52% across the suppliers). It most likely accurately reflects the people it was sent to, who were Headteachers, Deputy and Assistant Heads, and School Business Managers/Leaders. Many of these would ask a colleague for support with their MIS instead of calling/emailing a support team – it tends to be only one or two main MIS users who log cases and place calls. You can draw a couple of conclusions from this:

• Having an MIS expert or superuser in-school is SO important as it is likely they will be relied upon by other staff; working closely with your customers to ensure there is a champion is a good thing!
• A lot of questions/issues with MIS are being dealt with in-school and never reach MIS suppliers or even their support partners. This is a good thing in terms of metrics such as case volumes, but it would be interesting to understand exactly what people ask other colleagues for help with, as it may be that an opportunity is being missed to develop or improve.

(N.B. It’s worth noting here that the schools the respondents are from will have a support arrangement of some kind, either with a local support team or the MIS supplier themselves. However, it’s not possible to tell which it is from this data).

 

The second thing that stands out is the fact that a much larger number of RM Integris and SIMS respondents (around 41%-42%) contact their local support unit for support compared to Arbor, Bromcom and ScholarPack. This is probably due to the fact that these suppliers have very long-established relationships with LA support teams which combines their MIS with other solutions including infrastructure, hardware, security, and other services³. The other MIS are catching up though, with each developing their own Partner Programmes and working with local support teams to help them become accredited support providers.

 

We can also gain insight into how happy schools are with the level of support they are getting – irrespective of the route they choose to take it.  The chart below outlines the survey results for the Big 5 when the respondents were asked how they rated the quality of support they receive:

Chart: Response to survey question “How do you rate the quality of MIS support you receive?”

 

Towards the top end of the scale with the highest proportion of respondents stating that they were ‘Extremely satisfied’ were Arbor (43.14%), Scholarpack (38.31%) and RM Integris (34.57%).  RM Integris and ScholarPack also recorded the smallest proportion of respondents stating they were ‘Extremely dissatisfied’ – both were below 1% (0.62% for RM Integris and 0.65% for ScholarPack).

 

The Evolution of Support

If we were to compare how and where schools take MIS support from to say, even 10 years ago, the landscape has changed dramatically. Depending on the supplier, anything from 19% to 64% of their customer base are taking support from the MIS supplier directly; this would have been more like 5% to 15% in the early 2000s.

 

So where does this leave the concept of local MIS support contracts? Is this something schools no longer feel they need if they can go straight to their MIS supplier?

 

Not at all! Good support teams help schools with so much more than simple button-pressing when it comes to their MIS. The progressive, dynamic teams are also more than happy to support their schools irrespective of which MIS they use. As they will tell you, they ‘support the process, not the product’ which means their schools and academies have choice. On top of that, many local support teams have longstanding relationships with schools going back 20 or 30 years; they support them in everything from creating and implementing assessment policy, preparing for last-minute Ofsted visits, developing overall school/academy/MAT strategy, delivering budget savings, creating the right reports for SLT, governors and trustees, rolling out new tech and devices so everyone can access, the list is endless.

It’s true, not all support teams are created equal, and there will be differences in service levels across the country, but many work in genuine partnership with their schools in everything they can. Where the MIS suppliers provide excellent direct school support, but then also build great partnerships with support teams to help them work with their schools, is where you’ll likely see the most customer satisfaction and loyalty.

 

 

 

¹The data was collected by The Key from a survey that went out to all primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units in England, by email. It was not sent to independent schools. The survey was completed by Headteachers, Deputy and Assistant Heads, and School Business Managers / Leaders between 29 March and 27 April 2021.

As part of the survey, respondents were asked which MIS they use. The results are outlined below:

 

 

²Market share statistics are sourced from two excellent blogs: Graham Reed’s Omega Pegasus https://www.omegapegasus.com/mischallenge and Josh Perry’s Bring More Data https://bringmoredata.blogspot.com/

 

³This may not necessarily be the case for ESS SIMS following acquisition but, for the period 1994 to 2021, SIMS was owned by Capita who provided a large portfolio of services and solutions to Local Authorities.

 

Christmas is nearly upon us and it’s a time when most of us get a well-earned break, if not through to the New Year then hopefully for a day or two at least.  However, actually taking that break isn’t always as easy as it sounds when work is nagging at the back of your mind.  No amount of sprouts, monopoly and Strictly specials can stop you from thinking about that proposal that needs to be submitted in the first week back or how you’re going to achieve next year’s financial targets.  So, to help you have the break you deserve, here are my top 5 tips for taking a break.

 

1.Write a To Do list

It sounds obvious but, if it looks like you’re not going to get everything done that you want, write a To Do list for the New Year.  Not only will the act of writing down your tasks make you feel better on a mental level, it will give you a clear plan for what you need to crack on with when you get back to work in the New Year and December seems like a distant memory!

 

2. Plan your social media

If you want to continue engaging via social media while you’re taking a break then there are a number of options available.  Social media management tools such as Buffer are excellent and allow you to schedule tweets, facebook updates, etc. for while you’re away.  As an alternative, there are lots of companies who will do these updates for you while you’re away and keep you in touch with your friends and followers.

 

3. Let your customers know when you are due to go away and – more importantly – when you will be back

If possible let you key clients know when you’re due to be on leave and be sure to put your ‘Out of Office’ on in your email system and update your voicemail to let them know when you will be able to get back to them.  Everyone expects you to take a break, but what’s really important is setting the expectation with the client so they know when they can expect to hear from you.

 

If you really don’t want to miss any calls or delay any email responses then there are other services you can use, which brings me on to:

 

4. Get some help to complete urgent tasks

There are lots of great independent companies offering virtual PA services that can be invaluable in helping you take a break.  Everything from writing and proofing important reports and getting expenses submitted to answering phones and emails as mentioned above can be outsourced.

 

5. If you want to check your phone/email then do so but only occasionally

I’m aware the generally accepted advice here is to turn off your phone and “don’t think about work until you’re back”.  However, it’s not always as simple as that – especially if it’s your own business or you are responsible for an ongoing large deal or key client.  Ignoring the phone and email can actually end up making you feel more anxious during your time off.  So if you do feel the need to check you messages then do so, but just make sure the phone only goes on occasionally.

 

I hope these tips help and everyone gets at least a little time off to relax this Christmas.

 

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Hello Summer!  The school holidays are here at last and it’s a time when most of us get a well-earned break.  However, actually taking that break isn’t always as easy as it sounds when work is nagging at the back of your mind.  No amount of sun, sea and children telling you they’re bored can stop you from thinking about that proposal that needs to be submitted in the first week back or how you’re going to achieve next month’s financial targets.  So, to help you have the break you deserve, here are my top 5 tips for taking a break.

 

1. Write a To Do list

It sounds obvious but, if it looks like you’re not going to get everything done that you want, write a To Do list for when you’re back.  Not only will the act of writing down your tasks make you feel better on a mental level, it will give you a clear plan for what you need to crack on with when you get back to work and the holidays seem like a distant memory!

 

2.  Plan your social media

If you want to continue engaging via social media while you’re taking a break then there are a number of options available.  Social media management tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer are excellent and allow you to schedule tweets, etc. for while you’re away.  As an alternative, there are lots of companies who will do these updates for you while you’re away and keep you in touch with your friends and followers.

3. Let your customers know when you are due to go away and – more importantly – when you will be back

If possible let you key clients know when you’re due to be on leave and be sure to put your ‘Out of Office’ on in your email system and update your voicemail to let them know when you will be able to get back to them.  Everyone expects you to take a break, but what’s really important is setting the expectation with your clients so they know when they can expect to hear from you.

If you really don’t want to miss any calls or delay any email responses then there are other services you can use, which brings me on to:

4. Get some help to complete urgent tasks

There are lots of great independent companies offering virtual PA services that can be invaluable in helping you take a break.  Everything from writing and proofing important reports and getting expenses submitted to answering phones and emails as mentioned above can be outsourced.

5. If you want to check your phone/email then do so but only occasionally

I’m aware the generally accepted advice here is to turn off your phone and “don’t think about work until you’re back”.  However, it’s not always as simple as that – especially if it’s your own business or you are responsible for an ongoing large deal or key client.  Ignoring the phone and email can actually end up making you feel more anxious during your time off.  So if you do feel the need to check you messages then do so, but just make sure the phone only goes on occasionally.

I hope these tips help and everyone gets at least a little time off to relax over the Summer holidays

Sarah and I have a big interest in what it means to be a Digital Nomad. We love travelling and, as we are consultants, we want to be available for our clients as much as we can . . . and the one approach to enable both of these in our life is to be a Digital Nomad. 

 

We were fortunate to be asked to talk at Bett Asia 2020 (unfortunately Coronavirus put an end to that and the show was postponed to June 2020) but we’d arranged meetings in Kuala Lumpur so we thought we would make the most of the experience and tag on a 2 week holiday where we also see what it is like to work as part of the touring about. 

 

So, with bags packed we planned to go to Kuala Lumpur then onto Koh Lanta and then finishing off in Ao Nang before returning to the UK…. so here we go

 

The first test obviously is that you need an extra hand bag for the laptop and charger ect…which is fine, but adds a little more weight to the journey and a little anxiety about losing the laptop!! 

 

Kuala Lumpur

Meetings aside, neither of us were as effective at our usual running-the-business work in KL.  The jet lag kicked in so little work was done.

 

Koh Lanta

What a place! The hotel (Costa Lanta) is built with Digital Nomads in mind and served great mango lassies. I should have pitched up with tie dye fabric trousers!!  

It is so relaxing and we stayed in one of their bamboo huts, right on the beach just to get that full Thai experience. The services that they offer for Digital Nomads are top and you can do any work that you need to do, along with the ability to fully relax. To be honest,  Koh Lanta is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Both Sarah and I feel that we have relaxed and are fully refreshed. Regarding the work, to be honest it has been easy, most of the work we have done has been via phone (emails mainly).

 

Ao Nang

Back on the Thailand mainland and into a larger town in Krabi, working from Ao Nang has been a dream.  Tons of wifi everywhere, a great hotel with large rooms and aircon so talking with clients has been easy. The time has meant most of our hangouts, etc. have been late afternoon/early evening which has worked brilliantly and allowed us to do things during the day.

 

So, is being a digital nomad realistic? There are pros and cons:

 

Pros

• There’s the ability to be available to clients even when away which means you can maintain continuity with any project and avoid being a bottleneck.
• You get to be anywhere you like and experience any lifestyle you choose!
• Accommodation is making it easier for people to get online quickly
• The time difference ensures that you have time out and don’t fixate on work.

 

Cons

• You have to take a laptop with you at least (maybe more kit too – depending on the type of work you do) so you need to keep it secure
• You rarely get face-to-face time with your clients which is so important in our industry and a massive part of our consultancy work
• The time difference can make it hard to hit the right time for everyone to catch up if on hangouts… face to face is easier to communicate complex issues 
• There are lots of distractions (e.g. the beach!) so you have to be disciplined

It can be done – but it really depends on your work. You still need to set expectations with your clients about your availability and you need to set expectations with yourself and be sure not to overload yourself. 

 

Ultimately the more you plan and communicate, the better!