If you’re losing sales then it’s usually down to these very basic reasons (despite what sales gurus might tell you!):

 

1. You’re missing the mark on value.

If what you’re offering doesn’t solve a problem or make life easier for your customers, they’re not going to buy. It’s as simple as that.

 

2. You’re not really listening.

Ever been on the phone with a salesperson who just talks at you? Not fun. Listening to what the customer needs is the first step to making a sale.

 

3. You’re jumping the gun.

Nobody likes feeling rushed. Pushing for a sale before you’ve built any kind of relationship is a surefire way to turn people off.

 

4. You’re wasting time on dead ends

Not all leads are worth pursuing. Learn to spot the ones that are just going to waste your time.

 

5. You’re ignoring objections

Brushing off concerns instead of addressing them only makes the customer more hesitant. Take objections seriously and work through them.

 

6. You’re forgetting to follow up

Out of sight, out of mind. Don’t let prospects forget about you—follow up and stay on their radar.

 

7. You’re making things complicated

Keep it simple. A confusing sales process is a sure way to lose customers.

 

8. You’re pretending competitors don’t exist.

Know your enemy. No solution is so unique that it doesn’t have any competition. Ignoring the competition won’t make them go away—it’ll just leave you in the dust.

 

9. You’re blending in instead of standing out.

If you’re just another fish in the sea, why should anyone choose you? Find your unique selling point and shout it from the rooftops.

 

10. You’re skipping the relationship-building part.

People buy from people they like. Take the time to build relationships—it’ll pay off in the long run.

 

Losing sales feels awful but it’s not the end of the world. Learn from your mistakes, tweak your approach, and carefully rebuild your pipeline being mindful of the above.

 

Is there anything I’ve missed? What would you add?

 

#sales #selling #edtech #pipeline #relationships #closing #saleprocess #edtech

Our next #FinnemoreFireside chat is essential listening for everyone who owns or leads an edtech business as it’s with marketing and PR guru, Catherine Lane.

Cath is Co-founder and Head of PR & Content at The Influence Crowd who work with some of the most well-known brands in education, including Juniper Education, Lexplore Analytics, Teach Active, SIMS BlueSky Education, GL Assessment, and Historic Royal Palaces.

The Influence Crowd implements highly targeted, integrated PR campaigns that prove their value through incoming leads and changed opinions. Using knowledge and relationships built up over 15 years in this sector, they engage and delight audiences through great coverage, shareable social content and by getting the key influencers behind edtech businesses.

This is an audio-only fireside chat (unfortunately the video tech got the better of us on the day 😕) and in it Nick and Cath discuss:

 

• Why selling to teachers is so hard, and why speaking the right language is so important
• Understanding your target audience
• How Covid has affected schools and the way they use edtech
• People buy from people- it’s not all about the product – and how the pandemic exposed the need for PR and marketing
• How edtech companies have become more experimental in the face of Covid challenges, which improves learning, marketing and messaging
• Cath’s advice for raising your profile as an edtech business in the sector
• How to approach getting national coverage with a whole package
• The importance of timing in creating a story and making the most of newsjacking
• Interpreting data to make it more digestible, gain investment, and help with messaging from day one
• How creating loyalty help with bumps in the road when it comes to reputation management
• Three things people should have in mind if they want to embark on a successful marketing and PR campaign
• What’s next for The Influence Crowd?

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Just before Bett this year, Nick caught up with Lawrence Royston, Founder of teamSOS, to talk all things edtech.

Lawrence is one of the true entrepreneurs of the Edtech market. Along with his partner Joanne, he started with GroupCall messenger, the first SMS messaging system for schools in the UK, then built Xporter, supporting Third parties to have a generic way to integrate with MIS data, before looking at how they could provide deeper insights in the data they were already transferring through GroupCall XVault. He’s also supported GDPRis and has recently started a new business in teamSOS, an incident management and compliance tool for staff in Education and NHS establishments.

 

We’ve split the interview into two parts to make it easier to digest. In part one Nick and Lawrence discuss:

• What it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset
• Working with partners (and family!), their symbiotic skills, and how this is a great asset in business
• The thinking behind teamSOS, where the idea came from, and the problem it solves
• The importance of listening and learning from users
• ‘Successive approximation’ and continually iterating solutions to help better meet the needs of your customers

 

In part two they talk about:

• What advice would Lawrence give budding edtech entrepreneurs based on his own experience?
• Getting work/life balance right
• The effect of recent market changes: how consolidation makes space for speedboats!
• The innovation bubbling away in the background within smaller businesses that lead on vision and integration
• Modernising technology (case in point: walkie talkies)
• Their approach to pricing and delivering value
• How making school staff feel cared for attracts and retains the best candidates

Enjoy!

How do you know when it’s time to sell your business? Try asking yourself these questions:

 

1. Do my circumstances allow for the level of financial investment this company needs to keep it going?

 

2. Is my business model really viable? If not, is it going to be in the future and will I like it?

 

3. Do I have an amazing team of high performers? Am I willing and can I afford to recruit one?

 

4. What do I have more of: passion or exhaustion?

 

5. Will a sale solve my problems, and will someone buy us?

 

6. What happens if I don’t sell? What are my other options?

 

 

Have an honest conversation with yourself and your team. At the end of the day, selling your business is one of the most exciting parts of being a business owner – and it always opens the door for new opportunities.

 

 

INVESTOR NETWORKING & MENTORSHIP

Matching the right buyer with the right business is a painstaking process. In conjunction with CJK Associates, we support businesses looking to invest in or potentially acquire in the Edtech sector and can work with you throughout the whole process, from introduction through due diligence, to closure and transformation.

For businesses looking for VCs, investors or other methods of funding, we will get you pitch-ready and connect you to potential investors in the Edtech industry. We act as mentors throughout the process and will advise on how to plan growth strategy and allocate resources.

Get in touch to find out more.

We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders this term, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

 

So thank you Tony Lockwood for talking to us about how companies can improve the performance of their products and develop new solutions.

 

Thanks to Duncan Baldwin for giving us an insight into teaching, his time at Capita SIMS, influencing government as Deputy Policy Director at ASCL and his current Headship.

 

We were delighted to welcome Winston Poyton back for a follow-up chat on IRIS Education, especially given how much has changed in the world of school management systems in the last 12 months alone.

 

It’s great to speak with colleagues from MIS support teams as it gives such a unique and insightful view of the landscape, so thank you Keren Wild for getting involved and giving us your perspective.

 

Sue Macgregor talked to us about Alps Education’s focus on providing the right analytical tools to schools so they have the power to help every student achieve their full potential, thank you!

 

And finally, thank you to Ian Koxvold of Supporting Education for talking to us about changes across the education sector, what the future might hold in terms of new solutions, and new strategies.

 

 

Sarah and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series, and already have some great sessions ready to go in the new term with industry thought leaders Andy Kent and Jonathan Coyles – watch this space!

 

Have a great Christmas and see you in 2022!

 

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In case you missed it, here’s a round-up of all our thought leader Q&A sessions from last term.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notified when new videos go live, or join our mailing list for tips on future-proofing, MIS news, growth strategies, and much more.

Continuing our series of business thought leader interviews, I recently caught up with Luke Pargeter, Co-founder and CEO of iAM Compliant.

Every school has a legal duty of care to their staff, pupils and visitors to their premises. The problem can be that remaining within the law can be costly and time consuming if not managed efficiently, which is why Luke and his co-founders created iAM Compliant.

iAM Compliant is a web-based tool, designed to help schools with everyday health and safety compliance, reporting, eLearning and more.

 

In this fireside chat we discuss:

• What gave Luke the inspiration to create iAM Compliant and how the team was formed
• The relationship between safety, environment and learning
• The impact of compliance on wellbeing and staff retention
• What differentiates iAM Compliant from the competition?
• How Luke sees the edtech compliance market evolving in the future, and where iAM Compliant will be in 3 years time.

 

We’ve split the interview into 3 sections to make it easier to digest. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

I’m loving the Google 3D animals that you can create life-size versions of in your home.  What a great use of augmented reality and a good way to pass a bit of time/do a bit of home learning under lockdown! The goal of Augmented Reality is for the digital world to blend into a person’s perception of the real world, not as a simple display of data, but through the integration of immersive sensations which are perceived as natural parts of an environment.

 

 

The big difference between Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is the users’ perception:

• In VR the users’ perception of reality is completely based on virtual information.
• In AR, the user is provided with additional computer-generated information that enhances their perception of reality.

 

So where are examples of AR being used to good effect in business?

 

Furniture

Companies like Wayfair are putting it to good use by allowing you to see their furniture in your home via their app

Home décor

Dulux are doing something similar within their Dulux Visualizer app, allowing you to pick a colour from anywhere and see how it would look painted on your walls.

Beauty

Cosmetics brands are getting in on the act. For example, L’Oreal Paris allow you to try on make up, new hair colours, eyebrows and much more.

There are lots of fun apps too which often combine augmented reality experiences with gaming.

 

But what about education? Where does AR belong in the classroom?

It offers ‘learning by doing’ and generally requires very little tech (a tablet and app are usually sufficient) so I’d love to see some real-life examples of it working with learners.

 

All suggestions welcome in the comments 🙂

 

 

P.S. If you want to give the 3D animals a go, you just need to google the animal and then scroll down to the ‘meet the life size version’ box to get going. As far as I’m aware you can find 3D versions of the animals below:

• Alligator
• Angler fish
• Ball python
• Brown bear
• Cat
• Cheetah
• Deer
• Dog (bulldog, pomeranian, Labrador retriever, rottweiler, pug)
• Duck
• Eagle
• Emperor penguin
• Giant panda
• Goat
• Hedgehog
• Horse
• Leopard
• Lion
• Macaw
• Octopus
• Raccoon
• Shark
• Shetland pony
• Snake
• Tiger
• Turtle
• Wolf

The ability to communicate well is an important skill for any Product or Business Development Manager. This means, among other things, that you should be able to present about your solution fluently and to different stakeholders, who will require a different level of information.

A persuasive presentation not only requires thorough preparation of content, but also good style. It takes considerable skill to come across coherently for any particular audience and to stay in control of the situation. For this purpose, the following 7 tips may offer some guidance to help you on the way to delivering a memorable presentation.

1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience

But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do this is to let passion for your solution shine through.

Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.

 

2. Focus on your Stakeholders Needs

As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what your stakeholders need and what they want to know, not what you can tell them.

Don’t show your homework, just because it makes you feel good.

 

3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message

You should be able to communicate that key message very succinctly.

Always have in mind what are the core three points I want to get across?

 

4. Start Strongly you have 3 minutes to impress

The first three minutes, as when you first meet someone, is so important to a presentation. So smile, make eye contact and make sure the first 3 minutes of the presentation holds the stakeholders attention. Make them laugh!!

Think of a story that is relevant at the start of the presentation which will hold the audience.

 

5. Don’t use the presentation as a script

Don’t bore the audience by ‘Death by Powerpoint’. By all means use the presentation as a reminder, but do this in as fewer words as possible and use images if you can.

Remember you want your stakeholders to listen to you, not be deciphering what the slides are saying.

 

6. Tell stories

The best presenters are raconteurs , who can tell a story about the subject and keep an audiences attention. We all relate to stories, we also remember things better through stories.

Make your story funny and about you.

 

7. Relax and enjoy

Many people find it hard to relax and enjoy a presentation, but your body language and the speed you speak will have a major effect on the stakeholders perception if you know your subject and also if you can get a message across. Breath, and slow your delivery of the presentation down.

Remember you know more about your solution than your stakeholders

There are a few sure-fire ways to tell if your business is dead. How many of these do you recognise . . .

1. Have you stopped putting your customers first?

These people pay your salaries. Doing the stuff you think is important over the stuff they think is important will result in them leaving. It’s that simple.

2. Are you standing still?
If you find competitors are doing the stuff you can’t, be afraid. You need to run with the pack (at the very minimum).

3. Are you working in silos?
Every department needs to work with every other department to be successful. Why on earth wouldn’t every company allow it?

This is how you can tell if a business is dead, but what are the vital signs that show it’s still alive?

Connected?

Flexible?

People-focused?

I’m interested to hear your thoughts

Photo by Chris Mitchell from Pexels