We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders throughout 2023 as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they continue to provide to us and our community is invaluable.

Thanks to Catherine Tallis of HFL Education, a long-standing provider of MIS support to schools, for discussing how support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve.

Thanks to Derek Hills from Ark for sharing your views on where you see AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape, and what the future of MIS might be.

It’s great to speak with thought leaders from government so thank you to Edtech NED, legislator, schools and education expert Jim Knight for your thoughts on the disconnect between the education and labour market, and the need for a school system which truly meets the needs of learners, communities and employers.

Thank you to Chris Kirk of CJK Associates Ltd for your insight into MAT’s needs in terms of vision, strategy, operating models and governance, and what this means for suppliers – both now and in the future.

Our chat with Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis of iplicit is essential listening for everyone with an interest in finance as they discuss the importance of change in the education sector and the need for flexibility and adaptability in finance and management systems

Thank you to Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry for talking to us about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS as a group earlier this year.

Finally, we were delighted to speak with Izzi Dorrian and Ed Butcher, founders of the brilliant Habitude workflow platform, for an insightful discussion on the evolving landscape of MATs, the importance of infrastructure, and the need for a clear vision.

As always, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the series and are looking forward to a fantastic 2024!

Have a great Christmas break

Best wishes from Sarah & Nick

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We’ve been privileged to speak with even more industry thought leaders this academic year as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

So thank you to Edtech NED, legislator, schools and education expert Jim Knight for your thoughts on the disconnect between the education and labour market, and the need for a school system which truly meets the needs of learners, communities and employers.

Thanks to Derek Hills from Ark for sharing your views on where you see AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape, and what the future of MIS might be.

Thank you Matt Woodruff for an insightful conversation about how technology can support more effective decision-making at all levels to improve outcomes and identify ways to be able to ‘do more, with less’ – more important than ever in today’s economic climate.

Thanks to Catherine Tallis of HFL Education, a long-standing provider of MIS support to schools, for discussing the ways in which support teams must adapt as the MIS market continues to evolve.

Thank you to Chris Kirk of CJK Associates Ltd for your insight into MAT’s needs in terms of vision, strategy, operating models and governance, and what this means for suppliers – both now and in the future.

And finally, we were delighted to welcome back Martin Baker of The Safeguarding Company for a follow-up chat about the lessons that can be learnt from the Child Q case. A challenging topic and we really appreciate you sharing your experience.

Nick and I have thoroughly enjoyed making the series and already have a great session ready to go in the new term from Lyndon Stickley and Sam Curtis at iplicit. Ollie Burnett from the school support team in Coventry will also be joining us to talk about all the valuable ways they support their schools, including helping them procure and migrate to their new MIS Bromcom as a group earlier this year. Watch this space!

Have a great summer break everyone 🌞

So here we are, almost at the end of the month and most people are desperately trying to close those last few orders to meet what are probably very challenging targets.  Time to bring out the discount – that will work, surely?!  Well, not necessarily.  Here are my 4 reasons why offering a discount to close is not always a good thing:

1. It devalues your product. If what you are selling was worth, say, £5,000 two weeks ago, why is it only worth £4,500 now?  While a discount designed to get the customer to order before the end of the week might just incentivise them to do so, it is also likely to leave a lasting impression that the product was priced too high in the first place which won’t help your long-term relationship and future sales.

Which brings us on to . . .

2. You risk ‘training’ your customers to expect a discount. If a discount is usually offered towards the end of any given month, term or year then the customers will learn to expect it and wait for it to happen.  We all know how we feel about certain large out-of-town furniture and carpet stores that advertise their sales an awful lot; we wait for the sale until we buy as we know there’s probably going to be one just around the corner.

3. It’s obvious but, by discounting to close, you are lowering your revenue and margins. To hit your overall business plan, how many more sales will you now need to make?  Would it be better to take a longer-term view and aim for a smaller amount of committed long-term customers who are willing to pay the true price of your product than a larger volume of customers who bought it because it was a bargain?  It’s a question only you can answer for your business but it’s worth considering.

4. You’re no longer in control of your sale. Most companies will spend a significant amount on sales (account management and new business development) in some way, shape or form.  Those people that you hire are there to add value to your business and, by offering a discount to close, you’re moving all the control over whether or not that potential customer will order onto your client – the decision is now theirs and there is little your salespeople can do to influence.  Unfortunately what this means for the business is that you’re really not getting the best value for money from the salespeople.

Instead of offering a discount, consider how you could add value to the sale.  Is there something you could offer that not only has a financial value attached to it that your potential customer would appreciate but also helps them get the best from the product they’re buying which will increase loyalty and long-term revenue?

Don’t get me wrong, used sporadically discounts can work and sometimes it can help you launch a product with early adopters or build a preferential relationship.  However, give it some thought before you do as it may be that the long-term pain isn’t worth the short-term gain.

We’ve just finished a brilliant week delivering product training in New York with the Tarigo Product Management team.

The week involved delivering an intensive Product Bootcamp based around Tarigo’s 5D Product Framework. It’s an externally accredited, comprehensive course covering all aspects of product management and the typical lifecycle of a product, from ideation right through to product retirement. It’s also fun, practical and engaging, and involves completing group ‘missions’ every day.

As much as this week has been about training and coaching, we’ve learnt so much from spending time with the new team of employees comprised of fairly recent graduates/interns:

👉 The teams collaborated so easily and so successfully. The discussions were intelligent and respectful, roles were assigned fairly and everyone played an important part – and the results were amazing.

👉 The ideas, plans and pitches they came up with within a short amount of time were incredible. It goes to show that, with the right guidance, coaching and templates, innovative ideas can be formulated in a matter of hours and days. It only takes months to get a business case on the table if you allow it to take that long (something that we’re all a bit guilty of, perfectionism is just procrastination in disguise after all).

👉 Gen Z won’t stand for greenwashing. One of the overall goals was to come up with solutions focused on sustainability – and they expect companies to truly live their values. Inspiring stuff.

A fantastic week, I look forward to doing it again. Now for some sightseeing! 🗽

Our first fireside chat of 2022 is with business thought leader Jonathan Coyles, Director at EO Consulting.

Recorded towards the end of last year, we’ve been keen to speak with Jonathan as his company helps schools, academies and Trusts deal with something that is becoming more and more pressing each year: how do they become more energy-efficient, hit carbon targets, and save money at the same time?

EO Consulting has created a standard for collecting condition, energy and compliance data so that user-friendly business intelligence dashboards can be created that enable reporting and benchmarking to be done within and across MATs and allow data to be analysed by asset, element and priority to aid strategic estate investment planning. They count several of the larger Multi-Academy Trusts among their clients.

It’s a great fireside chat, and Jonathan provides insight into:

• His journey through the world of education services from working with PFI contracts to being involved in one of the earliest academies (Grace Academy), project managing IT and ultimately becoming the Operations Director.
• The creation of EO Consultancy and their goal of helping organisations become more efficient and more effective through the clever use of dashboards and analysis
• Why spending lots of time understanding the needs of MATs was crucial to them developing the service they offer today: what they do makes a difference.
• How dashboards and data are not the answer to everything but should provide the insight to help schools, academies and MATs save money.
• Hitting carbon targets early, and how this is completely possible if you’re armed with the right information.
• The project management and additional help Barker Associates provide once a plan has been identified.
• What drives EO Consulting as a business?
• Where energy is wasted: 40% of energy is spent when there is no one in the school building!
• The importance of the learning environment, and how being aware of how and when energy and resources are being used plays a part in that.
• Getting the whole education estate into a condition that’s conducive to learning, reduces the carbon footprint, and makes it more efficient and effective as a result.
• What Jonathan would like to see from the government in the coming years to support schools, academies and MATs, and the effect of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS)
• The top five quick wins schools can put in place right now to become more energy-efficient and save money.

We’ve split the interview into three shorter parts for you to watch and listen to – enjoy!

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P.S. We’re aware that some of the audio is a bit rough in places so we’re working on getting a transcript created to accompany this Q&A – we’ll add once completed