When I attend my local networking groups, it often comes up that people are looking to sell to schools.
Perhaps they have products that they previously sold to other sectors and now want to pivot their strategy. Alternatively, they have products that are specifically targeted at schools but are struggling to cut through.
Why you should sell to schools
Either way, selling into schools and the wider public sector can be very beneficial. As seen during covid, schools generally continue to buy during global events that disrupt usual patterns. Given the frenetic feeling in the world’s economy, it would definitely be reassuring to know that, despite the challenges, there may still be a market for your services.
If you’ve considered selling to schools but don’t know how, then read on, and I’ll give you some pointers.
A Bit about Me
I’ve been in sales for 24 years and for 13 of those I was selling either within the education sector or to the education sector, I was also a school governor and a MAT Trustee, so I know a thing or two about how to sell to schools.
So how can you start to build a pipeline of school buyers? Here are my 8 top tips
Schools can only think as far as their next statutory deadline
This is probably the most important thing to remember about schools and is particularly helpful when creating urgency. You might have a great solution for schools in general, that they already know they need and is potentially even required by law, and they still won’t buy.
This is because the list of things any school buyer must do in a day is always huge, and that list nearly always pertains to the next statutory deadline – whether that’s Ofsted or the next Trustee Meeting – so you might tell them something that is definitely needed, but if it doesn’t relate to this, it simply won’t be a priority.
Understand how what you offer affects these deadlines/requirements
The first thing to do to get around this is to understand how what you sell relates to one of these deadlines or requirements.
If your product can affect a section of Ofsted then that’s actually what you talk about.
If it provides evidence that schools are procuring compliantly, that they can report on their SRMSAT (School Resource Management Assessment Tool) and report to the ESFA (Education and Skills Funding Agency), then that’s what you should talk about.
Generic messaging, even though it might still be quite targeted, simply won’t cut it and it’s not enough to say “we can help you procure food and drink compliantly”. Messages like these will translate to a school as “important” but not “urgent” – and, in my experience, never make it to the top of the “to do” list.
Be ULTRA Targeted
Now you know how to build messaging, you can now – and should – make it ultra targeted.
This is easy to do because there is so much information online. You can see Ofsted reports and a wide variety of other reports on the school and, since Academisation, every school (or trust) publishes an annual report on Companies House.
Here you can find the area that your product/service affects and use it to heighten the importance in a very targeted way.
As an example “I’ve been looking at your annual report and see that you’re spending £250,000 on food and drink across the trust. Do you know whether that is being procured compliantly”.
Target Messaging at the Optimum time
Understanding the school calendar can be very beneficial – especially calendars for governor and trustee meetings which is usually when schools have to evidence their progress on a variety of issues.
You can also guess the rough timetable of Ofsted inspections if your product/service affects Ofsted outcomes. For example, if a school is graded as “outstanding” and hasn’t been inspected in 4 or 5 years, it’s very likely that they are fully in the throes of preparing for the next inspection as they’ll suspect it’s just around the corner.
Once you understand the calendar you can use it to your advantage.
To use the procurement example: trusts have to report their compliant procurement during the SRMSAT process which usually takes place around February.
To use the message above “I’ve been looking at your annual report and see that you’re spending £250,000 on food and drink across the trust. Do you know whether that is being procured compliantly”.
“I believe you have the SRMSAT coming up and wonder how you’ll evidence the compliant procurement of food and drink to your trustees and the ESFA?”
I’d begin to communicate this message in the October or November prior to make sure it had maximum effect given the February deadlines.
Target the right stakeholder and understand school structures
It’s important to understand whether a school is part of an Academy trust and how purchasing decisions are made so that you can target the right person.
Many MATs (Multi Academy Trust) have centralised purchasing decisions so that they can gain economies of scale. As such, and if this is the case, you need to target the buyer at trust level, not at school level.
You should also know that, in this case, the “trust” usually has separate staff in a centralised office with different contact details and this information can usually be found online.
However, If your service or product is of lower value, it would be wise to try and find a school that can make independent purchasing decisions for lower value services – this can be the best way to get a foot in the door in a relatively informal and much quicker way.
Influence Trustees and Governors
You can usually find who the Trustees and Governors are on the website and, crucially, what committees they sit on. Trustees and Governors are usually not from an education background and therefore are usually quite receptive to learning more about how to do their roles successfully.
I’ve successfully sent case studies I’ve written in the past to relevant trustees, which has, in turn, successfully generated inbound enquiries due to trustees asking schools to look into it.
Obviously, I wouldn’t be very direct in this but something like “Hi, I see you’re a Trustee on the Audit and Risk committee, I thought you might want to see the case study I just wrote about compliant school procurement”
Be Wary of Frameworks
The first thing here is to understand the public procurement thresholds – if your product sits under the threshold it will be better for you that they don’t go to a framework or do a tender.
However, you might feel that it’s worth going onto a framework so that you are seen.
As such, it’s worth knowing that a framework is not a guarantee of business. You do a full tender, with all the time and resource that takes, and then still might never get any business.
A framework isn’t a preferred supplier list and 9 times out of 10, the organisation that manages the framework will have suppliers that they prefer and nearly always recommend, unless a school does a mini competition and invites all framework-approved suppliers.
Often though, schools have no idea how many or which suppliers are on a particular framework, so you probably won’t be “seen”.
My advice is usually that a framework is not the best initial approach, and you’re better going to smaller schools directly to test the market before considering whether a Framework could add value.
One final point…
Be patient
Schools take a LONG time to make decisions unless it’s an immediate issue (e.g. a fence falling down).
Be prepared to wait for a long time for a decision, especially if the decision has to be signed off by governors or trustees who usually only meet 3-4 times in an academic year.
Therefore, any expansion into schools should be treated as a long-term strategy and not as something that will immediately yield results. Often it can take a few years to feel like you’re getting any traction at all and it’s important that you stay the course and remain proactive in your endeavours to stop the next statutory deadline making your buyer forget they ever spoke to you in the first place.
In Conclusion
Opening schools as a new market can be a wise decision that could protect your business in uncertain economic times. Schools provide a lot of information online that can help you target messaging and create urgency, but you must be patient, recognise who it is you should sell to and remember that it will take time to feel that you’re building traction.
If you need any advice on the above, I’d be delighted to help you out and please do get in touch!