selling strategies - slide show

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Selling to Schools

Education Industry Days

February 20, 2014

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INTRODUCTION

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Session Summary This session will help participants understand the ins and outs

of selling into the K-12 Education market.

The session will be oriented toward:

New/emerging entrepreneurs in the early stages of their companys

development

New education sales executives looking to gain more knowledge of

how to successfully sell to K-12 customers.

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Session Overview Introduction

Summary of session Learning objectives

Why there is an Education Market?

Overview of the landscape of K-12

Key initiatives in K-12

Building a Sales Strategy

Average Deal Size

K-12 Sales Cycle

Buying Seasons

Decision-makers

Sales Models and Sales Team Structure

Direct, Indirect/Channel, Independent Sales Models

Inside, Outside/Field, Hybrid Sales Team Structures

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will learn: What types of sales strategies, sales models, and sales team

structures exist in the K-12 and what to consider when building your

sales plan.

How to build sales metrics to measure your performance.

How to identify your K-12 decision-makers and articulate your value

proposition in order to close sales.

How to use funding to sell.

What to look for when hiring Education sales talent.

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The Renaissance Network

Focused on building sales, marketing, and

leadership teams for Education and

Technology companies over 17+ years.

We act as a trusted advisor for the US

Education market to help our clients build an

effective sales and hiring strategy to penetrate

the market.

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Some of Our Partnerships

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K-12 EDUCATION MARKET:HOW IT ALL STARTED

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Why is there an Education Market?

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In order to understand how to sell into the K-12 Educationmarket, we must first understand why the market exists.

How do I know I am receiving the best education?

How do I know my children are being adequatelyeducated?

How do I know if my teachers are teaching in the bestway for their students?

These questions are at the consistent forefront of theEducation debate.


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The Birth of the Education Market

1867: The Department of Education wasformed to gather information on USschools

Why?

So States would have a resource to providethem the data necessary to improve schools.

More information on schoolsmorequestions on best practices for education.

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The Development of Educational Products

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With a need for more

products/services

birth of Education

companies

Rise of Print Products


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Still there were questions

Print products alone could not ensurestudent success

WHY?

With print products alone, you cannot:Measure student achievement

Track student progress

Identify the unique challenges ofindividual students

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The Rise of Educational Technology

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Data driven instruction, a demand for accountability in the

classroom, and the technology boom in the 1990s resulted in

Education Technology in addition to traditional print products.


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US K-12 Students and Teachers

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50.1M public

students

5.2M privateschool

students

56.8Melementary

and

secondarystudents

Taught by 3.3M elementary and secondary teachers


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US Education Market Quick Facts

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$591 Billion in K-12Spending

Local

StateFederal


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Key Growth Directed Sub-Markets

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ESL/ELL STEMEarly

Childhood

CareerReadiness

CollegeReadiness

Assessment

Special

Education PD


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Technology, Technology, Technology

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Technology is at the core of manyschool initiatives including: Hardware

Software Online teacher training

Wireless infrastructure

75% of districts report stable orincreasing technology budget for the2013-2014 school year


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Common Core

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With 46 states + DC adopting CCSS,a majority of districts will drive

towards purchasing new materials

or products to help facilitate shiftsto a standards-based education

model.

68% of districts plan to purchasenew products for the 2014-2015

school year, a product of this shift.


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BUILDING YOUR SALES STRATEGY

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Your Sales Strategy is Fundamental to

Your Companys Success

Having the right sales strategy

in place is fundamental to:

Revenue growth

Impacting student achievement

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Your Sales Strategy is Fundamental to

Your Companys Success

Its a disruptive, relatively newmarket with a ton ofcompetitionYour sales team must be able:

Capture market share from the

competitionBring on net new customers and

retain business

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Average K-12 Deal Size

The average Deal Size, or averagedollar amount, in K-12 can range

from a few hundred dollars tomillions of dollars.

Largely dependent on price pointand pricing structure.

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How Your Deal Size Impacts Your Sale

The amount of $ your product typically will impact: Who to sell to

When to sell

Complete sales process

Some States trigger an RFP for product needs whichwill result in a sale over a specific $ amount

Typically proposals must be in during the Spring

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K-12 Sales Cycle

The Sales Cycle is largely dependentuponthe deal size of your productsand the products themselves.

The larger and more complex thedeal, the longer the sales cycle.

Range: 2 weeks to 2 years (for major

initiatives)Typical: 6-9 months

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Typical Buying Seasons in K-12

The Buying Season is largely dependentupon the school calendar year and yourproduct. Needs Assessment: Spring through mid-Fall

Purchasing Decisions: Fall through Spring For more complex sales, you typically start 9+

months out

Sales activities must be completed all year

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Key Decision-makers in K-12

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Federal

State

District

School

Classroom

Federal Purchase for all (or some) States, Districts, andSchools by Department of Education

State Purchase for all Districts and Schools by State

Department of Education

District-wide (a conglomerate of 2 or more schools

within a region) by a superintendent, chief technology

officer, chief curriculum officer, school board

Individual School purchase by a principal, head ofcurriculum, PD coach,

Individual classroom purchase by a teacher


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Piloting Your Product: What Start-ups

Should Know

Launch test cases with pilotprograms at least a year out ofdriving sales

Collect success data to use astestimonial evidence whenofficially selling your product

Free pilots can be a double-edged

sword: Many districts wont want to buy

what they had before for free.

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SALES MODELS ANDSALES TEAM STRUCTURE

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Sales Models and Structure

When considering building a salesteam, your:deal size

sales cycle

and your decision makers

all factor into the sales model and the

sales team structure you will need tobe successful.

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Direct Sales

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Employees of your company Compensation: base salary +

commissionsBase salary: roughly 60% of total earningsCommissions: 40% of total earnings,

often based on quota attainment

Ideally uncapped to reward for over-performance

Percentages paid on revenue can vary


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Indirect or Channel Sales

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Selling through a dealer/reseller partnership Dealer will have a team of sales executives

You may need a channel manager who is an employee ofyour organization to manage the partnership

Many products will be represented by the dealer Compensation (paid by dealer):

Base salary: 70-75% of total earnings

Commissions: typically flat $ amounts based on concrete

goals


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Independent Sales Representatives

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Individuals who representmultiple organizations and

products without being employedby any particular organization

Compensation: Base Salary: none

Commissions: 100% of a reps income


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SELLING: WHAT TO KNOW

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Comparing Sales Models

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Direct

Can closelymonitor activitylevels

Can closely control

over how productsare represented

Can quicklyaddress challengesandunderperformance

Costs more

Channel

Larger salesfootprint

May have costs ofchannel manager

No guarantee ofsuccess

Channel may sellcompetingproducts

Independent

No upfront costs

Need strongtraining andinternal support

for success May sell

competingproducts

No guarantee ofsuccess

* You can build a hybrid sales model.


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Inside Sales Teams

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One or more individuals will

sell your product(s) over the

phone, email, videoconference, and webinar from

your headquarters.


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Outside or Field Sales Teams

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One or more individuals who

travel to their customers to sell.

Typically, field salesrepresentatives will work out of a

home office and live within theirassigned territory.


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SALES METRICS

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Sales Metrics

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A collection of individual andorganizational performance

indicators which allow you tobreak down what (and howmany) sales activities are

necessary to meet your yearlyrevenue goals.


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Creating Your Own Sales Metrics

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Based on your annual financial

goal, you can determine what

activities (phone calls,meetings, proposals) must be

performed to meet your goals.

l i l


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Sales Metrics: Example

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STEP 1 What is your annual financial goal? $700,000

Step 2 Divide this by 4 to get your quarterly goal $175,000

Divide this by 12 go get your monthly goal $58.333.33

STEP 3 What is your AVERAGE DEAL SIZE? $4,000

STEP 4 Determine the number of OPPORTUNITIES you need to CLOSE to achieve your monthly goals. 15

STEP 5 What is your CLOSING RATIO as a percent of PROPOSALS SUBMITTED? 35%

STEP 6 How many PROPOSALS do you need to submit to close one deal? 3

STEP 7 How many meetings does it take to generate one proposal? 2

How many meetings does it take in order to achieve your ideal number of PROPOSALS? 84

STEP 8 How many PHONE CALLS does it take to generate one MEETINGS? 10

How many PHONE CALLS do you need to have in order to achieve your ideal number of

MEETINGS?

840


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SALES PROCESS

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A Long and Arduous Process

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Selling into schools can be a long andfrustrating process.

Why?

Because you are asking teachers, administrators, andstudents to change habits and alter their past methodof performancethis can cause great stress on anorganization

To have your product purchased andimplemented, you need buy in from manydecision-makers.


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2 Keys to Successfully Sell into Schools

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Your companys ability to build and leverage

customer relationships

Your companys ability to articulate your value

proposition in terms of student, teacher, or

school success.

Building Relationships: Identifying Your


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Building Relationships: Identifying Your

Decision-maker

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To build and leverage the right relationships

you must identify your key decision-makers

These will be both the person who will sign your

contract and the end users of your products.

Therefore you must sell both from the top down

and the bottom up.


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Every Cause Needs a Champion

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Usually your products champion will be a

respected teacher/administrator who will

motivate others to buy into your products use

Once you sell, use your products champion

(either a teacher or a higher-level official), for

testimonial evidence to help you sell.


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THERE IS NO ROI in K-12

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ROI is vastly different in the Education space incomparison to other industries.

In fact, using ROI terminology may turn offyour K-12 Customer.


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What is the K-12 Equivalent of ROI?

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K-12 decision-makers are reluctant to invest inproducts unless:

They believe the product will have a clear, positive

impact on the classroom

They believe the product will increase student

achievement

They believe the product will provide relief to

teachers which will positively impact studentperformance


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Articulating Your Value Proposition

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Your ability to articulate your valueproposition (why your customer should chose

your product) in terms of student, teacher, or

school success is fundamental to close a sale.


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Feature Selling vs. Solution Selling

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Dont sell technology and its functions Schools dont exist for the purpose of using

technology

Dont sell the table of contents of yourtextbook

Instead, point to clear positive solutions teaching

your content can provide


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Solution Selling: A How To

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Know the landscape of your customers school very

specifically What is its mission?

What are its key initiatives?

What are the biggest challenges?

Ask your customer consultative questions to uncover yourcustomers struggles before you mention your product.

Then align your product to a concrete solution which youcan offer your customer based on the specific challenges orinitiatives in the school.

Point to the positive outcomes that your product provides.

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If price point is an objection, point to

funding!

There is a growing trend that funding (both at federal andstate level) is used for specific initiatives in school.

Know what funding your customer has, what it must be

used for, and align your product to the funding.

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WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN HIRINGK-12 SALES TALENT

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Wh l k f h hi i f


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What to look for when you are hiring for

K-12 Sales Talent

Experience selling into K-12 (rather than HiEd or other

markets)

Experience selling similar deal sizes to yours

Experience selling within a similar sales cycle to yours

Key contacts and decision makers which are the same as

yours

Knowledge of funding opportunities

Knowledge of key initiatives within schools in his/her

territory A solution selling approach vs. feature sales approach

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Additional Hiring Tips

If you have an open or underperforming territory, dont waitto fix it! Lost sales and lost pipeline will set you back.

When you start to hire, move quickly and efficiently- the

shorter your timeline to hire the shorter your timeline to

sales impact.

Dont always hire from within your own network The top candidate is the one selling to your customers for someone

else.

Have a structured hiring and interview process Use behavioral-based interview questions specific to K-12 Use a customized sales assessment

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GROUP ACTIVITY

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T k H A ti it V l P iti


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Take Home Activity: Value Proposition

Mad Libs

For(target K-12 customer),who has(customer need) , (product name)isa

(market category)that

(one keybenefit)that can cause(student/administrator/educator

outcome).

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Articulating Your Value Proposition

Form groups of four to six (4-6). Within your group, nominate a sales person to target and pitch to their

key customer. Use the value proposition take home activity as a guide inpitching the value proposition of the product.

The other members of the group will choose from the following roles: Teacher Administrator,

Chief Technology officer Curriculum Director Principal/superintendent

The sales person must ask appropriate questions to their groupmembers to: Uncover which member(s) of the group is the right decision maker with probing

questions.

The sales person must pitch their product as it relates to the decisionmaker they are targeting. As a group, develop the core objections for the product being pitched;

work with the sales person to rebut objections.

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Wrapping Up Building the right sales strategy is fundamental to your success;

choose the sales model and team structure that will align to yourgrowth goals.

Sales Metrics: build them specifically so they align to your revenue

goals

Target the appropriate decision-maker for your product and use

product champions to help you get through the door.

Align key funding or other initiatives to successfully close sales.

Sell solutions not products: schools dont exist for your product; they

exist to provide strong education and your products must be a

solution to the core challenges which impact education.

When building your sales team, make sure you uncover the right

type of sales talent for your needs.

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