This is understandable because the market and approach is indeed different. What's more, for a long time it would have been pointless attempting to sell to schools - they didn't have the budget for your products. That has changed although, quite rightly, they are still far keener to spend on books and classroom improvements.

But there are good reasons to have a change of mind. The first is consistency. Schools will continue to receive budgets in a recession. Schools rarely close - the likelihood is that an education client will be there long after you have retired - so there is regular business. The second is a constantly evolving client: every year every school has a new intake of fresh blood and every year pupils move on to new and different activities, some of which present business opportunities. Then there are lots of schools and colleges in a catchment area and their needs are broadly similar. Above all schools rarely have specialist printwear knowledge in their ranks. So, if you can develop a long-term relationship as a local reliable expert you will become supplier of choice. Finally, schools by and large prefer local suppliers and that's certainly true of the Local Education Authorities (LEA) that run them.

In the current economic climate there are some other valuable factors to keep in mind. You will be paid by local government so your money is rock solid. A promise of an order is a firm promise. It may take longer to get to ‘yes' but once there you can schedule payment. You don't need to credit check the client, so you'll never have that nasty phone call "sorry, your credit check failed". Also days to payment are typically 35 so it's good business for your cashflow.

Uniform

First let's address uniforms. Sorry, it's not good news in general. The market for uniforms is largely in the hands of a smallish group of large specialist suppliers who are well established. That's not to say that you won't get the opportunity to quote and there may be good reasons based on local convenience, reactivity and size of school which combine to make yours the best deal. Fear not; there are plenty of other opportunities.

You'll need to adjust your thinking in terms of sales techniques. The LEAs have lists of approved suppliers and clearly you need to be on your local one. That's the easy bit. The bigger change relates to access. Despite any prejudices you may have, most teachers spend most of their time in the classroom actually teaching. Therefore you have to plan contact calls and visits differently to approaches to other businesses. Finding out when or if people are available for contact can be a major barrier and it's one that often stops people in their tracks when attacking this market.

What's more, the education world is plain different. For instance one business which sells into the sector has a sales training manual which features no less than six pages of acronyms used specifically in education and you probably don't know any of them. There is also a level of suspicion: some teachers still have an automatic distrust of someone selling to them, not least because they are unused to commercial buying. In fairness that "them and us" attitude is disappearing and most are keen to harness available local expertise.

The next question is where the hell do you start? Head teacher, departmental heads, design and technology teachers, school secretary, bursar - all could be relevant. Most purchases will have more than one tier of decision-making. In private schools, as a case, a purchase may be wanted by a department head, but until the bursar has allocated funds, nothing will happen. A good start point would tend to be PE teachers because the numbers are right. Some schools, especially the specialist sports academies, offer a very wide range of choice of sports, which inherently means lots of different types of kit in relatively small quantities and all of it begging to be printed or embroidered. In the nature of growing adolescents it all needs regular replacement too.

Making contact with the schools themselves is straightforward as they are all listed on LEA websites. Some of the relevant names will be there too although this varies. The school office, which is first point of contact, may be guarded in giving out names.

Any parent of school aged children will have seen schools making a point of added value, i.e. not just being a GCSE and A level processing plant. The same should apply to selling in to schools. Make it easy for schools to choose you. There will certainly be a high level of price sensitivity in decision making - parents will be footing the bill for specialist clothing and schools don't want that as a barrier to children following a particular course or activity. Help them communicate the products including images for their own use, a basic leaflet design and a page(s) on your website. Offer to bundle products - the same child could need kit for several sports, the choir, the orchestra and drama. This will inherently broaden your access and involvement in an establishment.

The level of technology which schools own is surprising. The value of kit owned might shock you too. However, they use it not as a competitor to your business but to learn practical manufacturing industrial techniques. Which again is beneficial to your business. The long-term, standard complaint of the CBI and other business organisations that teenagers come out of school with no practical, usable skills does not apply here. Government funding is being put into lots of new diplomas where use of printwear technology applies. It is, however, a fact that as the technology is constantly updated schools struggle to come to terms with the full range of capabilities. This also offers access to the marketplace - if you can help guide teachers through operational skills you will be a local hero and win new business.

Think positive about total involvement with a senior school or college. Opportunities for work-based skills training and placements are often difficult to find but if you build that into your commitment to a school or college you will further cement a long-term relationship. Moreover, any needs for new employees with appropriate skills could come from those contacts.

Make contact with LEA advisors. They organise training days which have a high take-up rate, with perhaps 20 schools represented at one site. They are typically twilight sessions which teachers go to with enthusiasm because they're recognised as vital for updating skills necessary for their personal development. Clearly if you can become involved in teaching the teachers from a commercial standpoint your access to those schools and your personal relationship with the individuals is greatly enhanced. Teachers are also great sharers of information and experience. As many as 40% of sales opportunities in the sector can come from referrals, which makes each sales contact yet more valuable.                      

Paul Clapham is a marketing consultant with over 25 years' experience covering a broad range of business sectors and a full spread of marketing disciplines. He works with small, medium and large companies alike to increase their profitability through marketing. Tel:01453 765432

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---