Pity the plight of the poor sales rep… With the value of an average school’s curriculum software budget having halved since a high of 2005/6, they really are at the sharp end of the market. Not only have they sustained the biggest casualties in terms of the job losses that have hit the publishing industry, but increasingly their salary package is a commission-based one.
A recent Schoolzone research project, involving 20 primary and secondary school Heads and SMT members, highlighted the problems from the school’s perspective:
Desperate to get appointments, reps are cold calling during break times and insisting on speaking to teachers. Once in schools, they are clearly biased towards their own products, and regardless of the school’s individual needs or available budget, will try to shoehorn a solution onto that school, exploiting any areas of anxiety about changes in curriculum or government policy. What's more, determined to make the most of their sales opportunity, they take up far more time than the teacher in question has to spare, driving some teachers to buy something just so that they leave!
From the rep’s point of view, the job of selling education resources and software has become a whole lot harder recently. Research tells us that teachers are far more confident about assessing their pupils’ needs, and resourcing accordingly. Because of the massive growth of free online content, when they do need something, chances are that they’ll go online to find it, and they may take advantage of the free online tools to adapt and repurpose it for their students. The current political uncertainty means that many teachers are waiting to see which policies and initiatives bed down, so they aren’t looking for big new adoptions; instead, they’re topping up schemes from trusted suppliers.
Furthermore, teachers are reporting a far more proactive approach to finding out about resources: As one teacher put it, “the evolution of the Web has made self-searching far easier.”
So how can you work with reps, to take advantage of their often extremely useful product knowledge? Some teachers have established excellent relationships with a few trusted and reliable reps, inviting them in to demonstrate and provide free training on new resources.
Inform your school secretary about the schools’ purchasing cycles, so that reps understand when you’re likely to be looking for new resources.
Set up a product review evening within your department, and invite reps from competing companies in to demonstrate their resources. If several schools decide to buy the same scheme or set of resources, you can then be more assertive in negotiating a bulk discount.
If you’ve got any other helpful suggestions or comments about how to use the skills and expertise of sales reps, please email them to Melissa@schoolzone.co.uk. And, if you’re looking for new products or resources, don’t forget the Schoolzone website and mailers; a great way of finding out about discounts, special offers and free resources.
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