Schools... Any advice for getting a foot in the door?

[Aveyotech]

Seeings how I am enjoying this forum so much I thought I would pose another sales related question that I have been pondering for a few weeks. BTW a big Thank You goes out to CommitCRM for making this forum. I for one have founded it very informative..and a bit entertaining.

We currently have 2 small private schools that we do work for and have had great luck with them as clients. I am now wanting to selectively target a number of public schools in our area. I realize that the larger school districts will have their own IT departments. But i want to target the smaller districts. I think this would be a boon to business given their budgets for computer labs, smart boards, projectors, and more.

I am even considering hiring a salesperson (would be our first) to devote to this market. I have a trusted person in mind that I should be able to get on a part time status too.

Anyone had any luck targeting public schools? Any thoughts on a go to product to get a foot in the door? How about proper decision makers to contact like Principle, Superintendent, Board Members? Any ideas on an easy way to find out whom those people are per district/school?

[TDtech32]

Targeting schools is a great choice. Provided you service homes on top of businesses, there’s also some hidden business in there, i.e., providing IT service to the teachers and other staff members. If you make yourself available, they’ll approach you and ask for your services for their home computer, etc. Make sure you make the most of every school you already service to.

[nattivillin]

So far its been a bust in our efforts to recruit schools. I dont have a dedicated salesperson but i have personally met with a few of the technology directors and have had less than stellar results.

[dytechs]

Depending on the State and County you work in it can vary greatly. For our main office we are in a mid sized city that will put things out for bid. Good luck with those because you are then competing against large companies like HP and Dell. To even be able to bid you have to have a SPIN number. In order to get this special number you have to apply. We have now applied three times and hope this time the application will make it through the process. Again large companies have it all sewn up. In our second location, a much smaller town, they still put items out for bid but would prefer to deal with a company that is local.

Double check with the various boards of education and see what the requirements are to do business with them. Also don't neglect your local agencies either. Often they put things out for bid on their own City or County websites.