Five Strategies For EdTech Sales And Lead Generation

K-12 edtech is a crowded space. In this packed environment, it can be hard to get administrators to notice your company and take an interest in it. But it can be done. Below are five strategies to help.

1. Network

Sales is a relationship business. Some edtech sales leaders even go as far as saying that the product doesn’t really matter; only the human-to-human connection does. This is why networking is crucial for generating interest in your edtech offering.

To network efficiently, think about your target buyers. Are they curriculum directors at large urban districts? Superintendents of small rural ones? Figure out the sweet spot for your product, and then go through your LinkedIn Rolodex to see whom you know in those types of districts, and ideally in those positions. Especially on teams made up of former educators, there are likely many first-degree contacts to reach out to, and connections of your connections to whom you can ask to be introduced.

2. Attend Conferences

Online networking is great, but nothing beats in-person connections. Education and edtech conferences are important to attend. Monitor EdSurge’s events page, and check out their conference infographic. (It’s outdated, but much of it is still accurate, so it provides a good starting point for conference research.)

Be sure to plan ahead for how you’ll make conference attendance fruitful. Find out who will be there, and try to fill your calendar with meetings ahead of time. Tyler Bosmeny, co-founder and former CEO of Clever, gives great detailed advice on how to make conferences “worthwhile” in this Y Combinator talk. (The conference section starts at around the 15-minute mark.)

3. Send Helpful Emails

Conferences only happen so often, so in between them work to generate leads through email marketing. The key to successful cold email prospecting is offering the recipient value. Your email should give them something, ideally some new or interesting information. Start the relationship with an offering of a quality resource, whether it’s a webinar, article, or new research finding.

Instead of “I want to get something from you—a sale,” you’re signaling “I want to provide value to you.” For a more in-depth look at what gets emails opened and engaged with, check out this article on K-12 email marketing tips.

4. Get Your Name Out There

People are more likely to open emails from those they already know. But they don’t necessarily have to know the person sending; name recognition of the company sending helps too. So it’s a good idea for edtech organizations, and especially newer startups, to get publicity and coverage of the work that they’re doing. Companies can pay to advertise in the publications and on the sites that their ideal leads visit, or they can pitch stories to journalists about the work that they’re doing. Founders should insert themselves into larger education conversations that are relevant to their companies by submitting letters to the editor and op-eds. While those types of writing won’t allow for explicit product promotion, they’ll achieve it indirectly.

5. Build A Product That Gets Educators Talking

The strategies mentioned above are great, but the best way to generate leads is to build an amazing product. People, and especially educators, love to share what’s working for them, and word-of-mouth is the best lead-generation technique, because people trust their friends and colleagues.

In addition to having an easy-to-use product that solves a nagging problem, provide great customer service. Answer support queries with speed and cheer, and offer all that educators need to integrate your tool seamlessly. This is crucial, as even if you successfully network, pack your schedule at conferences, send useful emails, and get publicity, those strategies will get you nowhere if you don’t have a solid product and great team to back them up.