See Part III.

In the course of any sales cycle, marketing research should provide sales with a stream of “ready, willing and able” buyers; or as close thereto as possible. The job of sales is to take those leads, along with any others they might identify on their own, close the gap in information, focus on the likely buyers and take the actions necessary to close deals.

Maximizing new sales within any given marketing and sales budget, or determining where to spend “the next dollar” that might be added to any budget, requires an appreciation of the “qualified lead” concept, the practical dividing line between research and sales activities, and the high “value-add” of timely, reliable and accurate marketing research.

The discussion of contract RFPs in Part III was a useful starting point. With lists of ready, willing and able buyers available from sources like K-12Leads at a low price, these are the “low hanging fruit” of marketing research. The issue of “rigged” competitions aside, they come as close to the ideal of a qualified lead as is likely in the real world. Contract RFPs can be managed by headquarters without sales representatives. Even the burden of “closing” associated with “sales” - convincing the client that they not only need the type of product or service offered by the firm, but the firm’s version - is borne by documentation and perhaps a single technical presentation.

But while no firm can afford to neglect contract RFPs, reliance on “easy pickings” is no way to financial sustainability or growth. Any provider hoping to serve a market beyond an hour’s drive from headquarters, or outside the personal network of its managers and employees, needs a sales force.

Unlike the search for contract RFPs, most marketing research is not easy to outsource.  As the table shows, no other source of data - or combination of sources - identifies ready, willing and able buyers. Readiness and ability can be addressed by marketing research. Sales staff are required at least to determine “willingness” - whether the prospective customer knows that it needs the type of product or service offered by their firm.



This insight goes to the allocation of marketing and sales budgets. Willingness is the element of a sale most relevant to the skills required of sales staff. The ability to “close” - to convince prospective buyers that the firm’s specific offering is what they want to purchase, becomes important immediately after determining that the prospective buyer wants the category of product or service where the firm competes. It is hard enough to find “closers.” Expecting expertise in school performance and finance relevant to readiness and ability makes recruiting that much harder. By investing in in-house research staff, marketing managers can focus on hiring closers.

Announcements of funding releases by State Education Agency (SEA) provide an example of how marketing research can direct sales staff to more likely buyers. SEAs disburse formula-based funds throughout the year. Some are one-time releases, others are scheduled throughout the year. The use of these funds often is restricted to specific purposes and a defined range of purchases. With research, a provider can identify:

• Which of these funding streams can be used to purchase its offerings;
• How much each district and possibly each school will receive; and
• When the funds will be disbursed.

With the disbursement date, marketing research can tell sales reps when specific districts will be ready to make relevant purchases and the extent of their ability to pay for them. This provides information for reps to focus and prioritize their efforts. For example, where a representative covers several states, this knowledge is useful for scheduling travel.

The district’s eligibility for funding even helps with the question of willingness. Sales reps know that the prospective customer wants products and services that address a specific issue. What remains is whether they want the kind of product or service offered by the firm.

Next: Parsing Grant RFPs

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