4 ms·

This makes as much sense as saying "it's really difficult to sell shoe polish to corporate CEOs, so you should sell to their receptionists instead."

lazerwalker 15y ago
I don't think that's quite an apt metaphor. At the end of the day, the CEOs are the ones who use the shoe polish. Maybe their secretaries do the polishing, maybe not, but at the end of the day the CEOs are the ones who have to cope with a mediocre polish. The entire point of this article is that it's the teachers, not the administrators, who have to deal with educational software on a daily basis.
- jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
  This is exactly my point. Teachers don't have purchasing authority for very much besides construction paper and glue sticks (and then, they're increasingly paying for that stuff out of their own pockets). You can't sell stuff to people who can't buy (even if they do happen to be the end users of your product).
ebiester 15y ago
Only if every corporate CEO had been a receptionist for several years.
kitanata 15y ago
Not exactly. It does make some sense to validate the market you are targeting that is, if the software in question is used by the teachers. Finding the pain in your own product and making it suck less while building a strong relationship with your end user makes solid business sense. That being said, I work in education technology for state government. I know for a fact that most technology coordinators at district or ITC level are not mostly former teachers. By far the largest percentage of those with purchasing power at the district/ITC level are business analysts and administrative staff. I do know a couple former IT support staff or computer science teachers that have risen to that level but they are the exception that makes the rule. You best bet for marketing new educational technology tools are working with an state agency specializing in educational technology. More often that not this is a specialized agency or an arm of DoE. They will have solid relationships with ETC/ITCs and most school districts. They also influence substantial policy decisions and usually progressive "think-tank" organizations. Building a relationship with them is not that difficult due to their receptiveness.

lazerwalker 15y ago

I don't think that's quite an apt metaphor. At the end of the day, the CEOs are the ones who use the shoe polish. Maybe their secretaries do the polishing, maybe not, but at the end of the day the CEOs are the ones who have to cope with a mediocre polish. The entire point of this article is that it's the teachers, not the administrators, who have to deal with educational software on a daily basis.

jeffreymcmanus 15y ago
This is exactly my point. Teachers don't have purchasing authority for very much besides construction paper and glue sticks (and then, they're increasingly paying for that stuff out of their own pockets). You can't sell stuff to people who can't buy (even if they do happen to be the end users of your product).

ebiester 15y ago

Only if every corporate CEO had been a receptionist for several years.

kitanata 15y ago

Not exactly. It does make some sense to validate the market you are targeting that is, if the software in question is used by the teachers. Finding the pain in your own product and making it suck less while building a strong relationship with your end user makes solid business sense. That being said, I work in education technology for state government. I know for a fact that most technology coordinators at district or ITC level are not mostly former teachers. By far the largest percentage of those with purchasing power at the district/ITC level are business analysts and administrative staff. I do know a couple former IT support staff or computer science teachers that have risen to that level but they are the exception that makes the rule. You best bet for marketing new educational technology tools are working with an state agency specializing in educational technology. More often that not this is a specialized agency or an arm of DoE. They will have solid relationships with ETC/ITCs and most school districts. They also influence substantial policy decisions and usually progressive "think-tank" organizations. Building a relationship with them is not that difficult due to their receptiveness.