Why Is It Hard to Sell EdTech to Educators?
Published: 2019-06-26 08:58:06


The world has been changing rapidly and technologies are taking over the way we learn, do and experience the things. In this context, the education field also needs to be in line with the latest technological developments. Schools and colleges can use a free plagiarism checker https://www.aresearchguide.com/plagiarism-checker.html and other tools with basic features provided by many companies at no cost. They can also subscribe to Pro or Premium versions with advanced features for monthly, quarterly or yearly charges.
On the other hand, technology companies, especially EdTech companies and start-ups have a lot to offer to make the educational system and processes easy. The stockholders get benefits from well designed, well planned and well implemented educational solutions. Technology-based learning becomes easy and comfortable for students. Same way, teaching with the help of advanced tools and techniques helps teachers in achieving great results in their classes. On the other hand, the administration also has its part of the benefits.
Looking at these benefits, everybody would think that schools should implement technology in their education system. But for EdTech companies, it’s not easy to sell their technology solutions to educators for many reasons. We have discussed some of them in detail in this article. Read on.
Difficulty in reaching and convincing decision makers
Technology-driven educational solutions are provided by many companies. There are many new start-ups as well. So, the competition is tough. But tougher is to reach and convince the people who are decision makers in the schools.
Mostly, they are busy with their schedules, so they hardly get time for the people trying to sell their products or services. Additionally, they are being approached by many similar technology solutions. So, they generally don’t have time for all to review their proposals on their own.
Also, only a few of the proposals will get a response and finally only those companies with the best solutions at the most competitive cost will get selected. If a company misses a chance, there will be rare opportunity of getting another chance. Cold calling will not be answered easily.
However, the doors are not always closed, and you may still have a chance to meet the decision makers. If you have already provided your products and services to some clients, you will have their testimonials to present to your new and potential clients. You may also get some willing clients to demonstrate your solution to the new prospects. This will work as evidence that your solution has helped them get desired results and benefits and is worth investing.
The cost of technology
The cost is one of the major factors that play a key role in taking your proposal to the decision maker committee’s table. Since the schools have limited budgets, they often prefer free tools available online. Free plagiarism checker and Grammarly are among the most popular online tools that are available free of cost. If they are being managed by the government, approving any considerable expense becomes very difficult.
Getting your proposal to the right person and then obtaining approval is one thing and getting your money released is another thing. If you can go through the initial stage and be selected, getting funds released can be a very stressful task if you can’t apply the right tactics and make your connections work for you.
Decision-making process
Decision-making process in schools, especially those managed by local government, takes many stages and rounds of proposal reviews and short-listing before the final decision. The bureaucracy in these schools often becomes the biggest hurdle in reaching an agreement.
Further, there are many factors that can affect the decision in favor of or against your proposal. Top level politics and relationship with people from the bottom to top positions in the school management often have a considerable impact on your success in selling your solution. Overall, you have to be very competent in working towards selling your solution and proving that the investment done on it will give them the desired results cost-effectively.
Implementing the solution
Companies often fail at convincing that implementing process will not be a complex one and will not take longer than the school officials and staff think. Furthermore, if the company has no or very little experience, they may end up in unforeseen issues.
Implementing the solution can also be a headache when the client’s staff and their infrastructure are not friendly. Some staff members and teachers may be lacking the required basic knowledge of technology. Some schools may be lacking infrastructure like an area where equipment can be installed. In this case, implementing the solution can be costly which may further action against the selection of your proposal or if you are already selected, you may end up spending more than you can afford, causing you a loss.
Looking at these possible issues that both you and the client will be aware of, selling a technology solution to them will be harder than you think.
Training teachers for the new technology and tools
If your proposal passes all the selection processes and you are ready to deploy the solution, you may still have to face an issue, i.e. training the staff and teachers. Given the tight schedules and many other activities, it would be very difficult for them to get time to learn new things. This will not be out of sight of the management.
So, if your solution will take considerable training, you may go through a great struggle convincing the decision makers and other stakeholders that your solution will be actually beneficial to them after a certain period. Additionally, if the school is old with an old staff who are not adaptive to the latest technological changes or are not willing to accept the new ways of teaching, they may not approve your idea. In this situation, convincing them will be very difficult and will be an additional test that you will have to pass if you want to sell your solution to them.
Conclusion
Almost every field is taking steps toward adopting the latest technologies and techniques for faster development and better results. On that note, the education field should not be left behind. But when it comes to schools and school districts, selling your technology-based solutions for better education and school management needs many considerations. From a limited budget to the decision-making process and from implementation to training all concerned can be a tough challenge. However, if you have correct representatives and use the right techniques, finalizing a deal will not be an impossible task.