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Covering Territory Beyond Your Reach

By: Jerry Rosenbusch

10/1/2008

Education service centers can be your reps' best friend if they know how to use them

You are sitting at your desk reviewing your sales reps' territory plans for the next fiscal year and you see large areas that aren't being covered. At the same time, you realize many of those areas are too small in revenue potential to justify hiring additional reps. So, what do you do?

Let me ask: Have you learned your letters? Specifically, REMC, OEMC, BOCES, AEA, IU, ESC, OETC, ESD? These letters are your answer to the question: How can we target districts that are beyond our reach? All of them are different acronyms for wonderful service organizations known collectively as educational services centers or ESCs.

A pot of gold

Educational service centers are organizations dedicated to providing exactly what they say-- educational services-- to specific geographic groups of school districts within a state. Their mission is to work with communities, districts, educators, and students to deliver a range of services from professional development and networking, to volume-discount programs and community-education programs throughout the school year. The secret of ECSs is that they are a sales representative's best friend. I once heard them described as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Why? Because education service centers are your link to a large number of school districts and their decision makers.

ESCs are usually run by former school personnel who are full-time employees of the center and they actually have time to speak with your rep. They know the current hot issues in the districts, the curricula being implemented, new initiatives for the upcoming year-- all sorts of things to make your company wiser about the people you are selling to.

Best of all, throughout the year ESCs host programs, luncheons, and in-services for their member school districts. These programs require sponsorships that-- guess what?-- they offer to publishers and manufacturers. These are very affordable opportunities to meet local superintendents, principals, librarians, technology directors, and curriculum coordinators. Your company will never get more than five to 10 minutes to speak at a sponsored event, but what you will get is the privilege to be there. Your rep can listen to these prospects describe the issues they are struggling with and offer them information on your company's potential solution to their problems.

ECSs also usually conduct summer seminars for superintendents, which open up even more sponsorship opportunities. Not only do these seminars provide the same important access to top decision makers, but they're also a way to keep your reps productive during the down time in education. (What do you mean, vacation?)