Education Channel Partner

You don't need the resources of a big company to implement the principals of data-driven selling. With a few basic systems and some elbow grease you can take advantage of data to be more effective and boost your earnings. If you are still running your business out of a shoebox of receipts then this approach isn't for you. But if you have a basic accounting package that allows you to track sales by customer (for example, Quickbooks or MYOB) and a spreadsheet application (like Microsoft Excel or Google Docs), you are halfway there. Your accounting system will provide customer purchase history. You should be able to export the customer data to your spreadsheet for sorting and summarization. You need general market demographics to add to this data mix. The state guides from QED or MDR will work in a pinch. It is much more efficient, however, to buy access to the data through a service like MarketView from MDR. MarketView (schooldata.com/mdrmarketview.asp) is a web-based application that combines a list generator (for example, all the districts in Alabama that have more than six school sites with AYP issues) with a funding database. Start by identifying your top accounts in your accounting package-- keep it around 15 to 25 to make it easy on yourself. Export them to your spreadsheet application and sort them by total revenues over the last two to three years. Then research them in MarketView to discern what they have in common (for example, size, Title 1 funding, poverty level, and so forth). Add the demographics of your key accounts to the spreadsheet and look at the list to see if a pattern emerges. When you begin to see the common threads emerge among your top accounts, run a query in the list builder of MarketView to see how many matches you get in your territory for similar districts. Compare this list against all your sales to discover which accounts hold the most untapped potential. It may be useful to create an indicator of account penetration. I like to use sales per student. This is a straightforward spreadsheet formula. With the full list of accounts that match your success profile, look at your account penetration. Start with the largest districts where you have the lowest penetration and begin your DDS campaign there by working your existing accounts for referrals and contacts in those districts. This approach doesn't use calculus or a high-end CRM-- just basic accounting, spreadsheet, and list-builder tools. DDS really is for almost everyone who is willing to put the effort into it.