Who Makes Buy Decisions in School Districts and How are These Decisions Made?

In our work with companies that serve the K-12 market, and our own experiences with K-12 focused firms, one issue comes up again and again in our sales and marketing meetings: the “buy person,” the person in the school or district who ultimately makes the decision about whether to make a purchase and which K-12 focused company to choose. While knowing who will make buy decisions is a critical question asked by any competent sales or marketing pro, identifying that person may be difficult when it comes to school and district buyers.
Here, we explain why this is so difficult, provide background information about the various influential positions at the school or district level, and outline what types of buy decisions each of these individuals typically make. We will introduce some school and district level purchasers who can shed light on the buying process.
Meet the K-12 “Buy People”
In education, the person toward whom we market and direct our sales efforts too often is not the person who makes buying decisions. They do not have the budget authority or flexibility to spend district resources.
It is important to note that some decisions about buying products and services are made at the school level and some are made at the district level. Moreover, the determination about which level the decision is made may differ between districts, especially between different-sized districts on opposite sides of a county. Despite this, there are some general areas of agreement.
Let’s start with school-level buyers.
Principals: In many districts, principals have wide discretion to make purchasing decisions within a specific set of parameters. These guidelines may include being able to make buy decisions below a certain dollar amount or for products and services falling within a specified bucket. For example, in some schools, principals are tasked with purchasing professional development products and services. However, even then, those purchases often must be made within pre-defined parameters.
When we asked the principal of an elementary school in a large urban district about what buy decisions were made at the school level, we got a smirk and a reply: “Vendors often make the mistake of thinking that I can make decisions about what is used in my school. While I do have some authority, it’s not as much as you think, and any decision I make must be made within specific purchasing parameters.”
So, who creates those parameters? Meet the district-level purchasers.
Curriculum and Instruction Directors: In most districts, there is a district-level administrator called the “curriculum and instruction director” (C&I director). The C&I director is responsible for ensuring students receive an education aligned with state standards. Their work usually includes direct purchasing or overseeing purchases (by creating parameters) of professional development, curricula, textbooks or digital content, and assessments.
Technology Directors: Most school districts — including smaller districts — have a district level technology director. These directors usually work alongside C&I directors to make buy decisions related to hardware, software, and corresponding training.
Communication Directors: Increasingly, professionals in charge of school district public relations and marketing have their own budgets to purchase communications-related services. These services may include advertising and contracted communications-related services.
Superintendents: The most important decision-maker in any school district is the superintendent. These officials have extraordinary reach when it comes to making buy decisions in schools and districts and are often involved before any final buy decision is made.
We spoke with the superintendent of a medium-sized Midwestern district who noted personal involvement on “just about every buy decision in the district, from toilet paper to technology.”
School Board: Many K-12 focused startups make the mistake of marketing to school board members as a way of getting around the K-12 bureaucracy. However, in most districts, the school board has very little influence on what specific vendors are chosen by the district, and marketing to them is a waste of time and energy.
Now that you know the people who make buying decisions in schools and districts, what else is important to keep in mind?
Be in the Problem-Solving Business
If you spend any time with the buy people noted above, you will learn they are very busy. “Sure, everyone is busy,” you may say. But these people are very busy. All the changes in K-12 education over the past several years has created a situation where these individuals move in many different directions with very little time to do so. The simple fact to remember is that those who have the authority to make buy decisions seek products and services to address a unique need or address a specific problem. The most successful sales people are those who understand that successful K-12 focused businesses are in the problem-solving business.
There is a difference between a buyer and an influencer
Earlier we outlined the people who make the decision to buy, the people who actually sign the purchase order. However, in many situations, those people are heavily influenced by the person who may be engaging with you.
I have a friend who owns a seminar business. The people who attend his seminars are, most often, teachers. My friend is very good at what he does, and teachers who see his seminars love them. However, the buy people for his seminars are usually not teachers, but C&I directors.
In the case of my friend’s business, he markets his seminars to teachers, but he does so in a way that easily allows the teachers to forward his marketing materials to the district’s C&I directors, where the buy decision is actually made. What this illustrates is that there is often a difference between a buyer and an influencer when it comes to school and district buy decisions.
Make Your Company Veto Proof
As noted, school district superintendents have a great deal of authority when it comes to purchasing in their districts. Even if they are not involved in the origination of the purchase, they often sign off on such deals. What that means is the superintendent has veto power.
As in every sector, maintaining a sterling reputation is critically important for success in the K-12 sector. Moreover, since superintendents often have strong connections with each other, news about K-12 focused companies passes through the Superintendent grapevine quickly.
We hear again and again from salespeople and founders at K-12 focused companies that they struggle to get through school and district bureaucracy to reach the right buy person to make the sale. By shedding some light on the who and how of school and district purchasing, we hope we can help others avoid the frustration of selling in the K-12 sector.
Joe Donovan is the principal of Forward Advisors, a national private equity consulting firm that specializes in the K-12 educational marketplace. Joe can be reached at joe.donovan@forward-advisors.com or at (800) 393–5283.
