I've been reading through the latest Kreston Report this week and one finding stood out more than anything else.
86% of Trusts are now fully centralised.
Finance, estates, HR, IT, procurement. Decisions across all of these are being made at central Trust level. And nearly half of large MATs are now pooling their budgets too.
It's a significant shift, and honestly, it has some pretty big implications for how EdTech companies approach their go-to-market.
For a long time, the model was straightforward. You'd get in front of a senior leader within a school, demonstrate your product, and if they loved it, you'd win the school. Rinse and repeat. It worked. But the landscape has changed pretty dramatically, and the Kreston data puts some real numbers behind what a lot of us have been feeling on the ground.
If the majority of procurement decisions are now being made centrally, then that senior leaders who loves your product may no longer be the person who signs off on it - or even has much influence over whether it gets renewed.
That's not a criticism of anyone's sales approach. It's just the reality of where the market has moved.
So what does it actually mean in practice?
The C-suite conversation - CEOs, COOs, CFOs at Trust level - is now unavoidable. And it's a very different conversation to the one you'd have with a school leader. These are people thinking will be thinking across 5, 10, 20 sites. They care about scalability, commercial terms at Trust level, data governance, and strategic fit. Not because they don't care about outcomes for pupils, but because that's the lens they're operating through.
The companies I'm seeing navigate this well aren't necessarily the ones with the best product. They're the ones who've taken the time to understand that audience and tailored their message accordingly.
You need separate messaging - one for the school, and one for the Trust.
This might feel like overkill but it's simply nature of the beast. After leading Arbor's MAT product and strategy for years, I had the opportunity to work within a Trust as the COO. Even though I'd worked specifically with the MAT sector since 2011, becoming an insider and seeing 'behind the curtain' was a real insight.
Because in many instances it's constant firefighting. The challenges around staffing, SEND, and funding uncertainty have swamped most attempts at strategy in the MATs I've worked closely with.
And this is important to know, because unless your product is positioned as a 'painkiller' for a MAT (something that alleviates an immediate pain or pressure to them), getting any mindshare is very very difficult.
It's the first question I work through with EdTech companies I support, because until you nail your MAT strategy, driving sustainable growth is near impossible (and it's only going to get harder).
If it's something you'd like to think through together, I've got some time opening up over the next few weeks. Happy to have a chat.
Book a virtual coffee with me here.
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As always, thanks for reading. All the best, Jay
