The 90 Days That Decide Next July

Something just started in K-12 that most EdTech founders won't notice until it's already over. After forty years of selling to school districts, I can tell you it decides more deals than any product feature ever will.

Here's the mistake I see most often: founders think district sales season starts whenever they're ready to sell. If their product launches in March, they treat March as selling season. If their pipeline looks thin in June, they focus on outreach then. They believe their own calendar is what matters.

But districts don't work that way. They follow their own calendar, and it doesn't change for anyone. After forty years in this field, I can say this is the most important thing about the market that no one tells founders. Let me show you how a district's year really works.

July 1 marks the start of the fiscal year. That's when new funds become available, and the bulk of the year's purchasing happens in July. But here's what founders often miss: July spending isn't based on July conversations. Those purchases are the result of decisions made during the previous school year. About 70 percent of district buying happens between July 1 and mid-October, but by then, the winners were chosen months before. The purchase order is a receipt for work done last fall.

From mid-September to mid-December, districts enter what I call the listening window. During this time, administrators meet with sales reps and companies, look for gaps in their current programs, and start thinking about what should be discussed for next year. Right now, doors are open that will close by January.

From mid-January to March, districts move into evaluation mode. Programs discussed in the fall are formally reviewed for next year's budget. If you're not already involved by then, you won't be part of the evaluation.

In May and June, districts finalize their budgets. Then, on July 1, the money is released and the whole cycle begins again.

Take a look at the calendar. It's September. The listening window has just opened. What you do between now and December will determine if you're included in the January evaluation. That evaluation decides if you make it into the May budget, and the May budget decides if there's a purchase order for you next July. The sale you hope to close ten months from now depends on the work you do in the next ninety days.

So what should you focus on this quarter? It's not about running a campaign or increasing outreach. The listening window is just that: it's when districts are open to conversations, making it the best time for discovery. Meet with administrators who are willing to talk and get to know their world. What problems are they living with? What did they try last year, and how did it go? Who else is affected by this problem, and who needs to agree before anything changes? What is their timeline for next year's budget? Your goal isn't to present, but to understand their problems well enough that, when evaluation season arrives, you're the company that already knows what they need.

Founders who close district deals every July aren't luckier or louder. They were simply there the previous fall, asking questions while their competitors were still focused on their own schedules.

Districts don't refuse to buy. They buy every July, reliably and in large amounts. They just don't buy on your schedule. Founders sell on their own timeline, districts buy on theirs, and most of the frustration in this market comes from the gap between those two timelines.

The listening window is open now. It will close in December, whether you take advantage of it or not.

If you're working on a district deal right now and aren't sure where it fits on this calendar, take the time to figure it out this week, not in January.

And if you'd like a second set of eyes on where your deal sits, that's a conversation I have with founders every week. Book a call with me right here on the site.

This article first appeared in my LinkedIn newsletter, Why Districts Don't Buy, where I write twice a month about how school districts really make buying decisions. You can subscribe on LinkedIn.