District administrators are used to getting hounded with phone calls and e-mails from companies clamoring to do business in their school systems.

One of the biggest and most common peeves of K-12 officials is when vendors are clueless about a district—such as the kinds of products the school system is using now, the district’s makeup, and its goals.

Failing to do homework on a school system is one of the clearest ways for companies to doom their chances of making a sale. But what kind of homework do vendors need to do? Is it on the condition of their budgets? Their academic priorities? Their demographics? Some combination? In a webinar on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. Eastern, EdWeek Market Brief will answer those questions, as we take a look at which aspects of a district’s profile are most important for businesses to be familiar with and able to talk about.

For the webinar, “Preparing the Sales Pitch: What Districts Expect K-12 Companies to Know,” I’ll be joined by two guests: Randy Phelps, the chief technology officer of the East Side Union High School District, in San Jose, Calif; and Simma Reingold, a partner who works with school districts for the consulting group Education Elements.

I’ll be presenting some survey data that EdWeek Market Brief has collected from school administrators on this topic. And Phelps and Reingold will have their own insights. They’ll also be taking questions.

You can sign up here. Looking forward to having you in the conversation.

Image by Getty

See also:

• What Homework on Districts Should Vendors Do to Impress Buyers?
• Twitter Tops Teachers’ Social Media Lists, But Other Tools in High Rotation, Too