Selling Forms into the Vast Educational Marketplace

From primary and secondary schools, to colleges and universities, to specialty and graduate programs, there are more than 100,000 education institutions in the United States. All of them need printed forms. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) establish the minimum requirements for school systems in maintaining, protecting, and providing access to students’ school records. Part of those requirements is the need to maintain physical, printed forms. There are other forms, such as student progress reports and parent notices, that schools maintain for the benefit of students and their families, as well.

Let’s take a closer look at the types of forms you can sell into the education market.

Applications

In their front offices, educational institutions need the same range of administrative forms as any other business or organization. Plus, they need education-specific forms, too. These include (but are not limited to):

• Financial aid requests
• Medical forms
• Permission slips
• Report cards
• Student applications
• Student records
• Student registrations
• Transcripts and transcript requests
• Transfer requests

Remember that running a school system requires many other supporting departments, all of which need forms, too. Think about all of the different support services each school requires:

Administrative: This department manages the overall administration of the school system, including overseeing policies, budgeting, personnel management, and legal compliance. It may include positions like superintendent, school board members, principals, and administrative staff.

Human resources: Responsible for personnel management, recruitment, hiring, training, and employee benefits for teachers, staff, and other school employees.

Finance: Manages the financial aspects of the school system, including budgeting, accounting, payroll, and financial reporting. This department ensures that financial resources are allocated appropriately and financial regulations are followed.

Facilities and maintenance: Handles the maintenance and upkeep of school buildings, grounds, and infrastructure. It may include custodial staff, maintenance technicians, and facilities managers who oversee repairs, renovations, and safety protocols.

Information technology (IT): Supports the technological needs of the school system, including managing computer networks, software systems, hardware maintenance, data security, and providing technical support to teachers, staff, and students.

Student services: Provides various support services to students, such as counseling, health services, special education programs, and academic guidance. It may also include departments related to attendance, discipline, and student records.

Transportation: Manages the transportation services, including school buses or contracts with transportation providers, routing, scheduling, and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.

Food services: Responsible for providing nutritious meals to students, managing meal programs, coordinating with vendors, and adhering to dietary guidelines and food safety regulations.

Communications and public relations: Handles internal and external communications for the school system, including public relations, marketing, media relations, website management, social media, and community outreach.

Curriculum and instruction: Supports the development and implementation of the curriculum, instructional strategies, assessment methods, and professional development programs for teachers.

Each of these departments has the same needs as standalone businesses in the same vertical. The transportation department, for example, will have the same or similar needs to any business in the automotive market. The finance department will have the same or similar needs as businesses in the financial services sector. This vastly multiplies the opportunities for distributors to explore.

Target Audiences

When someone says, “educational institution,” we might immediately think about elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as colleges and universities. However, the range of potential customers is much broader. If you sit down and really think about all of the other types of places of education, it’s a bit mind-boggling.

Here is a list of other types of educational institutions that you can target but that might not automatically come to mind.

• Boarding schools
• Charter schools
• Community colleges
• Continuing education programs
• Daycare centers
• Career and technical schools
• Home schooling groups
• Learning centers
• Military academies
• Online or distance learning schools
• Preschools (public, private, and specialty)
• Religious schools
• Special education centers

Because of the unique needs for accessibility in this market, every one of these organizations needs to order forms in print.

Decision Makers

Now it’s time to start targeting individual buyers. Within the education market, there are a variety of titles that could potentially be purchasers of these forms. Here are a few that you want to look for.

• Office manager
• Purchasing manager
• IT director/manager
• Human resources manager
• Bursar’s office manager
• Procurement manager
• Alumni affairs manager

Ready to get started? Contact your regional sales manager to develop a business plan.