Education psychology · UK & Ireland
From first digital product to 100+ paying schools in nine months.
How I built the go-to-market and commercial system for an education psychology company’s first digital product, entering a UK and Ireland market dominated by established assessment providers.
100+
Paying schools
9 months
Jan → Sep 2025
1
MAT agreement
UK + Ireland
Market
On this page
Starting point
The company was an established education psychology business, with a recognised presence in traditional assessment and professional courses. Digital was different. Its first digital product launched in January 2025 with no product awareness, no pipeline and no digital-product commercial motion behind it.
The team was around five people. I had joined in marketing and then took on sales as well, so I was building the commercial engine while running it.
The challenge
The product wasn't entering an empty category.
Schools already had assessment providers they knew and trusted. We had to give them a reason to consider an unfamiliar product while building what was needed to sell it.
No product recognition
No existing pipeline
No digital go-to-market playbook
My role
I started in marketing and went on to own sales as well. For the first stretch that meant working across the whole commercial system, from messaging and campaigns through to demos, proposals and closing, while carrying my own commercial number and pipeline.
As the sales team grew, my work moved towards the system the team could run: the strategy, process and tooling behind the selling. Pricing was set by the company director, with input from me at points.
What I found
The person interested in the product wasn't necessarily the person buying it.
Early go-to-market thinking centred on SENCOs (special educational needs coordinators). They and other staff could be strong internal advocates, but the final purchase typically involved senior leadership.
That changed how I saw the market. The school became the account, and the people inside it mattered according to the part they played in the buying decision.
What I changed
Instead of asking schools to believe us, let them experience it.
For an unfamiliar product, more messaging alone wasn’t going to remove the trust barrier. I influenced management to add a trial to the commercial journey. It let a SENCO or another internal advocate use the product in their own school, see real results, and take something tangible to senior leadership.
Lead
Qualify
Demo
Trial
Follow-up
Close
The trial wasn’t another demonstration. It was the bridge between internal interest and the buying decision.
The commercial engine
I built the commercial system in four layers, and at first operated all of it myself. That gave me direct sight of where the journey was working and where it wasn’t.
Positioning
- Messaging
- Competitive positioning
- Buyer understanding
Demand
- Email campaigns
- Organic content
- Conferences
- Referrals
- Word of mouth
Conversion
- Qualification
- Demos
- Trials
- Proposals
- Follow-up
- Closing
Infrastructure
- CRM
- Workflows
- Battle cards
- Templates
- Sales collateral
- Pipeline process
Results
January → September 2025
100+
Paying schools
1
MAT agreement
6
Schools within the MAT agreement
UK + Ireland
Market
The first multi-academy trust (MAT) opportunity began as an inbound response to an email campaign to the company’s existing database. It developed into a single agreement covering six schools.
From selling to scaling
Build
Messaging, campaigns and a sales process, run end to end.
Prove
100+ paying schools and a first MAT agreement.
Systemise
CRM, workflows, collateral and battle cards.
Scale
Two salespeople joined as volume grew.
I kept my own number and pipeline, but my role shifted towards building the system others could operate. CRM structure, workflows, collateral, battle cards, templates and the sales process made the motion repeatable rather than dependent on one person.
The product became more than a new revenue line. It became a way into the account.
With 100+ paying schools using it, the company has relationships it can develop. That gives the expanded sales team room to move beyond acquisition, into account management and cross-selling or upselling across the wider portfolio.
Key takeaway
A product launch is one moment. The real work is building the system that can keep selling after it.
I withhold client and employer names.