Question 1

Do I need to buy data separately?

Accepted Answer

No. A verified database of 45,000+ schools and 419,000+ contacts is included in every subscription from day one. There is no separate data purchase, list-licensing fee, or per-record charge.

Question 2

How accurate is the data, and how often is it updated?

Accepted Answer

Every email address is passed through a verification process to confirm validity and deliverability before it enters the database. Records are continually reviewed and refreshed, and new schools, contacts, and markets are added every month — it is a living database, not a static list imported once.

Question 3

Which markets and countries are covered?

Accepted Answer

Big School covers 181 markets across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Coverage depth varies by market, and we add new markets on request. If you tell us your target geography we can confirm exactly what coverage looks like before you commit.

Question 4

Can I reach the right person, not just a generic inbox?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Contacts are mapped across 23 role categories inside the school — from Leadership and IT to Finance, Operations, and Admissions — plus a further 16 categories at group level. The Audience Builder lets you filter by role, country, school type, size, curriculum, and group.

Question 5

Is outreach compliant in the markets I sell into?

Accepted Answer

Big School is built to support compliant B2B outreach. Contact data is limited to professional, role-based business contact details — no student or personal data — processed on a lawful basis for B2B outreach in each region: legitimate interest under GDPR (EU/UK), and the equivalent permission models under CAN-SPAM (US), CASL (Canada), the Spam Act (Australia) and comparable regimes elsewhere. Every campaign identifies the sender, includes a clear unsubscribe, and opt-outs are captured and suppressed automatically across your account. Because compliance also depends on how you use the platform, you remain responsible for your own content and consent basis.

Question 6

How is the data sourced?

Accepted Answer

Data is compiled from publicly available professional sources — school and group websites, public directories, and official listings — then verified. It consists of professional business contact information, not personal or student data.

Question 7

How are unsubscribes and suppression handled?

Accepted Answer

Suppression is built in. When a contact opts out, they are automatically suppressed from future sends across your account, and you can also upload your own suppression lists to exclude specific domains or addresses. Full detail is on our Data & compliance page.

Question 8

Where do emails send from?

Accepted Answer

Campaigns send from your own connected mailbox and domain via a secure OAuth connection — not from a shared Big School server. Your sender reputation stays entirely your own, which is a core driver of deliverability.

Question 9

How does Big School protect my sender reputation?

Accepted Answer

Every mailbox is automatically warmed up before it sends a real campaign, and its sending volume only increases as its performance — bounce rate, spam complaints, engagement — proves it is ready. We also pace sends throughout the day rather than allowing bursts, since ISPs watch frequency as closely as total volume. A mailbox that sends fifty emails in ten minutes reads very differently to one that sends the same fifty spread across the day. Most mailboxes reach full capacity within two to four weeks. You never have to think about any of it.

Question 10

How many emails can I send per day?

Accepted Answer

Each mailbox ramps up gradually rather than starting at full volume. New mailboxes begin under 50 emails a day; as they prove healthy — low bounces, low complaints, real engagement — sending increases automatically, typically reaching 150 emails per day within two to four weeks. Add mailboxes at any time to scale total capacity; each one warms up independently.

Question 11

What is the difference between campaigns, sequences, and EDMs?

Accepted Answer

Campaigns are role-personalised outreach to a segment. Sequences are multi-step follow-ups that run automatically until a contact replies. EDMs are designed broadcast emails for announcements or newsletters. All three run from the same platform and report into one dashboard.

Question 12

What does the Cortex AI actually do?

Accepted Answer

Cortex AI writes outreach tailored to each contact's role and school context, drafts replies in your inbox, scores and classifies incoming responses, and can create a deal from any positive intent. It works from your Knowledge Hub so messaging stays accurate to your product.

Question 13

Do the AI emails sound generic or spammy?

Accepted Answer

No. Because Cortex AI uses each contact's role and the school's profile as context — and draws on your own product knowledge in the Knowledge Hub — messages read as relevant and specific rather than mass-mailed. Published outreach research consistently shows this kind of personalisation lifts reply quality, not just volume, and you approve every send before it goes out.

Question 14

How does pricing work?

Accepted Answer

Pricing is transparent and seat-based, calculated live on our pricing page. The database, campaigns, EDM builder, inbox, pipeline, and reporting are all included — there are no add-on modules to buy separately.

Question 15

Do sales leaders need a paid seat to see reporting?

Accepted Answer

No. Management-level visibility across the whole team is available without occupying an active sending seat, so leaders can oversee performance without paying for a seat they won't send from.

Question 16

How long does onboarding take?

Accepted Answer

Most teams are live and running their first campaigns quickly because the data and tooling are ready on day one — there is no data purchase, list import, or lengthy setup. We walk you through audience building, connecting your mailbox, and your first sequence in onboarding.

Question 17

Can I try it before committing?

Accepted Answer

Book a demo and we'll show you the platform live against your target market — real coverage, real audience segments, and the outreach flow end to end — so you can see exactly what you'd be working with.

Questions, answered

The database

Data protection & compliance

Email & deliverability

AI & personalisation

Pricing, onboarding & contracts

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