Don’t Just Be At Trade Show To Make Up The Numbers, Be There To Make A Business Impact.

Trade shows and exhibitions are not for everyone. Before deciding to invest in a trade show, you must answer certain questions to safe-guide your time and money investment.

Ensure that the Expo focus align with your target industry and you have developed the right service/product that is required by the audience. Review all activities to be in-line with your business niche.
Failure to thoroughly review the relevance of event to business niche, may lead investors into bad decision making. Getting clarity about your trade show investment would also make it easy for the sales team to chart a rewarding plan for their activities, generate leads and evaluating performance.

Team succeeds by setting SMART goals that would guide them through strategic sales outing; they need to be prepared and equipped with products knowledge and know what to present, where to present it and how to present it.

Don’t just be at a trade show or exhibition to make up the numbers, be there to make a business impact.

Ask about the objective of the trade show to check if it aligns with your business goal? research before setting SMART goals. Why are you spending money, resources and valuable time to attend a show? The ROI must be realistic and measurable.

Define your objective and stick with it. Why is your organisation attending the event?:
• For Publicity.
• To build awareness.
• To showcase or unveil new product.
• To generate lead from the trade show.
• To connect and network with other industry professionals or vendors in your business line.

Are you looking for a market to exhibit your product/service in 2020? Click here to learn more about The Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition (TOSSE 2020). Africa’s biggest Education trade show and conference.

Feb 08

4 Core Principles of Customer Relations That Fuel Business Growth

Companies in all industries and all of sizes understand that customers are perhaps their most valuable asset. Improving the overall customer experience is vital for continued success and survival of their business.

APPLY FOR A STAND AT TOSSE 2019

Customer relation is a way business relates to its customers, clients and patrons. Some business organizations hire people specifically to manage how the company interacts and communicates with people. The goal is to retain existing customers and to gain new ones by providing the best customer relations and clients’ services.

There are some core principles to relationship management that any company can and should follow:

Communication: Listening is just as important as telling. Think about how often you actually speak with your customers. Focus on less financial-driven communication (whether it’s E-mail, phone or face-to-face interaction) if you make your customers feel involved, they feel as though they actually have a stake in your company, and feel like you care about more than just trying to make sales.

TOSSE 2019 EXHIBITOR INFORMATION

Rewards: Every company should initiate and make provision for reward programs. It is a very simple form of saying “Thank you” and particularly it is a viable and measurable marketing tool that big companies and small businesses can use to retain their customers and grow their business.

Be flexible: Be quick and attentive to customer’s complaints: The objective of customer relation is typically to interact with the customers in order to answer questions, resolve support issues, establish credibility and nurture relationships.

Here are strategies that Improve Customers Relations and building customer’s loyalty, from simply opening up communications channels to implementing elaborate point systems that reward loyalty enhanced customer communications.

Be prepared to meet and interact with lot of customers at TOSSE 2019.

SPONSORSHIP/PARTNERSHIP

Providing customer feedback forms
Asking about customer needs in general when customer calls with problems
Training call-center staff to handle disputes
Encouraging a service culture throughout the organization.

Mar 03

Running A Successful Business In A Fluctuating Economy

With the economy fluctuating these days, making a profit from businesses has become considerably harder. This is even more so for small/medium scale businesses that do not have the financial stability to weather the storm. How then can these small businesses not only survive but also thrive? What can the owners do about it? The following tips might be helpful in running a business in a fluctuating economy.

Leverage on existing clients

Existing clients and customers are an important key to surviving a fluctuating economy. They are a means of generating steady income while incurring minimal costs in the process of finding a new customer.

Focus on the existing clients. Tailor your products to their needs. This will give you much more sales opportunities. You might also want to build customer loyalty. Look for cost-effective rewards to endear these customers to your business. Remember, however, that the quality of products/services offered is the major selling point, so focus on improving their quality to retain clients.

Cut down unnecessary costs

In order to stay afloat, it is necessary to be wary about spending on trivial or unwanted items. Be sure to do regular analysis to determine what products sell better and which does not, and then refrain from stocking up on products that do not give any real value of sorts.

Review your inventory management practices. Could there be a way to get your wares at a cheaper rate without reducing the quality? Can you get shipping alternatives that are efficient yet cost-effective? You are under no obligation to stick to the one supplier, be ready to explore other options.

Be different from competitors

However important old clients are, you are always going to need new ones to boost income. Thus, you need to research your competitors. If you are going to stand out in order to gain new clients, you are going to have to do things differently from your competitors.

Find out how they operate and look for ways to better their processes. Identify opportunities to entice prospective customers into becoming your customers.

Focus on core competencies

While it is encouraged to diversify, it will serve you far better to focus your attention on goods/services you excel at. Diversification just for the sake of it is generally a waste of time and resources. It can damage your core business by taking money and time away from what you do best and could possibly ruin your reputation.
Focus your attention on your core competencies. Any diversification should be well-calculated to achieve a particular purpose.

Do more marketing

When trying to cut costs, most businesses first slash marketing costs, at times dropping it altogether. This is the wrong approach. In times of economic fluctuations, consumers are usually restless and are looking for new options to purchase from. This provides a perfect opportunity to put your business in their faces. So don’t stop marketing. If possible, up the ante and do more marketing.

Nov 14

Top Technological Innovations for Business Transformation

Innovation and Technology are key parts of business today. In fact, they both work hand in hand. Here are some technological innovations that made waves in recent times:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A lot has been said about Artificial intelligence and its impact on businesses. It has significantly affected and improved the way customers interact with businesses via intelligent websites and chatbots. According to Forbes, 80% of enterprises are now investing or planning to expand in AI platforms.

“The largest impacts across all industries—from retail to healthcare, hospitality to finance—are felt when AI improves data security, decision-making, employee output, trainings, speed and accuracy,”

Attend TOSSE 2020, Africa’s Biggest Education Trade Show and Conference. Register Here

Maddy Martin, community vice chair and head of growth and education for Smith.AI, said. “With more capable staff, better-qualified sales leads, more efficient issue resolution, and systems that feed actual data back in for future process and product improvements, companies employing AI technologies can use resources with far greater efficiency. Best of all, as investment and competition increase in the AI realm, costs are reduced.”

Ultra-Fast Internet

There is an insatiable appetite for super-fast internet by most individual users of it. This need is even greater for businesses, either big or small. This helps improve business efficiency and provide reliable communication tools for companies that rely on remote workers. To satisfy this need, there has been the invention of 5G, which is exponentially faster than 4G. The effects of this technology, though, are up for debate with some quarters labelling it as dangerous.

Virtual Reality (VR)

While Virtual Reality might be seen as an innovation solely beneficial for gaming and entertainment, it has recently more widespread applications in businesses. According to Flatworld Solutions in an article on “Virtual Reality and Its Impact on Business”, the following are impacts of VR on business:

An all-new level of product prototyping
Reduced business travel & efficient business meetings
E-commerce advertising will see a new side
VR can provide competitive advantage to businesses
Interviewing candidates will be easier
The future of retail will be very different
Virtual conferences and meetings will be popular
VR will be an important tool in training
Affordable virtual designing of structures to visualize the project better
Offering virtual tours will be possible

Blockchain

A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable records of data that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) is secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain). Originally devised for the digital currency (Bitcoin), the tech community has now found other uses for the technology. Blockchain technology can be used to create a permanent, public, transparent ledger system for compiling data on sales, tracking digital use and payments to content creators, such as wireless users or musicians. It has also found application in financial services and video games.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things, which is commonly called IoT, refers to the billions of devices around the world that are connected to the internet through sensors or Wi-Fi. It’s basically a giant network of objects that connect to the internet. Each device collects data, and this data, known collectively as big data, is exchanged and analyzed. IoT-connected smart devices can be an everyday item such as a phone, car, watch, washing machine, or refrigerator. IoT devices can also be components of machines and systems, such as on an oil rig or airplane engine.

A Forbes article explained the massive benefits of this innovation on businesses, and quite a number of businesses have jumped on board this fast-moving train.

Exhibit At TOSSE 2020, Apply for Stand Here

Thank you for your registration