How Likely Are You to Buy from Yourself – Thinking Like The Customer

Marketing your business has evolved over time. Apart from the traditional methods of marketing, one way to get a proper marketing strategy is by getting into the mind of the consumer. Let us do a little exercise to help do this.

Everyone is familiar with role-playing games. Let’s do a little role play now: You are the customer and you want to purchase an item or service from your franchise. Be completely honest, will you be willing to sanction the purchase? There are a few parameters you can use to evaluate this. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • How easily did I find the product?
  • How does the product compare with other competitors in the market?
  • Is there any benefit from further patronage?
  • How good is the customer service?
  • Does the product keep up with recent technological trends?

The idea of this exercise is to make you understand exactly the thought process of the consumers. This will give you a basis to work with a  better strategy.

Reverse-Engineer Your Findings To Your Benefit

After going through the process of getting into the consumer’s mindset, you most likely would find areas where improvements or adjustments can be made. You would find that you would be able to understand your customers better. This will help you to be able to tailor your correspondence to them in the future.

Showcase Your Product/Service At Africa’s Biggest Education Tradeshow & Conference 

If you can see yourself on the same level as your customers you can better drive customer loyalty and develop the trust that is so important these days and it humanizes your company and enhances your marketing capability. In the end, you will be able to anticipate your customer’s needs because you are thinking just like them. It will put you in the best spot to market with confidence.

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Oct 30

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. 

 

Mar 13

Edumark Unveils Exciting Plans for TOSSE 2020

Edumark, popularly known as the “education company”, has made known its plans for the 12th edition of TOSSE (Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition). The educational exhibition has been a haven for educational bodies, institutions, educational influencers, teachers as well as students to connect, share ideas, and learn from each other new innovative strategies and techniques that can bolster educational productivity in their schools.

The announcement was made by Mr. Ibrahim Oguntoyinbo who emphasized that TOSSE has been the go-to event for school owners, businesses and influencers in the educational sector to converse, share and sell ideas that would improve the quality of education in Nigeria as well as enlighten and train the teaching workforce about the dynamism of education and why they need to be abreast of new educational changes and how to adapt to it.

He stated that the TOSSE 2020 theme which is “Think, Innovate, Impact” is targeted at revamping the educational sector to promote explosive creativity and innovation at all educational levels, seeing that innovation is the spark that lends credence to productive learning. Having achieved so much in previous years through quality Teachers Training Seminars and effective branding and marketing for productivity in school business, TOSSE is set to hit for higher milestones through its insightful seminars and discussions, some of which Mr. Ibrahim Oguntoyinbo highlighted being:

  • Leading for Progress, Profit and Purpose
  • 10 Principles for Principals
  • Becoming a Winning Leader in a Difficult School
  • Beyond Academics: Teaching for Social Progress.

Edumark’s TOSSE has, in previous years, raked in over 7000 guests and is set to witness an explosive attendance of 10,000 guests and above from every part of the world. The event also promises an array of insightful activities and experiences where educators and guests can meet, chat and do business with over 120 companies from diverse countries. Educators and students can also brush up their skills and learn through several Masterclass sessions, free seminars, and IT classes.

TOSSE 2020 promises the very best of educational exhibitions, as several well-respected companies would be present at the event. Some of these are:

DLA Toys

DLA Toys offers parents, schools and the general public the opportunity to create the dream playground for their kids, in a secured and safe environment as well as various types of playground equipment, toys, modern, classroom, and decorations and facilities.   
Evans Publishers

Evans Brothers Nigeria Publishers Limited has continued to thrive in the development of high quality educational and curriculum-based books, as well as leisure books, all of which would be readily available for school owners to browse through to update their school’s catalogue of books.

Zeco Schoolwears

Zeco Schoolwears is one of the leading clothing companies focused on providing top quality school uniforms, school accessories for top schools all over the world. Zeco School wears have also featured consistently in previous TOSSE events, providing school owners with top quality school accessories.

Several other companies such as Nocett Academic Services, Safe School and Nexcel Group would be in attendance at the event with an aim to providing quality educational services and offers to educational institutions present at the event.

The event which is set to run for a week, starting from June 1st to 5th, would be held at Ten Degrees Events Centre, Billingsway, Oregun, Lagos, and would be the first of its kind as it would be a week-long experience to learn, meet international educators like Prof. Kirsti Lonka (Author of Phenomenal Learning from Finland) who would be lecturing on leadership for teachers. The TOSSE Event 2020 is where teachers, educators as well as education-focused businesses should be to learn, do business and improve the educational sector of Nigeria.

For Inquiries and Registration, contact the TOSSE team via the following channels:

Website: www.tosse.com.ng or www.edumarkng.com

Email: info.tosse2017@gmail.com,  info@tosse.com.ng

Phone Numbers: 0708 480 8659 and 0701 120 2454.

Seminar ticket can be obtained at Eventbrite

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.