TOSSE to operate at maximum capacity as FG lifts Covid-19 restrictions

In March of 2021, we called for a meeting to debate if TOSSE 2021 event should hold or not. There was a mixed feeling across the roundtable, some people expressed their fears of the federal government restrictions on numbers, while some others were optimistic and put in their vote to go on.

We had the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSC) with its Safety Marshals in charge of permit and monitoring attendees’ control to contend with, we worried about the COVID-19 scare and we also had limited time to convince stakeholders that we had put in place adequate measure to keep everyone safe and secured.

TOSSE 2021 was not just a successful event, it was an edition that reaffirmed our belief that anything is possible with the right team and the right plan.

On the 6th of April 2022, the Federal government of Nigeria lifted the restrictions on the limited numbers of persons at gatherings and the nation-wide midnight curfew imposed in 2019.

The removal of restrictions was decided in view of the declining number of cases; the reduced risk of importation of new variants, as well as the availability of vaccines. Other parts of the world are also beginning to open up to businesses, international travellers, events and tourists.

TOSSE 2022 is now open to welcome attendees from the 36 states of the federation and visitors from around the world to partake in the 20+ seminars for school owners, administrators, teachers and stakeholders in the education sector.

There will be an impressive display of innovative products/services that can positively change the way schools businesses are managed and how knowledge is delivered.

TOSSE also presents an opportunity to international and local producers/suppliers of Educational resources or solutions to meet key stakeholders in the sector for a profitable business transaction.

TOSSE offers a 5% early bird discount for exhibitors that come in before the end of April.

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Aug 20

How NewGlobe is transforming education systems in Nigeria

NewGlobe was founded in 2007 and opened its first station in Kenya in 2009, opening community schools in the majority of Kenya’s counties, and becoming recognized globally for the Bridge International Academies model.

In 2015, NewGlobe expanded its community school Bridge programming into new territories – Uganda and Nigeria.

NewGlobe Education has been on a journey from proof-of-concept community school programs, to participating in national multi-partner public-private partnerships, acting as technical service delivery partners to statewide programs at scale, and ultimately supporting national government transformation programs.

NewGlobe has supported urgent education transformation for well over a decade. Its broad portfolio of programmes span Africa and Asia. Its model provides a turnkey end to end solution using cloud based technology and advanced pedagogical research that drives rapid improvements across entire education systems, dramatically improving learning outcomes for all students.

A decade of national exam results; independent studies and randomized control trials have proven the efficacy of an approach focussed on improving the development path of communities, states and nations.

NewGlobe has been keen on transforming education systems in Nigeria and have made giant strides in transforming community education across some Nigerian states.

NewGlobe’s achievements in Nigeria

In 2017, NewGlobe began a four-year pilot program with the Borno state government; supporting education for internationally displaced persons; and out-of-school children.
In 2018, NewGlobe started working at a statewide level in Nigeria; as the only technical partner to EdoBEST, a full-scale government transformation program in Edo State.
In 2019, following the transformational success of its inaugural statewide program EdoBEST, NewGlobe took on a second statewide level partnership in Nigeria, supporting the Lagos State Government’s EKOEXCEL program.
In 2022, NewGlobe added support of an additional Nigerian statewide transformation program to its portfolio, the KwaraLEARN program in Kwara State.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) contracted NewGlobe—as part of the Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN) programme—to open new community schools in Lagos and help address the shortage of quality education provision in the area for low income families.

To further deepen its work in the Nigerian education system, NewGlobe are partnering with the organizer’s of Africa’s biggest education sector, TOSSE to showcase its mission in Nigeria.

Jan 28

Beyond Events – The Value of Leads

Exhibitions present opportunities for businesses to sell their products, get in the faces of prospective buyers/clients, and network with other competitors. The benefits of getting your business showcased at an exhibition cannot be overstated.

Rather than focus on only making physical sales, attention should also be given to getting leads for the future. In fact, the number of leads that are gained at an event or exhibition should be seen as a metric to measure the success of that outing. While immediate sales might boost business at that moment and possibly morale, it is these leads that will enable the business grow in the future. Therefore, this part of the exhibition should not be taken lightly.

Apply To Showcase Your Product/Service At Africa’s Biggest Education Trade Show And Conference

Getting The Leads

People present at an exhibition are either business owners like you, or are (prospective) clients and customers. Identify the latter, that’s the group you are looking for. Most likely, the exhibition has a theme and so you do not really have to worry about trying to identify a particular set of prospective clients. For instance, if you’re part of an exhibition for Education, it is safe to say that most person’s that will be available there will be education-based to some extent, and your product should be relevant to most.

Attracting these leads is another thing. I’d like to break it down into two ways:

Direct Marketing, and
Visual Marketing.

Direct marketing involves you walking up to prospective clients to begin a conversation. Advance preparation is required here to know exactly what to say and how to act. Note that it might not be necessary to put forth a business proposal at this stage, the main aim is to establish a relationship such that they are comfortable with you enough to engage in further conversation even after the event.

Dress the part, first impressions matter. Visual marketing requires that you set up an attractive booth that would draw people over. Some have found that using colourful banners, catchy copies and catchphrases, and side attractions draw the attention of the public.

Exhibit At TOSSE 2021

Remember the aim of the effort you’re putting in: to generate leads. Therefore, you would need to be able to get the contact information of these ones you meet. Have a viable system of doing this that would not be awkward or make them reconsider. Now you’ve got these leads, what next?

Following Up On Leads

This is the part that should eventually yield results: sales. This is also the tricky part. There are a few tips that can make this process go smoothly:

Separate your leads. Not all contacts you make will require the same level of correspondence. Some might require immediate and constant communication while others might not need so much. Identify these early and strike as necessary so that you don’t get tagged as too pushy or too nonchalant.
Get in contact early. You do not need to wait for too long to get in contact with these leads. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate call, as little as a “thank you” email or text message can do the trick. This will help impress you and your business in their minds.
Personalise your correspondence. Include personal names of the recipients in emails and text messages. Don’t just push out these messages in bulk, it will sound faux and wouldn’t help boost your stock. For direct phone calls, sound friendly on the phone, and engage in conversation rather than giving mechanical responses read off a handbook.
Be consistent. Sales are usually not made at the first contact. This is where consistency comes in. Make sure to always be in contact if you see the prospects of closing a sale on a lead, whether it immediate or not. Persistence would not mean “spamming” these leads as that would be counterproductive. Create a pattern that works.
Know when to abandon a lost cause. Not all leads will become customers/clients. Identify this on time and save yourself a world of stress. To determine this, check for their ability to make a purchase, their motivation, and their level of influence if they stand as a representative for a business. If you determine that they would not be able to patronise you at the time, you’d be better served striking your blows elsewhere. This doesn’t mean you discard their contacts altogether however. Add it to your database of contacts, they might be customers for another product of yours.

Chasing and closing leads might be tedious, but it is usually worth the effort

Jan 14

Tips for Boosting Business Productivity in 2020

The year 2019 has ended, with it, a decade. Putting the year 2019 under review, there are couple of lessons to be learned when it comes to handling businesses. Below are highlights for boosting your business productivity in 2020.

Some ideas might seem basic at the surface and business owners may tend to ignore them, but these “little things” should not be taken for granted. This brings us to the first tip of having a productive business in 2020.

Know Your Customer

Know your consumer needs and develop products that help satisfy those needs. The all essence of creating a business is to provide solutions to solve other people’s problems.

One big pitfall most businesses have run into is getting comfortable with a routine, forgetting that the tastes of the consumer are ever-changing despite its originally eclectic nature. Business owners should always find a way to tweak already existing products to meet these changing demands. Ever wondered the need for Coke Zero when the normal Coca-Cola was selling by the truckloads?

Identifying consumer needs is not as difficult as it might sound. It takes engaging your consumers in discussions. Encourage them to give feedback on the products. As much as it depends on you, keep your services as personalised as possible. Always acknowledge these comments; it just might encourage them to send another.

Boost and Nurture Customer Relations

Most businesses, if not all, want new customers. But what is a new customer if you lose two of your old ones! Old customers are usually the source of new ones, directly or indirectly. So nurture those old clients.

You can do this by staying in contact with them via different means. Newsletters, emails, text messages – these are just a couple of ways to do this. Try to always make these means of correspondence personalised.

Grow Your Network

Invest time in building your networks. Who you know is more important than what you know. Therefore try to get to meet more people. Attend networking events and do not be hesitant to put your business out there.

Possible benefits of networking include the possibility of customer referrals by word of mouth; it is a form of marketing. Another benefit is that you could get positive ideas on how to further grow your business. If possible, have discussions with your fellow competitors. It almost always pays.

Utilize Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for businesses. It provides an easy platform to conduct market research, get consumer feedback and even promote and advertise your business. The best part is that it is relatively easier and cheaper to run when compared to other traditional methods, and it undoubtedly yields better results.

As common as social media is, some businesses have overlooked this goldmine. It so happens that some don’t have a social media presence while some others have not gone through the process of growing their brand’s visibility on the network. What this means is that those ventures miss out on prospective clients that are teeming on social media, feeding off scraps. Hence, try to boost your visibility on social media. Take advantage of Brand Influencers, create sponsored ads, grow your following by posting relevant and fun posts, and so on. Your clients are on the timeline.

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