Termii Elevate 1.0 Conference in partnership with Techpoint Africa wrapped last weekend, 23rd July 2022, and we’d say it was a huge success! There was much to take in, from exciting panel sessions to groundbreaking new release info. But if you missed something, don’t worry! We’re recapping the main points for you, AND you can still watch the session recordings as you read along.
So, without further ado: it’s recap time!
The hybrid event started with a quick keynote address from Atinuke Idowu, Co-founder & COO of Termii. She briefly highlighted industry trends, the importance of communication for businesses, and why they must get it right with stellar communication tools.
Then, we jumped into the panel session “Communication Model that Leads to Customer Conversion”, where communication experts from top African companies, including Paystack, M-KOPA, TeamApt, and Bankly, perfectly exemplified the importance of effective communication between brands, their customers, and the regulators, moderated by Oluwanifemi Kolawole, a Senior Reporter at Techpoint Africa.
The panellists in persons of Babajide Duroshola, General Manager, M-KOPA; Kika Osiagwu, Sales Associate, Paystack; Tobi Amira, COO, TeamApt; Fredrick Adams, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO), Bankly; and Toni Dada, Founder and CEO, Enterscale, covered everything you need to know about the right Communication Model(s) that Leads to Customer Conversion. Attendees even heard straight from these industry distributors about how the Communications technology Termii offers helps their organisations communicate effectively with their users.
The session specifically kicked off with Babajide Duroshola. He explained how he strategically communicates what SafeBoda and M-KOPA — some of the companies he has led — offer to other markets besides the East African market where they were set up.
Kika Osiagwu agreed that effective communication starts with understanding the audience/customers. She said the customers should be able to relate to the stories and scenarios you communicate.
She further pointed out that some businesses with an African customer base who adopt Western communication styles may lose a considerable chunk of their customer base as there are “certain stories that do/will not relate to the African experience.”
Osiagwu also spoke on the importance of communication for fintech companies, especially when regulatory changes happen.
Using a scenario where Paystack had to change the way they ran settlements, she said the tone of communication should not disparage the regulator. Instead, the situation should be explained to the customer, making them understand that you are aware of how the changes affect them.
“We know that this change might not be ideal because it is a radical change from what you’re used to, but we assure you that we’ll look for a solution that works for you.”
Tobi Amira also spoke on how crucial communication can be in the agency banking sector. He explained that the industry thrives on trust that can only be forged by understanding customers’ pain points. Businesses need to ensure that they get customer feedback to understand them better.
The panellists also pointed out how Termii offers communication technology that fits how most African customers like to communicate with their favourite brands.
According to Fredrick Adams, Termii has allowed them to engage their users directly with SMS, which has proven more effective than emails and other communication channels.
He stated further that leveraging Termii’s technology which also provides actionable insights on any chosen communication channel, helps prove the channel’s effectiveness.
While it’s essential to have an excellent communication channel, sending the right message to the right audience and at the right time is also crucial.
Duroshola asserted this when he spoke about SafeBoda’s launch in Oyo State, Nigeria, instead of Lagos — a state whose population is considered a terrific advantage for transportation business and seemed like a more significant and noticeable market to launch. He opined that the right message to send at that time when many questioned the company’s decision was silence.
In his words,
“it’s imperative to understand that not even saying anything is a strong point. If you cannot present the full facts, you’re better off not saying anything.”
He further opined that maintaining silence is essential because the regulatory environment is unstable.
(A regulatory environment is that part of a company’s external marketing environment on which legal and political forces act to change regulations which affect the marketing effort regulation changes can pose threats or present opportunities.)
Regulation changes can pose threats or present opportunities; therefore, keeping quiet at certain times is essential.
“When you’re communicating with customers about changes due to regulation, it is crucial what you say, how you say it, and your ability to present the facts.”
Durosola also stated that in addition to having good communication strategies and integrating an excellent communication technology like Termii, a business needs to offer exceptional customer service by setting up key departments whose role is to ensure these messaging APIs and communication strategies work effectively. He said most startups make the mistake of setting up marketing first, but when marketing converts, there are no departments to manage them.
“The first is customer support. When you have a product, you first want to have an operations departments to keep everyday functions on track and customer support.” Duroshola opined.
Toni Dada also corroborated this by saying that most startups should initially focus on organic growth.
The crown jewel of Termii Elevate 1.0 Conference — the part we know you are looking for: Termii CEO Emmanuel Gbolade and Ayomide Awe, Termii CTO’s demo session on What’s New and Coming Soon in Termii. With so many new features and updates, including quite a few inspired by your requests, it would be impossible to tell you everything in one blog, so we’ve detailed a few of the highlights below:
And significant milestones:
Adding spice to this session, Temi Giwa, Senior Product Manager at Paystack, walked the audience through how Paystack is building modern online and offline payments for Africa with Termii.
The Conference ended with a fireside chat between Ogheneruemu Oneyibo, Senior Reporter at Techpoint Africa and Ifedolapo Festus, Head, Global Business and Partnerships at Termii.
Festus highlighted the importance of communication for early-stage startups and reiterated Termii’s commitment to helping businesses communicate better and fostering growth and development in the tech ecosystem.
In a chat with Techpoint Africa, Termii CEO Emmanuel Gbolade shared what inspired the Conference — Termii conceived the Conference in a bid to help many African companies realise the importance of communication. Having worked with over 6,000 companies, he said the backbone of most businesses is communication.
Gbolade, in his chat, admitted that Termii had been operating low-key since inception. Still, the company has since realised that driving conversations about the importance of communication is just as crucial as building excellent communication technologies.
And that’s a wrap on this recap! While many of these new features are already live on the website, there are more to come, so watch for the following announcement, so you never miss out on the latest upgrades!