One of the first schools to show interest in Karri in 2017 was Westerford High School. After one of our first meetings there, the finance ladies were so interested, that they suggested we attend the SBMA conference. After some investigation we found out that the SBMA conference was an annual event that hosted school business managers, principals and bursars from about one hundred government schools from across the country. This was certainly the perfect opportunity to get the Karri name into the minds of decision-makers across these schools. This year’s conference was held on the 18th and 19th of May at the Southern Sun OR Tambo International Airport.
Karri was a Gold Sponsor at the event. This entitled us to premium space in the foyer at the Southern Sun OR Tambo International Airport, as well as various other advertising rights at the conference itself.
We set up a stand with all the various give-aways that are expected at a conference such as this, pamphlets, pens and of course, peppermints. We were also given the opportunity to address all the delegates which resulted in a surge of people at our stand.
It was a huge success and we very quickly became the talk of the conference. The most beneficial aspect was putting names to faces of people we had previously communicated with over the phone and also meeting new faces that we could engage with after the conference.
Comments such as “this is going to change our lives”, “why didn’t anyone do this sooner?” and “Where can we sign up” were common place as we engaged with excited bursars who are tired of counting coins.
We left Johannesburg with a renewed excitement for our product as well as a long list of contact details for various schools across the country. This certainly helped to add credibility to our name and get Karri into the minds of school principals, business managers and bursars.
Since then we have signed on many schools who are now benefitting from the many services that Karri provides; fast, safe and simple school payments.
Written by Niki Dignon
