FirstBank has urged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt deliberate strategies around customer acquisition, sales conversion and retention to achieve sustainable growth, saying having a good product alone is no longer enough to thrive in a competitive market.

The bank made the call during its Q3 SMEConnect Webinar, themed, “The SME Growth Blueprint: Practical Sales Strategies to Win Customers and Boost Revenue.”

According to the bank, the webinar was organised to equip entrepreneurs with practical knowledge, tools and strategies for building resilient businesses.

Head, SME Banking at FirstBank, Helen Willie, said the bank recognises small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a major force behind innovation, job creation and sustainable economic growth, adding that the SMEConnect initiative was created to help businesses navigate the challenges of the operating environment.

“At FirstBank, our commitment to SMEs extends far beyond providing financial solutions,” Willie said, urging entrepreneurs to apply the lessons from the session immediately to their businesses.

She said sustained growth requires deliberate strategy, deep understanding of customers, effective sales processes, strong brand positioning and the ability to adapt to changing realities.

The call was reinforced by the founder of Bags Warehouse, Helen Mojisola Ijaola, who warned SMEs against using sales volume as the only measure of business success.

Ijaola said businesses could record rising sales while their profits declined because of excessive discounts, high operating costs or failure to review prices.

She also warned that businesses could make sales and profits but remain cash-trapped when funds were tied up in slow-moving stock.

“Profit is more important than sales,” she said, advising entrepreneurs to monitor fast-moving products, slow-moving inventory and products demanded by customers but unavailable, which she described as lost revenue.

Ijaola also urged SMEs to define their target customers rather than assume that everyone could be a buyer. She said understanding customers’ needs should shape a business’s marketing content, advertising language, channels and locations.

Also speaking, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mamalicious Products Nigeria, Onome Gbenga-Adewara, advised entrepreneurs to assess the size and potential of their markets before seeking to scale.

Adewara said not every business idea was scalable, stressing that market size, unit economics and replicability could determine how large a company becomes.

Adewara also stressed competitive pricing, experienced sales teams and broad distribution, saying businesses must create demand rather than merely wait for orders.