It’s not every day you get to combine your passion for product marketing with a fantastic team, and yesterday was one of those days! I had a great time delivering a workshop on Messaging and Value Propositions with Fusion Education People Solutions, and here’s why:

1. Working with the Fusion Education People Solutions team was an absolute delight.

Their enthusiasm and dedication to improving their messaging and value propositions were infectious. It’s inspiring to collaborate with professionals who are committed to enhancing their skills and delivering top-notch results to their clients.

2. Interactive Learning.

Our workshop was all about hands-on learning, and everyone was eager to dive in. From empathy mapping to defining unique value propositions, the participants were engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and shared their own experiences.

3. Team Collaboration

Fusion Education People Solutions fosters a culture of collaboration and creativity. The team’s willingness to brainstorm, refine ideas, and explore new approaches was truly impressive – it will undoubtedly set them apart in their industry.

Thank you, Fusion, for inviting us to work with your team.

To all the participants, keep honing those messaging and value proposition skills! Your dedication to improvement will undoubtedly lead to great success 💪

Curious?

This workshop was designed to brainstorm key concepts around marketing strategy. We provide a fresh pair of eyes on areas which need to be revisited often to remain competitive, the objective being to create compelling messaging and to highlight the areas which could be better developed in order to grow market share. If you’d like to discuss something similar for your business, drop me an email at nick@finnemoreconsulting.com.

Our first #FinnemoreFireside of this academic year is with Lyndon Stickley (CEO) and Sam Curtis (Customer Service Director) from iplicit where they discuss, amongst other things, their company’s growth in the education sector.

iplicit offers a cloud-based finance and management software solution, tailored for frustrated on-premise legacy software users and establishments that have outgrown entry-level software. It’s a really insightful discussion and we cover topics including:

• The importance of change in the education sector, and the need for flexibility and adaptability in finance and management systems.
• The evolution of MATs and whether they should be expanding on their requirements when going out to tender for a Finance system – or any system – to include areas of their strategy
• 3 pillars of change
• The challenges of moving from on-premise systems to cloud-based solutions and the importance of post-implementation support.
• How systems need to continue to disrupt, innovate and develop to stay ahead of the game, and how this can be difficult for large or incumbent companies
• Maintaining partnerships with customers and reducing any friction to ensure the customer has the best experience.
• The significance of listening to the market and customers’ needs for successful change and growth in the education sector.

Enjoy!

Management Information Systems are the backbone of educational institutions, helping them to make informed decisions, streamline operations, and enhance overall efficiency. In the past, MIS was primarily about data storage and reporting, but it has since evolved into a multifaceted ecosystem. Today, MIS encompasses a wide array of functions, including student information management, financial administration, communication, parental engagement, analytics, and supporting the school development plan.

Last week, over 250 of you brilliant people participated in our online MIS Discovery Sessions, thank you so much for supporting our events. Everyone from MIS managers and finance officers, to support partners and headteachers attended – there’s just so much interest in what’s possible in the world of MIS right now.

The Ever-Evolving World of MIS

One of the key reasons for MIS’s continuous evolution is its adaptability to changing educational needs. As technology advances and educational methodologies evolve, MIS systems have had to keep pace. This adaptability is essential in helping educational institutions meet the ever-changing demands of students, parents, and regulatory bodies.

Looking Ahead

The world of MIS is poised for even more exciting developments in the future. With advancements in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cloud computing, MIS will continue to transform the way educational institutions operate. It will empower educators and leaders to make data-driven decisions, personalize learning experiences, and improve overall educational outcomes.

Engaging in the World of MIS

Nick and I have both worked in this area for over 20 years now and love how it continues to innovate – as it should! If MIS is your thing then you can:

1. Join our ‘Future of MIS’ LinkedIn Group: Our online community, ‘Future of MIS,’ on LinkedIn is a hub for like-minded individuals. Here, we share insights, discuss trends, and connect with professionals who share your passion for MIS. Join us here.

2. Access Discovery Session Recordings: In our recent MIS Discovery Sessions, we had the privilege of hearing from industry leaders Bromcom, Arbor Education, and IRIS Education. These sessions are a treasure trove of knowledge, and you can access the recordings to gain valuable insights into the latest developments in MIS:

Bromcom MIS Discovery Session

Arbor MIS Discovery Session

IRIS Ed:gen MIS Discovery Session

3. Explore Our #FinnemoreFireside Chats: We’ve had the privilege of sitting down with edtech and MIS thought leaders to discuss the future of MIS in education. These insightful conversations are available on our blog, offering you a chance to hear from experts in the field. Explore our Fireside Chats here.

The So What? test is nothing new but I thought it would be worth covering here as it’s something I have discussed with a number of people this week.

If you’re unfamiliar with the So What? test then there are lots of great books out there on it but, in essence, it is the practice of looking at your messaging and asking yourself “so what?”  Are you talking about what matters most to your audience?  The idea is to help you focus on what’s important to your client base and communicate effectively as a result.

To give you an example, how many presentations have you seen that start with an introductory slide listing facts about the company?  A typical first slide will usually contain some company facts along the lines of:

While these facts are important to your company, the client’s response will probably be so what?  So you were established in 2012, so what?  Why is that important to me?

It’s crucial to always look through your messaging, and particularly opening slides such as these where this will often be your first contact with your potential client, and ask yourself so what?  And keep asking yourself so what until you get to a satisfactory answer.

So, for the example above, let’s do the So What? Test on the first bullet point

• Established in 2012

So what?  Well, it means we’ve been in business for a few years now.

So what?  So we’re not going anywhere, we’re established and have a good reputation.

So what?  Customers can trust us.

By asking so what you can usually find a better way of getting that message across.  In the case of the above, a much stronger opening bullet point would have been something along the lines of:

• Trusted provider since 2012 with an excellent service track record

Try it with the other bullet points and see what you come up with.  Try it with your own messaging and share the results.  I know this has helped lots of companies in the past so hopefully, it will help yours too.