FirstBank equips SMEs with sales blueprint as firms battle to

FirstBank Nigeria is set to equip small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with practical strategies for winning customers, improving sales conversion and increasing revenue at the third-quarter edition of its SMEConnect Webinar scheduled for September 9, 2026.

The webinar, themed “The SME Growth Blueprint: Practical Sales Strategies to Win Customers and Boost Revenue,” is designed to address one of the most pressing challenges facing Nigerian businesses: turning good products and services into sustained customer demand and profitable growth.

The initiative is part of FirstBank’s SMEConnect platform, a capacity-building programme anchored on the bank’s “You First” brand promise and focused on providing entrepreneurs with business knowledge, market insights and access to financial and advisory support.

Participants at the session are expected to gain practical approaches for improving brand visibility, customer acquisition, sales conversion and customer retention, with the ultimate objective of helping SMEs build more sustainable revenue streams.

The webinar will feature Helen Mojisola Ijaola, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Bags Warehouse; Onome Gbenga-Adewara, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mamalicious Products Nigeria; and Olusola Ogunsakin, Group Head, Retail Banking Group, FirstBank.

The session will be hosted by Helen A. Willie, Head, SME Banking, FirstBank, while Olajumoke Moyo-Ladipo, Team Lead, SME Engagement & Advisory, FirstBank, will moderate.

Speaking ahead of the programme, Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive, e-Business and Retail Products, FirstBank, said growth depends increasingly on an SME’s ability to create value and convert market opportunities into actual revenue.

“Growth is not accidental; it is driven by the ability of businesses to create value, win customers, and convert opportunities into sustainable revenue,” Ezirim said.

He noted that many SMEs have strong products and services but lack the practical sales capabilities required to scale them, making targeted capacity building an important part of enterprise development.

According to him, the webinar is intended to bridge that gap by bringing business leaders who have built and scaled successful enterprises to share practical strategies with smaller businesses.

He added that stronger SMEs would have wider economic implications through job creation, business expansion and a stronger domestic economy.

The focus on sales comes as Nigerian SMEs continue to operate in a difficult business environment characterised by high operating costs, changing consumer demand and intense competition for increasingly cautious household spending.

For many businesses, the challenge is therefore shifting from simply launching products to building repeat customers, improving conversion rates and developing sustainable revenue models.

FirstBank said its SME support extends beyond capacity building to include SME loans, digital banking platforms and advisory services, aimed at helping businesses formalise operations, expand and reach new markets.

The bank said the broader objective of SMEConnect is to position FirstBank as a growth partner rather than simply a provider of conventional banking services.

The webinar also reflects the increasing importance of non-financial support in SME development. Access to capital can help a business expand, but without adequate sales, customer-management and financial-management capabilities, additional funding may not produce sustainable growth.

For Nigeria, where SMEs form a major part of private-sector economic activity, initiatives that improve the commercial capabilities of business owners can have effects beyond individual enterprises.

Helping entrepreneurs acquire customers, increase turnover and retain demand can strengthen business survival, improve employment prospects and widen the pool of enterprises capable of graduating into larger companies.

The September 9 SMEConnect session will therefore place sales execution and revenue growth at the centre of the SME development conversation, as Nigerian entrepreneurs seek practical ways to turn market opportunities into sustainable businesses.