How does one differentiate themselves from the plethora of companies offering e-learning courses and develop a qualified sales pipeline? Learn from the experts.
- Nitin Golani, Business Head, Akash BYJU’S
- Prashant Singh, COO, LeadSquared
In this webinar, we’ll talk about a few practical tactics for creating a steady stream of leads for online learning businesses as learnt from Akash BYJU’S.
Standing out in a competitive market
Success in a fiercely competitive world belongs to those who can innovate quickly.
The test preparation market in India is close to the total addressable market (TAM) of $10 billion. It is split into two parts, there is an organized part of it and an unorganized part.
The organized test preparation sector has over 50 students in their educational domain like Akash, Allen, and FIITJEE and acquires about 30% of the market. The remaining 70% of the market constitutes players like Mom-and-pop stores in every nook and corner of the country, which are educating students to become engineers and doctors.
When we look at the TAM and at the organized sector alone, there is not one player which owns over 5% of the market. Therefore, there is a scope for consolidation or some sort of acceleration by one of the players to be able to gain market share in the organized segment alone.
This was the first pillar for Akash as a possible target for acquisition. When we look at TAM, there is good scope for Akash to significantly expand in the organized space.
The second pillar of the company is, that it provides technology education solutions. They saw an opportunity in the $7 billion market for education solutions that were not technologically advanced. With their technological advantage and coaching experience, they were able to create a product that met the needs of the market.
The third pillar of the company’s success is its profitability. Test preparation is a very profitable business, and the company’s offline segment operates at a 50%+ gross margin. The online segment operates at a 70% gross margin with a PAT of 20%.
Making offline services available online
“Anything that someone can think of that they want in the offline world can be made available to them digitally.”
Nitin Golani, Business Head, Akash BYJU’S
In the past year, many offline services have become available online. For example, students can get help from teachers without having to wait for a class to start.
The Akash app was launched after the acquisition of its digital business by BYJU’S. The app has since amassed over 10 million downloads and has a 4.1 rating on the app store. The app provides a platform for students to connect with teachers and get their doubts clarified without having to wait for a class.
The endeavor has been constantly to innovate on offerings to consumers, make sure to be ahead of the curve in terms of giving technology solutions and on making sure that the content is being operated on.
The app is one of the top funnels for Akash BYJU’S. To make sure that the app reaches the user, they have deployed multiple strategies. For example,
- Running universal ad campaigns on Google and Android to share information with consumers about the app.
- Having a tender trial class feature on the app.
- Investing a lot in YouTube channels to optimize the teacher’s bandwidth. There are multiple series on YouTube that educate students on the most difficult concepts.
- Running a lot of engagement campaigns to show the content that consumers are searching for.
- Working on SEO traffic works wonders for apps as well as for websites.
Building a structured sales process
At Akash, salespeople conduct a detailed counseling session for the consumer for over 60 to 90 minutes. Here the consumer is educated about the product because this is a long-term purchase. The session is a mix of online and offline counselling.
During COVID a lot of consumers preferred Zoom or Teams for counselling sessions.
But today, consumers are more confident when they can visit the store, see the product, speak to the academic faculty, or even talk to someone online. Once the counseling is done, there’s a good chance, the consumer goes ahead and purchases the product.
Once the product is purchased, the post- sales teams educate the consumer on when classes will begin, and when they should expect the books. Salesperson make sure that the product that has been bought is to the tune of the needs of the consumer.
Akash BYJU’S makes sure that the consumer is not buying something which they don’t want and educates the consumer, that what they bought and what they’ll get, even if they don’t want the product, they will have the chance to cancel or make a refund.
And the parents are regularly updated about the student’s performance.
“LeadSquared enables industries to have a very strong lead management mechanism, which helps them to prioritize consumers, like what food they want to give to their sales teams. Leads get allocated to sales counselors then the counselors do the heavy lifting.”
Nitin Golani, Business Head, Akash BYJU’S
Enabling a hybrid learning model
Increasing numbers of students are shifting towards a hybrid mode of learning.
When it comes to EdTech, think from the perspective of a parent. They are not that comfortable in sending their children to institutes which are beyond a particular radius of their home. Which is why there is an increase in the market to move to hybrid learning.
In small cities, there is a lack of large players who can coach people or students for JEE preparation. In far-front cities of India, Students also aspire to become engineers and doctors, but they don’t have the right medium. This is where the Edtech solution of Akash by BYJU’S comes into play and ensures to offer products to tier three, tier four, and tier five markets.
“The hybrid model gives you the opportunity to create an impact in the remote parts of India as well.”
Nitin Golani, Business Head, Akash BYJU’S
LeadSquared helps multi-center training institutions streamline their online and offline operations.
Book a Demo to know more.
Audience Questions
Akash BYJU’S provides offline, online, and hybrid, learning models. All three products are available for everyone, and it is more about what the consumer wants. So, if the consumer wants an offline product, Akash BYJU’S provides them with offline products. If the consumer wants the online product, it gives them the online solution.
The key metric for success in any educational setting (classroom, online, or hybrid) is the number of students who are admitted to engineering or medical colleges, or the rank or admission rate of those students.
However, there are a lot of input metrics that go into ensuring that students are attending classes, giving feedback about their teachers, and taking all the necessary tests (whether offline or online).
Speakers
Nitin Golani
Business Head, Akash Byjus
Nitin brings over 17 years of experience in tech and other industries. His role at Aakash BYJU’S digital business is to improve learning outcomes for students and also deliver profitable growth for BYJU’s group. The business has grown over 2x in the last year. In just 1 year of launch, Aakash App has become a top choice for students with over 10Mn+ app downloads.
Prashant Singh
COO, LeadSquared
Prashant is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of LeadSquared. He heads all post-sales Customer-Centric operations and is responsible for business retention, growth, and expansion. Prior to LeadSquared, Prashant was the co-founder of Proteans, and he served as the COO. Post-Proteans’ acquisition, he served as the Vice President and P&L Head for the business unit of Energy, Healthcare, and Media verticals.
