Posted on 15 September 2010.
This week we held two training sessions for members of the Pampaida Energy Coop. The first day focused on costs and commissions while the second day focused on marketing and record keeping.
Marketing:
In order to prepare vendors for whatever questions they might be asked as they become advocates for efficient stoves, we discussed what we learned from our tests in Pampaida.
- For tuwo, the food cooked most in Pampaida, Stovetec used on average about 60% less wood than the 3-stone fire. Only 10 out of the 30 households surveyed purchase firewood.
- For those that purchase wood, they spend an average of N55 each day during the four months of rainy season, which translates to N6600 ($44) per season. With the Stovetec, they could keep at least half of what this for themselves.
- For those that collect, using the Stovetec would save them time since the wood they collect would last them longer.
- People also noted that an added advantage of using the Stovetec was that it was easier to start and keep fires going because the Stovetec is not as affected by sudden gusts of wind as the 3-stone fire.
Advertising:
The coop suggested that we hold a mass rally throughout the cluster with loudspeakers, drums and posters to announce that we’ve begun selling stoves. Certain coop members have had experience in organizing such rallies in the past for political and cultural rallies. We agreed to this idea and have asked the coop to make all the necessary plans. We also designed a marketing poster and advertisement jingle to go along with the sales launch planned for Tuesday.
The coop explained that the rally truck will be covered with these posters and will go from village to village with loudspeakers, drummers and dancers. Our tagline for this marketing campaign reads, Stovetec: have you bought yours?
Poster translation: What people are saying: modern stove; well-designed stove; clean stove; the stove that doesn’t cause tears; attractive stove; fast stove. Oh my! 40 minutes is more than enough. Food is ready!…. Stovetec: have you bought yours?
Caveat: When you design a poster and give it to a professional printer, make sure you vet a sample copy before he prints the entire batch. I learned this the hard way when 210 copies of a dull and entirely redesigned version of the poster above was handed to me on Monday morning. Without my consent, he’d changed the design. Kept none of the original colors and was annoyed that I wasn’t happy with him.
Keeping track of stoves and buyers:
We have a list of all households in the cluster. Vendors will record the names of people they sell to and each week. We have provided each vendor with a Record Sheet in which to record the buyer’s name, settlement, and date of transaction. The enumerators will compare these names against the household master list.
Storage
We agreed that each of the four main axes – Pampaida, Kwari, Saulawa and Fadamar Kale – should have a locally accessible storeroom so vendors won’t have to travel far to collect stoves for sale. The coop will elect storekeepers who will hold the keys to the local storerooms. Enumerators will keep spares in the event that the storekeeper is not reachable.
Each vendor is allowed to take no more than ten stoves at a time from the store. After a vendor sells all ten of her stoves, she hands the money from these sales to an enumerator and the enumerator signs the vendor’s completed Record Sheet. With this completed Record Sheet, the vendor presents this signed Record Sheet to the storekeeper allowing her to receive her next batch of ten stoves. No stoves will be released from the store without this signed and dated document.
Costs, Commissions, and Credit:
The actual cost of each stove is N2850 ($19). Millennium Promise is selling the stoves to the cooperative at a cost of N2350. The coop in turn makes a N150 ($1) commission on every stove completely sold. There is no commission for partial sales. A sale is considered complete when the entire N2500 for the stove has been handed over to an enumerator. A sale remains incomplete as long as there is an outstanding balance to be collected. The minimum deposit for which a vendor will release a stove to a buyer is N1500 ($10). Commissions will be distributed after we’ve exhausted our first batch of 1000 stoves.
Before training, I’d suggested that we allow people pay their balance in two monthly installments of N500 each. However, we were curious to hear the coop’s opinion on this. When asked how much time they were willing to give people to pay the remaining N1000 balance, one month was their reply. Upon further deliberation, they added that if a person did not pay up after a month, they would take back the stove and the debtor would lose his deposit. Although we thought this was rather harsh, we decided that this was ultimately their business and they had a better idea of how things work in their community than we did. However, we made it clear that seizing stoves should be a very last resort.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can we sell outside the cluster?
Eventually. For now, we’re focusing on the Millennium Village cluster but as sales grow and every household has had a chance to buy a stove, you can begin selling outside the cluster.
What if I buy two stoves and give one to my brother who doesn’t live in the cluster?
We can’t stop you from doing that. But by doing so, you’re sabotaging your chances of making higher profits in future. If your brother knows that you bought it at N2500 – which is far below market value, he’ll tell other people outside the cluster. When you’re ready to sell outside the cluster, your market will be a lot less willing to pay full market price.
