1. Saving money is the main thing that motivates people. Considerations such as health and convenience come later.
2. Poor people want risk-free solutions, not cheap products. Unsurprisingly, poor people are often particularly cautious about how they spend their money, and as many of these devices (solar lanterns, efficient cookstoves, etc) are new to them, to be successful sellers have to minimise risk for the customer. For example Toyola CEO Suraj Wahab noted that most people choose to try one of his cookstoves for a month before buying it, rather than get a 10% discount by buying on the spot.
3. Village demonstrations work better than awareness-raising campaigns, which raise awareness but don’t actually convince people to buy. This relates to point 2 – people want to be able to see something in action – and stamp on it, in the case of ToughStuff’s solar lanterns – before they invest.
4. Financing is best done in house.This point is a bit controversial, as not all those involved in the study agree. The researchers argued that relationships with third-party micro-finance providers often break down, and gave plenty of examples. However, solar installer SELCO does an excellent job linking its customers with rural banks to get finance for its solar home systems. Perhaps it’s hard to get right, but not impossible.
5. Don’t desert your customers after the sale. Checking in with recent customers to make sure their new purchase is working means customers are satisfied and are more likely to recommend the product to their friends and neighbours.
6. Field costs are high. Visiting villages, doing demonstrations, after-sales service, etc all cost time and money, so margins need to be high to cover these costs.