Building relationships with customers is the real secret of success driving Prime cookstove sales
When Vernando first started selling the cookstoves, he did not immediately achieve the success he was hoping for. He faced a rocky road to acceptance from local communities
Vernando visits villages to directly sell and demonstrate how the clean cookstoves work
It was love at first sight for Vernando Maruli Arun. The moment he saw the Prime cookstove in action, he knew that this simple technology was going to play an important role in his life. He was instantly impressed by the small amount of wood that is needed to fuel the Prime cookstove, and the minimal smoke that it produces. Looking for work at the age of thirtyfive, Vernando decided to sign up as a cookstove agent in Tapanuli Selatan, in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, in March 2014. Within just a few months, his life has taken a very positive change.
A NOT-SO-SUCCESSFUL FIRST ATTEMPT
Vernando used to work for an organisation based in the town of Sipirok. Although he did not have sales experience, he was very familiar with the social and economic challenges faced by local communities. In March, he bought 25 units of Prime cookstoves from Kopernik’s Low Emission Enterprises (LEE) project team, and received training in sales, marketing, simple bookkeeping, and product use and maintenance.
But when he first started selling the cookstoves, he did not immediately achieve the success he was hoping for. He faced a rocky road to acceptance from local communities - and a few rocky roads to reach those communities! He also had some family matters that that drew him away from pursuing stove sales for a while.
I met Vernando for the first time in August, after I joined the LEE project as a field assistant. To be quite honest, I had my doubts about his potential in sales: he was a little clumsy, awkward, and nervous when he talked. But this turned out to be a valuable life lesson for me - that I should not judge a book by its cover.
My colleague Pulungan and I talked with Vernando about why he had stopped selling the stoves. We also worked with him to find new sales strategies to improve his sales performance.
ONE MAN WITH BRILLIANT IDEAS
During this conversation, he surprised us with his brilliant strategy and marketing ideas. He had an idea to partner with farming groups that he had previously helped to establish.
The next day, we worked together to engage nine of these farming groups as local partners - all in one day. Each group consists of around 20 members, and he successfully sold 93 cookstoves within three weeks using an installment payment system. From this new strategy, Vernando earns a margin of Rp 40,000 (approximately US$3.30) per cookstove, and the local partner receives the same margin - splitting the profits equally between them.
Three times a week, Pulungan and I accompanied Vernando to help the farming groups to sell the stoves in nearby villages. We also offer the groups training in cookstove use and maintenance, micro-enterprise management, sales and marketing - including promotional materials, as well as logistics support.
FINDING A TRUE PASSION IN LIFE
I have learned a lot from Vernando. He has so much experience in dealing with local communities, in how to develop and maintain good relationships with them. He believes that building relationships with customers is the real secret of success driving Prime cookstove sales.
“Make sure that the words that come out of your mouth will help people understand that Prime cookstoves are the product they need and they must buy them,” he said when asked about building a good relationship with customer. “If you are not sure, don’t bother saying anything. Don’t lie and don’t ever break a promise.”
Full of confidence, he continued, “I’m pretty sure that Prime cookstoves will be a trend five years from now. I believe that the customers will try to find me, instead of me coming to them to sell these cookstoves. It definitely is hard to create a new segment in the market, but every new product goes through this phase. After gaining the skills and making enough connections with local partners and customers, I can start up my own stove business.”
“I’VE REALISED THAT NOW I HAVE FOUND MY TALENT, A TALENT I CAN DEVELOP AND USE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE.”
