Training the sales force

Fred Migai, a solar entrepreneur from Nairobi, has carried out a successful marketing and sales training in Iringa in a bid to help our partner Neema Crafts develop an effective (mainly able bodied) sales team. Neema is confident that this will lead to rise in sales. All production is still being carried out by Neema's deaf and disabled staff.

This is me training the Neema Crafts microsolar group.

Neema has provided us with a summary of production and sales figures for the Feb - April period which is reproduced below.

Number of products made and sold for the months of Feb - April

• 0.5 watt panels: 43 made. Only 1 sold.


• 1 watt panels: 239 made; 53 sold.


• 2 watt panels: 297 made; 49 sold.


• LED lamps: 200 made; 63 sold.

As you'll see, Neema Crafts has been producing more than they are selling. This is because the organisation helps the disabled, who are much more effective at building panels in the workshop than at going around the villages to sell them. That's why we've helped them train an able-bodied sales force that can take the buses and travel to the villages to sell the panels that their disabled colleagues produce. So watch this space as sales are expected to rise dramatically!

John Keane, Head of Programmes