It takes a village...

This is a snapshot of our part of the map of Ghana. Our office is in Koforidua, but most of our customers and prospective customers are outside the city - many of them on the "tracks" or dirt roads that are marked by the dotted lines. When we go into a village we usually take a multi-day approach. The first day, we've mapped out a reconnaissance route and we're just driving through each village. In villages that look interesting, we'll stop and chat with whomever is around to get a feel for the village. Then, we strategize on which village has the right "feel" and a good location to reach a lot of people by foot or bicycle and near enough to a main road that the agent can come out and meet us twice a week to get fresh batteries.

The next time we go to the village, we usually go at a time when we know most people will be back from the farm - so it's often during the hottest part of the day. No matter where we go, someone immediately goes and gets a bench so we'll have someplace to sit - it's part of the basic hospitality. We usually end up in the shade under a tree, which we thereafter call the "battery tree". Tim starts asking people about their battery usage and explaining our offering. Inevitably, a crowd gathers to see what these strangers are up to. We call this the Obroni factor, but I think Tim would draw the same crowd even if he didn't have any caucasians with him. He's a very charismatic guy.

In this village, Sanfo-Ano (on the map it is on the dotted line right at the end of the word Koforidua), which we first drove through two weeks ago, we rented 25 batteries on this second visit. Based on that visit, we determine who to approach about being an agent. Usually there are two or three people who express interest, so that can make it difficult when there are village politics involved. So far, we've always managed to find someone that everyone was happy with - including us. The third visit to the village is usually 2-3 days after the second - and it proves that we really will come back and replace the batteries at no charge when they run down. This is critical because the first renters make a huge leap of faith that they're not just giving their money away. Because our batteries rent for about 3x the price at which you could buy a battery, it is the continuous replacement throughout the month that makes it worthwhile for the customer.

Usually by the fourth visit we have selected an agent. Once the agent comes to the office for training, we give them new rental batteries as well as the fresh replacement cells to support all their customers until the next replenishment. This village (which, yes, I did mention in a post a couple weeks ago) is totally up and running now. The agent is up to 73 batteries rented and he has barely visited the neighboring villages. So far, customers are pretty ecstatic about the offering. They are using their battery operated devices more and paying less. Cool, huh!

As an aside, I went to this village this afternoon just after a rainstorm and it was like skiing on wet clay with four wheel drive.

Oh, and yes, it is quite common for small girls to carry their siblings around on their backs like this. I thought this girl was very sweet with her sister. But, she is by no means the smallest girl I've seen with a baby on her back.

XO