I want to use my customers as salespersons

Satisfied customers can make a very credible sales force. Tupperware, established back in 1946, knew this. Even today, the company sells its plastic household products through consultants or salespeople at home parties.

This method has also been used successfully among the world's poor; this is a huge benefit because often it is not worthwhile for established companies to sell to this customer group through the normal sales channels.

The poor as salespeople
Dutch electronics group Philips is one of the companies that have used this method. In India, Philips has trained local people, often women, from isolated and impoverished rural communities as salespeople.

They go from door to door demonstrating a lamp developed by Philips. Based solely on purchase price, the lamp is slightly more expensive than the standard lamps on the market. Taking into account its output and power consumption, though, it is a far better investment.

It is partly this bit of maths that this unique female sales force get to explain during their 'Tupperware parties'.

Work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Danish)

The poor often have to pay a premium
In practice the poor often have to pay a premium for products and services, because they are designed for more prosperous target groups.

For example, loans are more expensive the poorer you are however good you may be at making repayments.

Designing products and services specifically to meet the needs of the poor, as Philips has done, gives you a great opportunity to out-compete more costly alternatives.

Microloans are very small financial services which help to combat poverty. People who cannot get a loan from a traditional bank may still be able to get a microloan. Although borrowers are poor, it has turned out that the vast majority of these loans are repaid. This is especially the case if the loan is from a very small local financial institution where the money typically comes from deposits from friends or family.

Often there is no need to put up security for a microloan, and there is typically no lower limit to how much money you can save in these microbanks.
This contrasts sharply with the practice at traditional banks in many developing countries. It is often either so expensive to open an account that it is just not worth it for poor people, or the bank requires a minimum deposit right at the start.
It is estimated that microloans have now helped around 90 million people out of poverty.