DQ SELLING: REVOLUTIONIZING SANITATION PRODUCT SALES

In the ever-evolving landscape of sales and behavior change, a shift is taking place –*Decision Quotient (DQ) Selling. It’s not just about closing deals; it’s about empowering customers to make the most informed choices, even if it means not buying your product or service at the moment. As a Whitten and Scott Roy consultant put it, "the seller is dedicated to helping the customer make the most intelligent decision — even if the customer discovers that the seller’s product or service is not what he or she needs."

This revolutionary approach is being used in the USAID-funded Isoko y’Ubuzima project to improve rural sanitation and handwashing services and products in rural Rwanda. At the heart of the project’s approach is the understanding that behavior change is central to addressing sanitation challenges. We begin to improve sanitation coverage in a community by promoting sanitation products and services and ensuring that those products are physically available and financially accessible.

This is the heart of a market-based sanitation approach. By integrating DQ selling into the market-based sanitation strategy, the project is not only offering sanitation messaging but solutions too, and facilitating a change in the way people perceive and adopt healthier habits. The strategy also seeks to harness market forces, encourage private sector participation, and align interventions with consumer needs. This is evident in the increase in demand that DQ selling is causing and the involvement of the manufacturers of SATO pans.

With the DQ selling technique, sales agents are navigating conversations with households in a way that goes beyond traditional awareness campaigns or regular sales pitches. The DQ selling process has revolutionized the way sales agents communicate about sanitation. This technique of selling unfolds in four steps:

1. Problem Identification: The sales agent starts by helping the households delve deep into the sanitation and hygiene challenges they face. By initiating discussions that pinpoint the core issues, they build a foundation for a tailored solution.
2. The Cost of Delaying a Decision: One of the key elements of DQ Sales is helping clients realize the consequences of postponing decisions. The sales agent helps the household understand the tangible costs associated with delaying the adoption of proper sanitation practices. For example: the agent helps them calculate what they spend on sicknesses caused by poor hygiene. This step not only increases the awareness of the issue but creates a sense of urgency while establishing the critical need for change.
3. The Solution: The sales agent presents the solution to the customer. In this case, the SaTo pan is presented first in a picture, explained, and then shown to the customer physically. Notably, this is the first time in the conversation that the customer sees or hears about the solution. The sales agent emphasizes both the features and benefits of the product, relating them to the challenges and issues identified in step one.
4. Value of the Solution: After assuring that the household has a comprehensive understanding of its needs and the solution, the sales agent highlights the value of the solution (the sanitation products). In the current pilot the sanitation product being sold is a SaTo pan – a sanitary plastic squatting toilet pan that minimizes bad odor, reduces the spread of disease, and is easy to clean. By clearly illustrating how the SaTo pan can effectively address their identified problems, the sales agent tells the customer about the price, which in nearly always less than the calculated cost of a delayed decision. The agent ensures that the client makes an informed decision based on the full scope of the costs and benefits.

Removing Blocks: In cases where the customer presents reasons not to purchase the product, there is an additional step. There are always reasons why a household may not buy sanitation products, the primary example being the price. Many potential customers, especially in rural Rwanda, say they have no money right away, or they have other conflicting needs. Therefore, the DQ Sales technique ensures that the sales agents help the client navigate and remove the block by learning from others who have succeeded in doing so.

FROM THE COMMUNITY

Nyagatare is a district in the Eastern Province and the second most populated among Rwanda’s 30 districts. It is one of the 10 districts in which Isoko y’Ubuzima is implemented. It is also the first district to begin DQ selling, and the sales agents there have sold more SATO pans than any other district.

Turinumikiza Epaphrodite, the lead Pastor at the Anglican church in Katabagemu sector, said: "We used to have an issue of bad pungent smell and challenges in attaining the hygiene we want, but we see this to promise a solution. But we have installed 14 SATO pans and we believe it’s going to make a difference". This Anglican church installed 14 new SATO pans (in total) in the church latrines as well as in the nursery and primary school.

Pr. Nsengiyumva of the ADEPR church in Katabagemu told us that "the conversation we had with the sales agent has laid the foundation for us to teach our congregation. We have eight SATO pans installed and have assigned some people in our congregation to help other church attendants figure out how to use the latrines hygienically."

When we visited one of the community members who in her household’s compound also operates a small canteen, in her own words, she shared how she felt about having bought a SATO pan. "Well, they taught me, and I bought it. Now I feel civilized, and we are no longer dealing with the pungent bad smell." A community member in Katabagemu sector.

Violette is a sales agent and has been a community health worker for 18 years, therefore she is well known and trusted in her territory. Before the DQ selling technique, she would mobilize people in different groups. She says the DQ selling technique has yielded more results, because "cost calculation helps the households make decisions right away".

Both Josiane and Violette are very well known in their communities and have visited so many households already. They have attained a high level of influence that both have had people come to buy SATOs through word of mouth. This is proof that motivation to improve household sanitation has improved, and once community members meet with a DQ Sales Agent, they share what they have learned with their neighbors and friends, and this yield results.

One more thing to note is that households in most rural areas of Rwanda depend on agriculture for their income. With that in mind, the ratio of SATO pans bought to those installed is almost 1:1 with a few cases where people have bought it but are waiting for a harvest season to have money to install them.

Our goal is not just to sell more sanitation products; we want people to make decisions to improve their household sanitation for their own health and well-being, whether they buy a product from a sales agent or not. Thus, it’s safe to say the DQ selling technique is reaching more people with effective communication about sanitation and hygiene, and more efficiently helping them decide to improve their latrines.

As one of the Isoko y’Ubuzima project consortium members, CARE International implements the Decision Quotient (DQ) selling component. Through their dedication and expertise, CARE International has significantly contributed to the success of the project, particularly in driving the adoption of improved sanitation practices and products in rural communities in Rwanda.