With only a few weeks left until the May 31st savings deadline, our key focus right now is encouraging farmers to deposit more money toward their financial goals, as soon as possible.
MyAgro’s model enables farmers to pay on layaway “little by little” into their myAgro mobile account until they reach their goal of paying for a certain amount of fertilizer and seed. We regularly test multiple messages and marketing strategies to figure out how to best motivate farmers to reach this goal. This month, one simple catch phrase proved the most effective:
Thanks for your payment! Next time, do you think you can pay more?
Thanks to this sales line, this week farmers who had only saved small amounts towards their goals suddenly made large payments of $10, $12, or even finished paying for their entire package on the spot. One of our strongest field agents, Siradio Dia, noted: One farmer started our meeting by saying he was not planning on making a layaway payment that day. But by the end he paid $20! I asked him, “Can you pay more?”
To ensure these results were caused by this strategy, we tested this phrase with a control group at the myAgro-run store. Every farmer who came to our store to make a payment was asked to write down how much they expected their next payment to be and when they planned on making it. Those with odd number IDs were then casually asked, “Next time, do you think you can pay more?”
The results? 40% of the farmers asked our trial question paid double what they initially planned. Field agents are now teaching vendors to ask this question to farmers each time they make a myAgro card payment towards their layaway goal. Based on the success of the trial, we’re hopeful this small commitment will spur farmers to finish their layaway payments in time for planting.
Kaly Sano checking the client records of Mariame Manka before asking her, “Next time, can you pay more?”
