The 4 P's of Marketing

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This past February, F2F Volunteer, Jo Anne Cohn helped women of the Pinos Fabrettino Cooperative in San Jose de Cusmapa, Nicaragua, build their business skills to help them increase their bottom line. The women were not only taught the 4 P's of marketing (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) they also learned customer satisfaction sales techniques which will make them more successful when selling baskets both in their showroom and at local fairs.

The women of the Pinos Fabrettino Cooperative make exquisite baskets out of fallen pine needles. They gather the pine needles and sew them into beautifully made baskets using colorful thread. They've been working on standardizing the baskets so that there is consistency in the quality of their products. Last year the women made more than 5,000 baskets with almost of all their sales going to one vendor. This year they would like to branch out and find more places where their baskets can be sold.

During the 3-day workshop, the women learned not only the technical aspects of marketing and customer satisfaction, they had the opportunity to practice these techniques in role plays which will be useful when they market to potential customers locally. And this is not just theoretical learning! As a result of this workshop, the women of the cooperative now have contacts in a local hotel, a gift shop and a travel agency where they will make sales call.



Jo Anne Cohn is an experienced business professional with over 30 years working in international small enterprise development, community outreach, government affairs, marketing, and finance. She received her MBA from the San Jose State University. This was her second F2F assignment in the region.

If you are interested in learning more about the women in the Pinos Fabrettino Cooperative - and maybe even buying some of their beautifully made baskets - be sure to visit the Feed My Starving Children Marketplace (www.fmscmarketplace.org)!

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