Girl Scout Cookies

We kick-off our cookie sales this Friday.  If you read this post between January 11th and 27th, and find yourself craving cookies, just comment and let me know how many of what kinds, and we will be glad to get them to you in February.  :-)

My co-leader/BFF and I are pretty laid back when it comes to cookie sales.  We expect everyone to participate, but we do not hold our girls to a hard and fast minimum or goal.  We discuss goals, how much we get per box, and how we plan to use the money, but we aren't crazy about how many they must sell.  Whatever funds we don't have, parents pitch in to make up the difference. (The thing that bothers me the most is that we only get $0.55 or $0.60 per box. We do a lot of work (and have a lot of fun) for such a small amount of money.)

We are well aware of a troop that has a point system or massively detailed system for how many cookies must be sold, what that covers (activities), etc. For every box not sold to meet the ultimate goal, that is more the parents have to pay or more service hours the girls must do.  This system is so complex that I cannot even begin to explain it to you.  It is just mind boggling!

Yesterday, my co-leader overheard two fathers discussing one father's daughter's cookie meeting and the expectations of the troop leader.  He was just blown away at her expectations for initial sales, but at the same time, his daughter barely sold any cookies--somewhere around 20 boxes.

Maybe it is just us, two girls, now leaders, who were selling cookies as Brownie Girl Scouts back in Kindergarten, but the cookies sell themselves.  I put a framed picture of my niece with a little explanation next to the cookie order form in the lounge at my school.  When I go back at the end of the day, I have sold at least 20.  I do this over and over until the end of initial sales. I carry my form to department meetings and other gatherings of educators. Normally, if one buys, another will buy.  My last ditch effort is to send out an email to the whole campus just reminding them to buy before the deadline.  Once the cookies come in and we have our booth sales stash, I take various boxes to work, and I sell them with no trouble.

Cookies sell themselves.  Remember, when you see girls (or their parents) selling in the next few weeks, you are supporting a wonderful cause.

Do I have any Girl Scout followers?  What are your secrets to selling cookies?