The best sales course ever - Girl Scouts Cookie Sales
Last year Fiona finished her first major sales training exercise, selling Girl Scout Cookies. The training process occurred "on the job," which meant going door to door for two hours around the neighborhood. Fiona's sales "manager" was her friend Phoebe, who had sold cookies 2 years prior and gave her great advice like:
* Know your product - people often ask, "What's the best flavor?" or "Which one has peanut butter?" Knowing the answer helps keep them interested.
* Don't worry if people don't want to buy. They may not like cookies or may not be interested. Just keep going. This really helped with the fear of rejection.
* If people don't answer the door right away, wait and then walk away from the door slowly and loudly (stomp and drag your feet). The customer may hear you and come out to see what's going on. This worked twice for us that day!
* Bring a box of cookies as a sampler. The new Cranberry cookies taste better than they sound and Fiona sold several boxes this way.
* If people don't eat cookies, ask them if they would want to donate to the troops. Amazing - teach them how to overcome sales objections right out of the gate!
* Always collect payment - ask for the money :)
As a professional sales person, I enjoyed watching the girls sell for many reasons:
* They asked the sales question, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" and waited for the answer. Lots of sales people get nervous and "jump the question" just to break the tension, but not these girls!
* They were taking orders with no product on hand and no immediate estimate of when they would arrive. They had to sell the future and get people to want the product with no immediate gratification.
* They handled "warm" leads (i.e. friends) and "cold" leads (neighbors they'd never met), one after another. The cold leads were harder, but they sold just as well.
* They managed weird people well - one man had to tell them that they were late and he'd already bought 10 boxes the day before. Here's a guy in his mid 40s making the girls feel like they missed out, instead of just saying, "No thanks." In response, the girls thanked him and said they'd be back earlier next year... and were the "older" people.
Fiona later branched out and sold cookies at soccer games, the grocery store and at church, gaining confidence in different situations and practicing great sales etiquette. She sold at the top of her troop and made me proud :)
This year, Fiona surged ahead and learned a few more things.
* Start selling early to lay claim to the neighborhood. She came across another girl scout down the street who had not started selling her cookies. The competitor realized she'd lost out on selling on her street as it's really hard to sell to a house that just bought a stash.
* Print out a Google map of the neighborhood and mark the houses that buy big and the ones who reject you. Next year, we know where to go... fast.
* Be upbeat and positive. One woman had already bought cookies from her office but liked Fiona's approach and bought some more. Another lady didn't want any cookies around her house, but bought some for friends.
All these core ideas will help Fiona in her professional career. Thanks to the Girl Scouts for keeping up such a helpful tradition.
