My daughter had been bugging me for months about joining Brownies and finally when we inquired it was only to find that there wasn't an available troop. Actually, they had a waiting list of girls and needed parents to volunteer as leaders.
Yep...I must have had SUCKER written all over my forehead!
I tried to weasle my way out of it, hoping that some other "Sucker-Mom" would step forward...but no, I've earned that title along with another Sucker-Mom...my new friend Mary. The two of us felt bad for our girls and figured if we didn't do it, our girls would never get the experience.
So, here we are...Brownie Leaders.
Sooo, we're a little over a month now into our meetings and we finally got our new Brownie Troop number, just in time to sell those Girl Scout Cookies! OK, I admit I knew almost nothing about this. I sold them way back when as a Brownie, myself, but it was mostly to family. After attending Cookie Training, I felt like I'd just attended a corporate board meeting or something! jeez! This is serious stuff!
Now try translating product information, goals, rewards, procedures, dates, etc to a bunch of 8 and 9 years olds who only want to giggle, laugh and be silly! Not an easy task! {Thank goodness for email...}
Being the good Brownie Leaders we are striving to be, we decided to hook up with our girls and take them around our neighborhood to sell cookies door to door.
Now, at our previous meeting, I tried to do some cookie sale role playing with them...we accomplished pretty much nothing other than a whole lotta giggling and laughter, but I guess that was OK too. I knew whole heartedly that in the actual situation they wouldn't be doing or saying what they were so I let them have their silly fun. (truth be told, I hate role playing anyway...it is effective when done correctly, but who really likes doing that stuff?)
Well, my daughter, Kate, and Mary's daughter, Allison, were all equipped with their Girl Scout cookie order forms and were sporting their new Brownie sashes! With Mary and I following them, they went from one house to another knocking on doors, ringing doorbells and assessing homes for whether people were really home or not. Some people were really good and bought one box from each of them and others apologized stating they'd already purchased their cookies from someone else. BTW, we were out on Day 9 of cookie sales as they began on Jan 1, so it's easy to see that we're late meanwhile the sale practically just began!
Each and everytime, the girls introduced themselves, stating what troop they were from and what their purpose was. They both often mentioned their sales goal!
Each and everytime, no matter what the outcome, they both said 'Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts!'. They both walked away with smile and carried on to the next prospect.
At one house, the lady said 'We're on a diet!' and then Allison came back with 'But we have sugar-free chocolate chip cookies!'...don't you know it, the lady went for it and bought a box of the sugar-free cookies from each of them! She wasn't taking NO for an answer that easily.
So, what I learned from these two little girls was:
-
No matter the outcome, keep your head up and keep pressing on for the next opportunity!
-
Persistance pays off...my daughter bugged my neighbor so many times that she bought 18 boxes from her! =)
-
Always thank your customers and prospective customers!
-
Know your product!
-
Know your goal!
-
Smile and have fun!
We were very proud of the girls...they only sold 14 boxes collectively but that's OK as it was an additional 7 boxes each that they wouldn't have sold had they just stayed home. It was a good experience and they both want to go out and do it again!
Comments (9)Subscribe to CommentsComment