1
Find out about the different ways your
troop or group has sold Girl Scout cookies in the past. Then, with the help of
your Girl Scout friends, create five new ways. Can you sell them at a
community fair? neighborhood recreation center? holiday parade? Maybe you can
meet with officials in your town who can help you with the project.
(this requirement is
hard for us to do in our council because we cannot contact stores on our
own, but you can discuss within your troop meeting places the girls think they could sell
cookies at. Let your Cookie team know where you would like to sell and she can check out those places, maybe the
girls would even like to sell at one of them if it is okay with store)
2
Imagine asking a salesperson for information about a product and she doesn't
know the answer. Good salespeople know all about their merchandise. Find out
about Girl Scout cookies. What are the ingredients? How many calories do they
contain? How long have Girl Scouts been selling cookies as a way to earn money
for activities? Also, be prepared to tell your customers what your troop or
group plans to do with the money earned.
3
Knowing how to deal with the public is an important part of being a
salesperson. You should always be polite and say "thank you," even if someone
doesn't buy anything. With your troop or group, think of several situations
that might come up when you are selling cookies and how you will handle them.
For example, someone wants ten boxes of trefoil cookies delivered to his
daughter's birthday party; someone tells you she is tired of always being
asked to buy things; a little boy says he would like to buy a box of cookies
for his mother but doesn't have any money.
4
With your troop or group, design a giant poster or display for your cookie
campaign that is suitable for a mall, a public building, or other place where
many people will see it. (In most cases, you have to get permission from store
owners or public officials to do this). Think about the ways advertisements
get your attention. Is it the bright colors, pictures, or what it says?
Consider a design that includes information about the cookies, how the money
earned is used, and what Girl Scouts are all about.
OR
Have a
cookie party and see how many adjectives your group can come up with to
describe Girl Scout cookies. Maybe you can use them for an advertisement.
(this would be fun to make
a poster and see if your school would let you display it. Make a general
poster to announce cookie sales. Telling kids and volunteers to contact
the girls wearing their uniforms, wearing cookie buttons or scouts in their
class for buying cookies)
5
If you have a computer and know how to use the Internet, see what information
you can find about selling Girl Scout cookies and then share it with your
troop or group.
6
With your troop or group, develop a plan for what to do with the money you
earn from cookie sales. Think of several projects or activities. Estimate the
cost of each activity by finding out about admission fees, transportation,
etc. Based on the amount the troop will earn from the sale of each box of
cookies, figure out how many boxes you would need to sell to reach your goal.
Work out a plan for reaching your goal and chart your progress.
OR
Read
pages 105-109 in your Junior Girl Scout Handbook and make a troop or
group budget for an activity that you would like to do with the money you have
all earned selling Girl Scout cookies.
(similar to requirement
#1 in Cookie Count Try-it - fill out the cookie goal poster with girls, that
will come with your packet or get the one off of Little Brownie Bakers
website)
7
Be a good neighbor. Buy several boxes of Girl Scout cookies with your troop or
group money and wrap them in pretty paper to give as gifts. You might take
them to senior citizens in a nursing home, someone in the hospital, or maybe a
couple who just got married. Use this as an opportunity to make a new friend
and share experiences.
(same as in the Cookies
Count Try-it Requirement #3)
8
With your troop or group, think about the different jobs connected to food
products, such as farm grower, baker, advertiser, artist, nutritionist. With
help from your leader, make plans to talk to two people about their jobs and
what the jobs involve.
