It’s Girl Scout Cookie Day!

March 12th, 2009

Selling Girl Scout Cookies is a Leading Economic & Business Activity for Girls Today.

The first Girl Scout group was started in Savannah, Georgia in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low – with 18 members. Her vision was to provide girls with the opportunity to come together and serve the community while enjoying the great outdoors. In 1915 Girl Scouts became a national organization and today are known for their annual cookie sales which run from January 10 (for door to door order taking sales) to March 15. And can they sell cookies!  Although they were baking and selling cookies as early as 1917, it wasn’t until 1934 when the Philadelphia Council of the Girl Scoutslaunched the first commercially-produced Girl Scout Cookie sale. What started out as a local fundraiser quickly becan an an American cultural tradition.

 Although fundraising is a strong reason to sell girl scout cookies, the whole process has evolved into an benefit for girls today.   Being a girl scout and selling cookies helps girls develop leadership skills and practice resourcefulness and self-reliance while generating revenue for troops and Girl Scout councils in the United States. And many a young girl has taken the responsiblity and task of selling girl scout cookies to a level even their troop leaders didnt’ expect.  Take for instance, Markita Andrews who is still considered the top girl scout cookie seller of all time holding the world record for the selling most Girl Scout cookies ~  60,000 boxes of cookies in her 12 years of scouting to be exact !    When she was interviewed about her success (at age 14) she talked about how finding her customers all in one place helped her achieve her goals. She said:  “I sell in lobbies at a lot of companies, and I try to find new companies every year.”  (Source: Wikipedia)

In fact, In 1982, Walt Disney Productions made a 12-minute film that featured Andrews and sold to businesses throughout the country to help them educate their sales forces. 

Another Girl Scout known as Ayazhia, sold 1,333 boxes in 2007.  Amazing when you think of it. When asked her advice was:  “To be a good salesman,“You have to talk clearly, you have to look them in the eye. It shows respect. That way, they think you don’t care about anything else but them — GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!”

She grabs them with a very simple pitch, telling the customer that “they’re good for you and they’re only on sale once a year and they freeze well, so there’s never enough.”

And then there’s Jennifer Sharpe who at age 14 sold 17,323 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies in one season, more than any other Girl Scout has ever sold in the same time period. How did she do it?  With her own temporary Girl Scout Cookies booth!  Every day of the week from 3-7 pm (Monday thru Saturdays) Jennifer would be at her booth and sell Girl Scout Cookies in the parking lot of Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church in Dearborn. She staffed that booth 3-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. And on Sundays she was outside a local auto parts store selling them from 11 am to 7 pm. (Source: Dallas News)
 
Talk about dedication!  What business lessons can we learn from these incredible young women? Well for one, dedication to their mission, commitment to their goals, passion for their product and a far greater vision of doing good for their organization. That and having great sales skills and doing things the other girl scouts did or would not!  And lets not forget that they didn’t even consider failure as an option.

Reminder: Only 3 more selling days until they are gone… until next year! For a troup near you go to www.girlscoutcookies.com

Entry Filed under: Heidi's Daily Tips