5 Quick Ideas for Cookie Program Success

by | Jan 25, 2018 | Cookies & Fall Product Program

Countdown to GSNorCal's 2018 Cookie Season

You know what time it is! It’s our favorite time of year when the largest girl-led business in Northern California opens again. In case the Girl Scout Cookie Program snuck up on you this year, we’ve assembled 5 tips and reminders to get your girls in the cookie selling spirit!

1. Review the different reward opportunities to guide your sales goals

Whether your girls are aiming for an awesome plushie or a trip to Disneyland, it’s important for your girls to dream big when setting their sales goals. Take a look at the Girl Rewards Sheet to help them decide how many boxes they want to sell. Remember, older girls in grades 6-12 also have the option to use Reward Cards on council-approved trips and projects. From the lush rainforests of Costa Rica to the Great Wall of China, you never know where Girl Scout Cookies may take her!

Pro Tip: We always encourage girls to celebrate the end of cookie season with their troop, but if you want to keep the momentum going throughout the season, give your girls a little extra praise throughout the sale by celebrating smaller milestone markers, like every 100 boxes (or 500 boxes if they have bigger goals). Whether you want to display their climbing progress or treat them to a special snack of their choice, acknowledging their hard work and success will make their end goal seem more tangible.

2. Take a picture or video in your Girl Scout uniform

During the cookie program, girls need to wear their Girl Scout uniform, t-shirt, or a pin while selling. GSNorCal and GSUSA both have plenty of sweet cookie-related apparel and collectibles that your girls can show off during the sale. Once your girl gets all her wearable cookie swag, schedule a mini photo or video shoot to capture some awesome promotional material. Use this time to let your girls get creative with their signs, their booths, and even their outfits. Help your girls set-up an eye-catching shoot—maybe a catchy sign highlighting their cookie sale goal or her blinged out booth, or maybe a short scripted video showcasing her cookie story.

Sharing photos and videos is the perfect way to let your customers know that it’s cookie time—just remember to follow these Internet Safety Guidelines and the Online Safety section of Volunteer Essentials.

3. Organize your cookie customer list

To maximize your cookie customer list, girls have to utilize existing contacts as well as branch out to new customers. Start your list by pulling names from last year’s order card and family/friend contacts. When considering new customers, think about who you want to contact this year and how you plan on doing so—will you go door-to-door, ask directly via Facebook or social media, or maybe through Digital Cookie?

Pro Tip: When it comes to selling Girl Scout Cookies, the more support the better. So if you’re brand new to selling, make sure your reach out to all your connections – friends, relatives, neighbors, classmates, and coworkers are all great people to start with!

4. Grow your cookie program with Digital Cookie

Encourage your girls to take advantage of this techie tool. After setting up their personal Digital Cookie site, girls can share her cookie story, reach out to new customers, and track their sales goals—all in one convenient place. If your girls need help setting up their Digital Cookie sites, GSUSA has put together an instructional PDFs to help girls 13 and under.

Keep your Digital Cookie site with you even when you’re on the move! With the Digital Cookie App, girls can walk about their neighborhood as they take orders, then simply hand the customer the phone so they can pay online—no change counting required. For more tips on success with Digital Cookie, check out this blog post.

5. Visit the Little Brownie Baker website

In case you didn’t know, Girl Scouts has two bakers: ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers, and here at GSNorCal our cookies come from Little Brownie Bakers. In addition to supplying our council with these traditional tasty treats, Little Brownie Bakers also have tons of awesome resources available online. From sales pitch practice and goal tracking crafts to selling tips and booth prep, they have everything you and your girls need to have a successful cookie season!

Whether your girl’s goal is 200 boxes or 2,000 boxes, we hope you and your girls have an awesome cookie season! We know all of you will rock the season like a #cookieboss, so don’t forget to share your success with us and all of your friends! You can post your cookie accomplishments on our GSNorCal Facebook page, Instagram, or Twitter.

What to do next:

Ash Redfield—Ash is the Digital Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Girl Scouts of Northern California, where they’re constantly planning, creating, and managing awesome content for social media. After graduating from Mills College (a women’s college in Oakland), Ash joined the Girl Scout movement where they love being part of a team that helps girls unlock their potential and continuing that legacy of women’s leadership. They have spent much of their life exploring Northern California, especially the Bay Area, so when not behind a blue-lit screen, you’ll probably find them hiking through a local park or at a café planning their next road trip.

Leah Takahashi—Leah is the Marketing Manager for Girl Scouts of Northern California, where she creates content, plans blog posts, and promotes all things Girl Scouts in all formats digital. Leah joined Girl Scouts at the age of 5 and has been a part of the organization ever since (shout out to Troop 31213 – woot woot). During her younger Girl Scout days, Leah did everything from selling thousands of Girl Scout Cookies to serving as a National Delegate at the 2011 Convention and even earning her Gold Award in 2012. She may be young, but she’s got plenty of Girl Scout experience under her belt and is excited to share it with you.

The Trailhead