It starts with the unexpected knock at the door. In my neighborhood, that usually means one thing: some kids are going door to door with a fundraiser. My wife and I try to find the happy medium, where we buy stuff we think we will use (actually using it is another thing, as we’ve found out) and politely turning away stuff we won’t use.There’s always that knee jerk “how can I get myself out of this one” reaction when you realize it’s a kid at the door for a fundraiser…except when it’s Girl Scout cookies. The crown jewel of fundraising is what all fundraisers should be like. Forget the frozen pizzas, forget the overpriced knick knacks, forget the coupon cards that no one really uses (despite the fact you see a “Subway”, “Taco Bell”, Pizza Hut” or any other chain restaurant, they are typically only good at only one participating restaurant). I have been scarred by fundraisers…having to go door to door as a high school basketball player selling cheese and sausage (I’m not making this up). Even though I grew up in Wisconsin, where we love our cheese and sausage, it’s still a tough sell. Thanks to my Dad for taking the fundraising sheet to work and helping his Son out.
Consider Girl Scout cookies:
• Are delicious. There are few things better than taking a sleeve of Thin Mints out of the freezer and popping cookie after cookie in your mouth until the entire sleeve is gone (this process only takes a minute or two).
• Are unique. You can’t buy them in a store. Although you can typically buy them just outside your favorite grocery store (Dierbergs here in St. Louis) as some entrepreneurial minded Girl Scouts bought a couple semi trailers of cookies and set up shop by the doors.
• Are relatively inexpensive. I think this year they are something like $4 a box. A bargain considering you get one time a year to buy them.
It also bears mentioning the impact it has on the young girls who are selling the cookies (there’s a great article on MSNBC about a Dad's Observations). These kids are learning marketing, dealing with difficult people (how can anyone have a grumpy disposition towards a Girl Scout?), sales techniques, perseverance, and many other skills/traits. Sure, every other fundraiser does the same thing, but I’ve got to think the success rate is much higher for the cookies than any other fundraiser, which gives them a better introduction to the world with regard to these elements. Sure, a big part of sales is how you deal with rejection, but there’s no need to give kids a product that’s hard to sell (like, say, cheese and sausage) where their success rate is so small they feel worthless.
I never enjoyed doing fundraisers, didn’t like going door to door (felt like I was bugging them), didn’t like the rejection, and didn’t like most of the stuff I was selling. Yet for some reason, I felt the need to spend my first three years out of college in sales, disliking my initial career choice for the exact same reasons.
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