The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

Every year Girl Scouts across the country put on their business hats and hit the streets for their annual cookie sale. With a sales force of nearly three million, the Girl Scouts generate hundreds of millions of dollars in cookie sales each year. The wildly successful cookie program has done more than bring in the money and help young girls earn T-shirts and trips to summer camp though, it’s also helped turn many of them into thriving young entrepreneurs. While none of these girls has even so much as graduated from high school, there is a lot to be learned from their successful sales tactics.

Traditionally, selling cookies has been a door-to-door, box-by-box type of setup, where girls solicit sales from family, friends and neighbors. In recent years, however, sales strategies have changed. The entrepreneurial spirit has been kicked into high gear and girls are finding new and innovative ways to sell their time-tested (and delicious) product.

A couple years ago a young Scout from the Seattle area went to local car dealerships, asking the sales managers if they would consider giving a free box of cookies to anyone who test drove a car. One sales manager bought 144 boxes. Another Chicago-based Scout has used emails to snag additional cookie orders. Over the years she’s compiled a lengthy email distribution list that has helped her sell more than 1,500 boxes—making her a top seller locally. Then there was the infamous case of Wild Freeborn’s YouTube/online ordering sales strategy, which was eventually banned by the Girl Scouts organization. Freeborn posted a straightforward sales pitch on YouTube coupled with an online order system created by her father, COO of a Web design and development firm. Within about two weeks she received more than 700 orders through the online order form.

Though many Girl Scouts are finding success adapting to new technologies and initiating innovative sales strategies, others are sticking to the basics and continuing to find success that way. I recently read an example of a Girl Scout who accurately targeted her audience, tailored her message (including a benefit statement) and upsold her product in a matter of minutes. Smart kid! These are simple sales principles that are always strong no matter who’s delivering the pitch. Girl Scout or not, don’t forget the basics. They’re still essential to a successful sales strategy.