Use these 10 Girl Scout cookie selling tips to rock your booth and increase sales this cookie season.
Updated January 2023
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The holidays are over. The cookie orders have been placed. Booth slots have been alloted. Now is the time for your girls to get serious about selling Girl Scout Cookies.
If you read my most recent Girl Scout cookie blog post, you know that I am a firm believer in “troop money is troop money” and that girls with limited or no parental support will be selling far fewer than gung-ho leaders’ daughters. This is something that all leaders need to let go if you are to have a cookie season that is not filled with resentment towards others. You cannot control the lives of the other girls in your troop. Be grateful for the help you are given by those who actually give it.
Images by Hannah Gold and altered by the author on Canva
That being said, there are 10 tips to get the most out of your cookie sales and get the most out of your booths.
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
Make an Eye Catching Booth
You can be using those post-Christmas sales to create eye catching posters and displays for your booth. Use that glitter, create fun bows, and make posters with slogans and sales pitches (like $5 boxes for $20). Give people a reason to stop by and get their annual cookie fix.
You may want to use blinking lights. There are many that only require batteries. These lights can be used for parties, overnights, and for decorations when you bridge.
Invest in colorful tablecloths that will stand out in the drab winter weather. If it isn’t too cold and windy, get some balloons with weights from the Dollar Store. You’ll recoup your investment with increased sales.
These battery operated fairy lights will help your table shine.
I also have ready made cookie booth decor available in my Teachers Pay Teaches shop.
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
Keep an Organized Table
The few times my troop sold cookies, we put the cookies in rainbow order. It looked very colorful and it was easy to replace the cookies that were sold. Assign one girl to be on top of the organization of cookies if you have three at a booth.
Have a Pretty Donation Box or Jar on the Table
This would be a great job for a girl to do if she has unsupportive parents, but wishes to feel like she is a part of the cookie sales. Have her decorate a box or jar that donations to buy cookies for troops or other charity.
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
Ask Everyone Who Walks By
One of the most important lessons my mother taught me was to ask. What was the worst thing that that could happen? The person says, “No”. They are not saying no to you, but to the opportunity to buy cookies.
If the person says that s/he has already purchased cookies from another Girl Scout, then your girls can say, “Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts!”.
Your girls can also ask if they have bought any for their freezer once the sale is over.
Have a Printable Recipe to Hand Out
Most people love free things. There are many recipes online that have Girl Scout cookies in them as an ingredient. Print out three on one sheet of paper and cut into thirds. Give one to each person who buys a box of cookies.
You can also have a sign that says, “Free Girl Scout Cookie Recipes” to attract people to your booth. If you choose to do so, give a free recipe sheet to someone not buying. They may place a dollar or two in your donation jar!
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
Hand Out a Free Samples
Again, people like free. Have a plate of one type of cookie you wish to sell. This would work for the new flavors that people may be shy about trying, since the cost of a box is more than a typical box of cookies.
Pay Attention and Eye Contact
This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have heard stories about troops whose girls run around, yell, and make people who pass by feel uncomfortable. In fact, a few years ago, a younger troop of Brownies in my Service Unit was not permitted to sell at a certain shopping plaza due to their poor behavior. This all falls on the shoulders of the leader who should have known better. If you cannot control your girls, you should not be selling Girl Scout cookies in public. This type of behavior gives all troops a bad reputation.
As the leader, if a girl does not behave, she cannot work the booth. Period. Call the parents to take her home. This lesson will be heard by all. Do not worry about hurt feelings…you are a volunteer. A teacher would be calling the parents of sending the child to the principal’s office.
Role play being respectful with potential customers. You may want to have a cookie behavioral contract for girls and parents to sign before cookie season begins.
For older girls, no cell phones allowed. Collect them if need be.
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
No Eating or Gum Chewing While Working
Again, this rule should seem like a no-brainer, but it needs to be said. A booth shift is 1-2 hours…girls can live without eating that long. Gum chewing makes talking more difficult. Make product stand out so it catches the eye.
Have a Supply of Plastic Bags and Paper Grocery Bags
Whether they are buying one box or ten, customers need a way to carry their Girl Scout cookies home with them. Make sure you have a good supply of plastic grocery bags and/or brown grocery bags for people to carry their cookies home.
Girl Scout Cookie Selling Tips for Your Booth Sales
Get a Square Reader
It is the way of the world. Very few people carry a lot of cash with them, but pretty much everyone has a debit card or a credit card on them. Be prepared with your square so you can take orders on the spot. Whatever fees that are attached to it can be absorbed by your increasing sales!
Do you have any Girl Scout cookie booth selling tips to share with other leaders?
Tons of great tips. Thank you for sharing!
It’s my pleasure! I hope these will help with your booth! Good luck!
Awesome tips! Thanks!
You are welcome! Have a great cookie seasons!