The most successful groups are those that are both organized and experienced. Here are some of the things they do that you should consider:
1. Prize Programs: Prize programs, when used properly, can really increase sales. Most groups, though, take the wrong approach. They reward the top sellers by offering a nice price for the person that sells the most. The might increase the number of units that the top couple of sellers actually sell but that is not the best way to maximize sales for larger groups. We believe the better incentive programs reward participation.
If there is a cost free incentive you could offer your group for anyone who sells even a single tub the odds are you will get much larger participation rates. The more people that sell the more you will sell as a group. Some people will sell the single tub for the incentive but many will sell more than that.
You should also have additional incentives at attainable performance levels. For example give a reward for every 5 tubs a seller sells. If they sell 25 tubs they receive more than the 5 tub seller. But make sure you offer a good prize for 5 tubs. The fact of the matter is that large groups average between 1 to 3 tubs sold per participant. If you can raise that to 5 or more you get up to a 500% increase in results.
2. Bake samples: If possible order some cookies dough and get your sellers to bake them the first day of your cookie dough fundraiser. Then have the sellers bring a bag of cookies with them when they ask people to order cookie dough. One of the most successful groups we helped did this. The sellers would hand the potential customer a cookie and after they tasted the cookie asked if they would help support their group by buying a few tubs of cookie dough from them. Notice that they asked the buyer to purchase multiple tubs. They also enticed the buyer with the sample cookie.
Cookie dough fundraising is a great idea. But you can always do a few things that can really build your sales.
Posted on 11/06/2009
