Top Girl Scout Cookies seller shares secrets of success
Girl Scout Troop 252 leader Susan Cangemi (left) presents Girl Scout Rhiannon Patterson with a certificate recognizing her as a 'top cookie seller' for the Wildflower Trails Service Unit. Patterson sold 3,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year, earning her a week of summer camp. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — When fifth-grader Rhiannon Patterson started selling Girl Scout Cookies earlier this year, she did one of the most important things salespeople, or anybody for that matter, can do: She set a goal.
“I set a goal of selling 3,000 boxes,” the Colt Elementary student said. “And then, I just asked just about everybody I could if they wanted to buy some cookies.”
On May 29, Girl Scout Troop 252 leader Susan Cangemi presented Patterson with a certificate recognizing her as a “top cookie seller” in the Wildflower Trails Service Unit of the Girl Scouts.
“This isn’t just our troop, but the entire service unit,” Cangemi said about the honor. “She’s one of the top sellers in Central Texas.”
And just how many boxes did Patterson sell? She hit her goal of 3,000 boxes.
Along with setting a goal, Patterson took a number of other steps to ensure she hit the mark.
“She set up at every booth she could,” said her mother, Emily Patterson. “She really worked to get out there and sell as much as she could. She put in the work.”
Rhiannon made sure she spread the word that she had Girl Scout Cookies available. She let friends and family know she had them, and she was ready to sell them.
When she did approach a person about the cookies, Rhiannon didn’t settle for the simple “yes” or “no” question of “Do you want to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?” It was easy for a person to say “no” and move on. Rhiannon, however, framed the question differently.
“I asked them how many boxes would they like,” she said. “It makes it harder for them to say ‘zero.'”
Plus, it gave Rhiannon some room to “negotiate” the sale. If a person hesitated, she could help them out a bit by saying, three or four, and then the consumer could agree or simply say, “OK, one.”
She’s definitely been learning about selling and communicating, her mom said.
Rhiannon’s top-selling flavors were Tagalongs, Thin Mints and Samoas.
The top-selling honors earned her an iPad and a week of camp at University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. The week includes a trip to San Jose Island and on the institute’s research vessel.
As for next year’s sales, Rhiannon isn’t ready to set a goal, but she’s ready to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
daniel@thepicayune.com