By: Andrea Mac | January 12, 2024

If you can only handle me in small doses:

Remember when Business Insider profiled me as a Female Breadwinner a few months back? They approached me in December and decided to do a whole series on us and our dynamic. Here is the newest article- hot off the presses this morning.

One of my newest goals for this year (also hot off the presses) is to create/introduce updated nomenclature- “Breadwinner” and “Stay-at-Home” are not great labels.

Speaking of a previous goal- (More fun and Joy), I am hosting a casual Vision Board party at the Chief Clubhouse for 25 women. I am very focused on experiences this year and intentional gathering. Small, incidental side note: I have never actually made a vision board, nor do I currently own 23 pairs of scissors.

Building Prequal Vol. 23 – She’s On Message

For this week's look at Prequal's sales methodology through the lens of Girl Scout cookies, I want to dive into messaging and communications.

No matter how good your product is – and let's be honest, Girl Scout cookies are a pretty easy product to sell – your messaging needs to be dialed in. It's critical in sales to understand what's important to your buyers and weave that information into your messaging and sales conversations.

Girl Scout cookies have an excellent brand reputation and practically sell themselves. However, as I told my daughter, Beaux, they skill require messaging consideration for effective selling. Understanding what motivates your buyers will help you tailor your message. When it comes to cookies, Beaux's messaging can hit on several points:

Girl Scout cookies are delicious.
You can only get them this time of year.
Buying cookies supports a local Girl Scout troop and funds their activities.
They make a great gift. (Who doesn't love receiving a box of Girl Scout cookies?)
Our friends and family have a vested interest in seeing Beaux succeed.

Messaging diversity helps, even when it comes to cookies.

In sales conversations, you ideally want to map out the conversation. You shouldn't tell someone to buy your solution without first understanding their motivator and what kind of outcome they want. You need to know what your prospect cares about. Asking a few key questions and using your prospect's responses to sell your product or service all but guarantees a productive, effective sales conversation. Now, that's not what Beaux did. Even I'm not crazy enough to prepare my 6-year-old for that level of detailed interaction.

Here is what Beaux did.

She's diversified her messaging and channels. Not only is she utilizing her network and my social media, but she's also gone door-to-door, sent emails, recorded videos, and called people. Some people would feel too much pressure if she showed up at their door and asked for a sale. Some people prefer to absorb and look at information when they have time. A lot of messaging and communication is about meeting people where they are.

Beaux's filmed three videos now: a short intro video announcing that she was open for business, one featuring her brother, and the final one is her long-form content. She goes into more depth about the flavors of cookies for her prospects who need additional information. She says in it, "If my last video wasn't enough, here are some more descriptions about the cookies to help you decide."

She's covered her bases utilizing video, the written word, and face-to-face communication because her message is important, and she wants to get it out through several channels and modes.

Beaux's original goal was to sell 300 cookies. She's now upped her goal to 500. If she hits that target, she can take a parent on a Chicago Lake Cruise. Dolphin keychain prizes are so last year. She has a long way to go to hit 500, but she's a determined, message-ready Scout. I wouldn't bet against her. I can already feel the lake breeze in my hair.

-A.

P.S. Beaux's currently sold 72 Boxes of cookies. You can help us inch closer to 500 here: https://digitalcookie.girlscouts.org/scout/beaux527522

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