Congratulations Kernels! We hope you had a great first weekend for your Show and Sell. By now your Show and Sell locations have all been set up. What else can you do to keep improving your unit sales. Well, are you doing any Wagon Draggin’s? Unsure of what a Wagon Draggin’ is?
Wagon Draggin’ is another way of getting your product directly into the hands of your customers. The idea is that you conduct neighborhood sales. Key areas of focus are where your Scouts live. Here are some things for you to consider as you continue to work your plan:
What subdivisions are in your area that have no unit members living in them?
When setting up your Wagon Draggin’ be sure to set the boys up in teams. If the community is compact enough, the boys can put their product into a wagon and take it around with them. If the community is larger, or more spread out find a parent/driver to take the boys around. In all cases have adults with the Scouts and follow Youth Protection Guidelines.
As always you want the boys in uniform and neatly groomed, remember they are representing Scouting, your unit, community and themselves. They need to know their sales speech well. They should approach the door, ring the bell and wait. If the door is not answered move onto the next house. Make sure the boys take turns so they all have a chance to make a sale. Additionally, they should have their sales sheets with them so they can record the sale and offer any products that they do not have with them.
A few other tips:
- When moving between houses keep to the sidewalks and driveways.
- If you have organized a special day make sure the drivers know where and when they can pick up additional product.
- Set a start and stop time, not too early, not after dark and try to keep away from meal times.
- If boys are being transported, remember no riding in open vehicles and seat belts must be used. (Reinforce with your drivers, BSA insurance will not cover accidents if the Guide to Safe Scouting measures are not used.)
There are still 6 weekends to sell before returns so keep up the good work and keep it fun.
SALE CHECKUPS
One of the new things we will be doing this year is periodically contacting your Unit Kernels to see how the sale is going. Checkups will be every 2-3 weeks. Why are we doing checkups? We want to make sure that we are doing everything possible to help you have a successful sale for your unit and your youth.
Information your caller will be looking for is how many cases, (please round up) of each product type you ordered do you have left. This will assist us to shift product to units that need it and reduce returns, making the sale easier for you and us. This becomes more vital as the sale progresses and our extra product supply runs low. We also really want to know what challenges or success you have had. This will let us share best practices with everyone, and maybe we can help you out with specific challenges. We think it is better to get this information now, while it is fresh, than to wait till after the sale and things get forgotten.
Thank you for your assistance in these efforts and keep on having a Great SALE!!!
