2015 Northstar District Popcorn Kickoff Presentation
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2015 Northstar District Popcorn Kickoff Presentation
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2015 Northstar District Popcorn Kickoff Presentation
- 1. 2015 Popcorn Sale District Kickoff 1
- 2. Today’s Kickoff Agenda: • Why do we sell popcorn? • Unit Kernel’s role • Changes in 2015 • Sales Methods • Sale Timeline & Deadlines • Product Mix • Prize Program • Review support materials & resources 2
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- 4. Why do we sell P O P C O R N ? • TO FUND THE SCOUTING PROGRAM! • Popcorn provides a higher level of commission than most other fundraisers. • Popcorn sale financially supports all levels of local Scouting – we’re reinvesting in ourselves! • Known product associated with Scouting’s brand. • Teaches Scouts: – Salesmanship – Responsibility – Entrepreneurship – Leadership – Money handling 4
- 5. CAC Popcorn Fun Facts: • Our council is #4 in sales in the nation! • Our council has the best per registered boy average at $141. (National average is $67.09.) • Our council has the best per unit average $4,185. • For boys that sell popcorn, our council’s average is $479/boy, versus national average of $339 5
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- 7. Major Changes in 2015 – Sale is 6 weeks long – 2 weekends with order form only, 5 weekends to sell product on hand – Sale starts earlier than ever before! September 4th – Two-week blitz, September 4-18, order form sales only – Sale ends sooner than ever before! October 18th – Seven products are non-returnable – Two new low-price-point products (initial order only, non-returnable) 7
- 8. Major Changes in 2015 – Unit commission structure is different and simplified! – Unit Kernels have 9 days to collect Scout popcorn orders, prize orders, add all orders, place unit final order online, and return any unsold popcorn – Prizes will be ordered by each unit submitting one spreadsheet to the council (no online ordering program) – Enhanced prize program • BB gun with fun kit choice at $750 in sales! • New $1,000 prize level choice! LEGO! • iPad Air 2 choice for $5,000 or more! 8
- 9. Major Changes in 2015 – Council website – www.crossroadsbsa.org/popcorn Please be patient as we rebuild from scratch – Square credit card readers through Trail’s End – Improvements to the Trail’s End computer system: • www.trails-end.com • Single sign-on for popcorn system and online sales • New scholarship website 9
- 10. Product Improvements • New packaging! 2014 2015
- 11. What’s NOT changing in 2015? – Rewards program in the form of Scout Shop vouchers – Accepting individual container and full case quantity returns – Run out of popcorn during the sale and need more? Reserve your additional order through the council popcorn website (not Trail’s End website) for pick-up at Camp Belzer on Tuesdays, OR limited supply available at outer offices. – Every-other-week popcorn e-newsletters (to Unit Kernels) – Font size of Trail’s End log-in screen 11
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- 13. 13 August District Popcorn Kickoff Sept. 1 Online Sales Promotional Period Begins Sept. 1 by 11:59 p.m. Initial Unit Order Due Sept. 4—18 2-week Take Order Blitz Sept. 16-19 Popcorn Pre-sort & Distribution (district dates vary) Sept. 19 Storefront Sales Begin Sept. 22, Sept. 29, Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20 Tuesday Camp Belzer pick-ups & returns Oct. 18 Popcorn Sale Ends Oct. 20 20% of initial order payment due Oct. 27 by 11:59 p.m. Final Unit Order Due Oct. 27 Final Belzer Return (and Pick-Up) Day Oct. 27 Unsold Popcorn Return Deadline Oct. 27 Prize Orders Due Nov. 11-14 Popcorn Pre-sort & Distribution (district dates vary) Nov. 17, Nov. 24, Dec. 1, Dec. 8 Cash ‘n Carry at Camp Belzer Dec. 4 Final Payment Due
- 14. 14 Crossroads of America Council 2015 Popcorn Product Mix Containers per Case Retail Price Returnable? Available Initial Order (due 9/1/15) Available Final Order (due 10/27/15) $50 Military Donation (ribbon magnet) 1 $50 Yes Yes Yes $30 Military Donation (ribbon magnet) 1 $30 Yes Yes Yes Chocolate Lover’s Collection Tin 1 $55 No Yes Yes Sweet & Savory Collection Box 1 $40 No Yes Yes Cheese Lovers Collection Box 1 $30 No Yes Yes White Chocolatey Pretzels Bag 12 $25 No Yes Yes Premium Caramel Corn with Almonds, Pecans, & Cashews Bag 12 $20 Yes Yes Yes Chocolatey Triple Delight Bag 12 $20 No Yes Yes Kettle Corn Microwave Box 6 $20 Yes Yes Yes Unbelievable Butter Microwave Box 6 $20 Yes Yes Yes Butter Light Microwave Box 6 $20 Yes Yes Yes White Cheddar Cheese Bag 12* $15 Yes Yes Yes Caramel Corn Bag 12 $10 Yes Yes Yes Popping Corn Bag 12 $10 Yes Yes Yes 8-pack Unbelievable Butter Microwave Box 12 $10 No Yes No 3-pack Unbelievable Butter Microwave Box 12 $5 No Yes No NOTE: Once the "extra" non-returnable products are depleted at Camp Belzer (and outer offices) from the Initial Order in September, we will not be placing another Trail's End order for them until the Final Order in late October. * = Container quantity per case changed. 2014 was 6 containers per case.
- 15. RESOURCES: • Unit Kernel Manual • Family Guides – 1 order form – Product picture page – Prize flyer – 2-week blitz flyer – Parent letter Existing Scouts - received by mail in mid-Aug. New Scouts - receiving at sign-up night on Aug. 27 • Order Form / Sales Tips 15
- 16. RESOURCES: • Unit Kickoff materials provided to you: - Sample agenda - Patch - Poster (storefront sales table) - Online sales postcard • District Popcorn Fact Sheet • District Popcorn Kernel • Council popcorn website – www.crossroadsbsa.org 16
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- 24. Why Sell Online? No deliveries! Trail’s End ships the product directly to the consumer. It’s easy! Scouts create their own accounts on scouts.trails-end.com . All online sales starting September 1 until October 18 count toward the prize program. Diverse national product line, different from your paper order form Video tutorials will be available online this fall! 24
- 25. Online Sales • Single sign-on to get Scouts’ online sales figures! • New social media templates – Visual Tool Kit – Twitter – Facebook • New “address book” feature • Distribute the online sales postcards that you’re getting today to each of your Scouts 25
- 26. Military Sales • $30 or $50 military donations (on order form) • Set up booth at a VFW or American Legion 26
- 27. Prize Program • Coolest thing ever! 27
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- 29. Prize Program-Top Sales CHOICES • Sell $5,000 – iPad Air 2 OR voucher • Sell $3,000 – Polaroid waterproof action camera with mounting kit OR voucher • Sell $1,500 – Monster Jam OR voucher • Sell $1,000 – Brickworld Indy OR voucher 29
- 30. BONUS PRIZE – TOP 20 SELLERS 30
- 31. BONUS PRIZE • NEW! • 2-week Blitz • September 4-18 • Sell $350 or more and get a $15 iTunes gift card by mail • PARENT must submit form by Monday, Sept. 21 by 5:00 pm to be eligible. 31
- 32. ORDER YOUR PRIZES 32 How do the 2015 Popcorn Prizes work? Scout Shop vouchersare earned at $200 and more in sales. Vouchers are calculated by sales (rounded down to the nearest $100) x 5%. For example, sales of $365 would earn a $15 voucher($365, round down to $300, $300 x 0.05 = $15) Vouchers are automatically issued for sales $200 - $699. At the $750 level, the Scout may choose the prize OR the voucher -- not both. Other top sales level choices (either voucherOR prize) occur at $1,000, $1,500, $3,000, and $5,000. Vouchersexpire 5/31/2016 and must be used in a Crossroadsof America Council Scout Shop. They may not be used for online orders or at Scout camps. Prizes will be mailed to Unit Kernels no later than 12/31/15 if unit invoice is paid in full by 12/4/15. BB gunsmust be picked up by the Scout parent/legal guardian at a CAC Scout Shop and submit a signed waiver by the parent/guardian. District Name Unit Type (Pack/Troop/Crew) Unit Number Unit Kernel First & Last Name Unit Kernel Email Address Scout First & Last Name Order Form Sales Online Sales Storefront Sales Total Sales Patch (Y/N) (sold at least 1 container) $750 sales: BB Gun or Voucher? $1,000 sales: Lego Brickworld or Voucher? $1,500 sales: MonsterJam or Voucher? $3,000 sales: Polaroid Action Camera or Voucher? $5,000 sales: iPad Air or Voucher? Iron Horse Pack 1234Joe Baggadonuts joe@donuts.com Scout 1 $ 2,570.00 $ 550.00 $ 200.00 $ 3,320.00 Yes Voucher Iron Horse Pack 1235Joe Baggadonuts joe@donuts.com Scout 2 300 55 35 $ 390.00 Yes Iron Horse Pack 1236Joe Baggadonuts joe@donuts.com Scout 3 800 100 100 $ 1,000.00 Yes Lego Brickworld Iron Horse Pack 1237Joe Baggadonuts joe@donuts.com Scout 4 750 0 0 $ 750.00 Yes BB Gun Type each Scout’s sales & prize choice in spreadsheet. Email to popcorn@crossroadsbsa.org by 10/27/15. Spreadsheet will be on council website & in e-newsletters.
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- 34. Simplified commission structure! • 32% $0-199 average per boy sales • 34% $200-399 average per boy sales • 36% $400-699 average per boy sales • 38% $700+ average per boy sales Don’t want the council prize program? Add an additional 3% commission in lieu of vouchers or prizes. 34
- 36. Just for Fun! • Guinness World Record for the longest popcorn string! • October 17th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (same day & location as Cub Fun Day) 36
- 37. WHAT NOW??? • Log on to the Trail’s End system! • Explore council website! Bookmark it in your browser! • Plan your Unit Popcorn Kickoff • Prepare your unit’s popcorn communication plan • Prepare your initial order (due by Sept. 1st) Suggested initial order – Unit Sales Plan Worksheet This will allow you to order up to 100% of your 2014 sales. Remember the 7 products that are non-returnable. 37
- 38. Thank you! 38
Notes de l'éditeur
- (2 min.) INTRODUCTIONS – District Popcorn Kernel introduces himself/herself to crowd – explain your role to the Unit Kernels & your background in Scouting. Introduce other District Popcorn Team Members (i.e. warehouse coordinator, newsletter coordinator). Purpose of Today’s Kickoff – The Popcorn Rally serves to energize and excite Unit Leaders and Parents about this year’s sale. It includes an overview of goal setting, planning a unit kick-off, the benefits of selling popcorn, key calendar dates, different ways Scouts can sell, product mix & selling prices, Scout rewards and helpful resources information. We’re giving away some raffle prizes tonight, too, but you have to stay until the end!
- Here is our agenda today. We’ll cover a lot of information today, so BE PREPARED to soak it all in, take notes, and ask questions. The Unit’s Popcorn Kernel can be very instrumental in the success of the Unit throughout the sale. A parent of a high-selling Scout is the ideal candidate to suggest serving as the Unit’s Kernel Co-Kernels or Assistants are great for new ideas, sharing the load, and for a succession plan. One serious & organized, another a fun, energetic motivator. Unit Kernel Job Description – WHAT DID YOU JUST GET YOURSELF INTO?!?! Communicate, Inspire, Organize and Lead your Unit in a successful popcorn sale that meets the unit’s planned funding needs. Specific Responsibilities: With unit committee, create a unit budget that provides a quality program for your unit Attend District Popcorn Kickoff – good job, you’ve done that correctly! You’re here! Ensure families understand the unit’s plan for selling popcorn, each Scout’s (minimum) sales goal With unit committee, create unit incentive plan to encourage boys throughout the sale (set periodic benchmarks to recognize Scouts) Arrange with other volunteers to pick up popcorn for all deliveries at your scheduled time Read all communications from the council and district to keep updated on the sale Ensure all paperwork for incentives are submitted by their due date. Collect all popcorn orders and prize orders from each Scout and input information into the Popcorn System by the due date. Return any unsold popcorn at the designated location on the designated date Make payment of funds due to council by the due date
- We’ll start with WHY we sell popcorn.
- These are reasons why popcorn is a smart fundraiser for Scouts, units, districts, councils, and our organization! (versus Christmas wreaths, bake sales, etc.) 1) Families don’t join Scouting because they’re craving another fundraiser. They join Scouting to spend time together, to learn new skills, to enjoy the outdoors, to have once-in-a-lifetime opportunities (like travel abroad to a World Jamboree or make lifelong friends with people on the other side of the state), _______, ________, (fill in your own reasons). Fundraising, in order to do these things, is inevitable. Most families won’t/can’t write a huge check at the beginning of the year, nor do they want to write a check twice a month for Scouting expenses. 2) This is a unified campaign/plan that creates excitement among Scouts, volunteers, parents, and the general public! People know to expect the popcorn sale every year in the fall! 3) 73% of this year’s popcorn sale will be reinvested back into Scouting. That compares to 70% in the past. Units earn a profit (through the boys’ cumulative sales), and the council earns some . . . Of which is reinvested into Scouting in the form of camp renovations, program upgrades, recruitment materials, marketing to the public, etc. Other perks of the council popcorn sale? You can return what you don’t use. Most fundraisers won’t allow you to return candy bars or other products after you’ve ordered them. Council does most of the hard work for you (i.e. getting popcorn shipped to a nearby warehouse for our district, trouble-shoots major issues, marketing/P.R., prepare training materials, update website information, and choose & provide cool prizes!), and designs & provides support materials to help you present a professional and polished brand & sale (i.e. Unit Kernel Manual, prize flyer, large posters, etc.) Popcorn provides 16% of the entire council’s revenue. The council couldn’t provide what it provides to YOU without a successful popcorn sale each year. If I say “Girl Scouts!” to you, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? <take answers from crowd> COOKIES! When we say “Boy Scouts!”, we want the general public to think “outdoors”, “leadership”, “skills”, not popcorn --- and that’s okay! BUT …. The general public is knowledgeable about Trail’s End popcorn & that it’s good and it helps support Scouting. It has good branding! 4) Scouts learn so much through this very organized & highly publicized fundraiser. These are all practical life skills that boys, even at 7 years old, should be learning and practicing.
- Some fun facts about selling popcorn in central Indiana . . . We give ourselves a hard time about having decreasing sales the last few years, but we’re one of the best-selling councils in the United States! 1) We’re #4 in the nation with $3,170,000 in retail sales. We were #3 in the nation the last several years, but we dropped to #4 in 2014. Michigan is #1 (all their councils merged together in the whole state) with $7,500,000, Bethesda, MD is #2 at $3,741,000, and Minneapolis/St. Paul beat us for our #3 spot at $3,217,000. CAC has the best average per (registered) boy sales in our “class” (comparing our council to other metro councils our size) at $141 / boy! National average in 2014 was $67.09. (For boys that sell popcorn, our council average is $479 per boy, versus the national average of $339. Wow!) CAC also has the best average sales per unit in our “class” at $4,185! What is your guess on the percentage of units in our whole council that participate in our sell? <collect guesses> Answer: 47% If we had ____________
- We’ll start with WHY we sell popcorn.
- For those of you that have been a Popcorn Kernel for 4 or more years and plan to tune me out after you’ve learned of the changes for this year, you’re in luck! That’s the first part of our presentation! Pay attention now & doze off later. (read bullet points – don’t stop & explain each one right here … we’ll give details on later slides)
- (read bullet points)
- Council website – just a couple months ago, our council website went to a different platform, and they’re building everything from scratch. Please be patient as we upload everything you’ll need for the popcorn sale. The screen looks a little different, but it’s pretty intuitive. We’ll show you what the new council website looks like in a few minutes. Credit card readers - Many units have been using Credit Card readers for several years. How many of you have used one for the popcorn sale? Trail’s End partnered with Square this year to offer you a great deal --- 2.4% rate + first $100 of transactions are free! (normal Square rate is 2.75%) If you currently have a Square account, you can “convert” it to a Trail’s End popcorn account & get the discounted rate. Find additional information at sell.trails-end.com, click on “Training”, and then “Square Credit Card Reader Program”. Most units that have used credit card readers have seen a 16-18% sales increase! So many folks just don’t carry cash around with them anymore! You don’t have to use a credit card reader, and if you do, you don’t have to use Square – it’s just a convenient option. Once you order it, it takes about 10 days to receive it. Your unit can order multiple readers. See online site for more info. Trail’s End system – No more signing into 2 different sites to order popcorn for your unit and see the boys’ online sales! Unit Kernel will log into Trail’s End system & be able to see the Scouts’ online sales there! Scout will still have to sign up for online sales through the old online sales website, though.
- New packaging better reflects the high adventure of Scouting, not so much the popcorn product contained inside. Do you like the new look?
- These are items that are NOT changing this year. (read bullet points)
- Here’s the timeline & deadlines of the 2015 Popcorn Sale. You’re attending the District Popcorn Kickoff today – great job! Next major date is when your Initial Unit Order is due – Sept. 1st That’s ___ weeks/days away. The council has provided you a suggested initial order based on last year’s order. The suggested order is 75% of your overall unit’s order last year. We’ll talk more later about the new “2-week blitz”. More published Tuesday pick-ups & returns at Camp Belzer in 2015. (People were showing up on the non-advertised Tuesdays, so we just decided to officially offer them all this year!) This is from 1:00-6:00 pm only. These are the hours when the camp has additional volunteers there to help with the popcorn sale. Remember, if you’ve run out of popcorn for storefront sales & neighborhood blitzes, you may pick up more popcorn at Camp Belzer (or the outer offices, inventory is limited there) on these Tuesdays, but you must pre-order it through the council popcorn website beforehand (not the Trail’s End website). The popcorn stored at Camp Belzer isn’t supposed to function like a fully-stocked Walmart, and it’s not supposed to fill orders placed on Scouts’ order forms. Orders on an order form should be filled on the “final order” and picked up in November. Reservations open on Wednesday at 1:00 pm and close at 8:00 am on the Tuesday of pick-up. Don’t show up on a Tuesday at Camp Belzer and expect to pick up the quantities that you need without placing an online reservation. This tracking of online reservations ensure that we’ll have what you need. If we’ve run out of something, you’ll see that on the online reservation screen. It will say “SOLD OUT”. Discuss within your unit what the “additional pick-up rules” will be – i.e. Can anyone go pick up popcorn & charge to the unit, or only the Unit Kernel? Sale ends earlier than ever – sale ends on Sunday, October 18th. You’ll have 9 days to collect all Scout popcorn orders, prize orders, and unsold popcorn, before everything is due on October 27th by 11:59 p.m. 20% of your initial order is due to the council on October 20th. Think “20% due on the 20th”. Your unit won’t get a bill for this. Just put it in your calendar to remember. This helps your unit mitigate your liability and also helps with the council cash flow. Most of you will get late popcorn orders from your Scouts. When you do, you can still pick up late additional popcorn at Camp Belzer in late November & early December, but you have to pay “Cash ‘N Carry” prices on-the-spot. That means that we won’t be adding product to your unit bill anymore – you’ll need to pay the consignment price for popcorn at Camp Belzer to take home your popcorn. As always, your final unit popcorn payment is due by the first Friday in December -- December 4th. Because the final distribution is the 2nd week of November instead of the 3rd week of November, you have one extra week to collect payments from customers and Scouts before money is due. Your Unit Kernel will get the final invoice via email a couple weeks before your bill is due, OR you can look up what you owe on the Trail’s End website under “Reports”, “Unit Invoice”.
- Here is our product mix for 2015. Note the changes here: 1) We are selling fewer products this year. 12 main products (versus 14 last year) 2) 2 new OPTIONAL products at low price point (8-pack & 3-pack microwave). These 2 products have been piloted in 5 districts in our council the last 2 years. We’re hoping this combats the public image that “Popcorn is too expensive . . . Even as a fundraiser”. This will ONLY help your unit’s sale if it’s a “last ditch effort” to get a customer to purchase a product. It CANNOT be placed on a storefront sale table along with other items. Customers will always choose the cheapest item. This will kill your sale! Hide it under the table. When a customer says, “No, thank you”, grab the $5 item from under the table & say “How about a low-price point item like the $5 microwave popcorn with 3 popcorn packets?” We’re hoping that we convert some “No, thanks” customers to an actual purchase, even if it’s $5. Notice that these 2 items are NON-RETURNABLE and ONLY AVAILABLE DURING THE INITIAL ORDER. They won’t be on the order form. If they were on the order form, it would kill your unit’s sale. Again, customers would opt for the lower price point products. Other ideas to sell the $5 product: Teacher sales (most teachers want to purchase something from multiple students) or Teacher Thank You gifts, _________ , _________ (fill in your own ideas). 3) No more Buffalo Cheddar or Chocolate Caramel Crunch. 4) Dark & White Chocolatey Drizzle is replaced with Chocolatey Triple Delight. 5) Cheese Lovers Box: Contains 2 white cheddar cheese bags + 1 bag of jalepeno. There are 2 bags of White Cheddar Cheese (instead of 3 different kinds of cheese) because market research shows that most people prefer it that much over other cheeses, even yellow cheddar cheese. Note that the numbers of bags in a case changed this year – from 6 to 12. Order carefully. There are 7 products that cannot be returned to the council this year. Those highlighted in yellow here. Once your unit orders them, you’re stuck with them. All the chocolate items and higher-priced items are NON-RETURNABLE to the council. You may transfer these to other units within your district that need them, though. Why is the council doing this? In order to limit the amount of leftover popcorn that the council “eats” each year, they were going to allow units to ONLY order the chocolate and higher-priced items during the “final order” in November. The council has had between $10,000 - $250,000 in leftover popcorn the last 4 years. They were forced to sell it to other councils, continue to sell it throughout the year, or swallow the cost (not a smart business move) and simply donate it to another worthy charity. Rhetorical question: What do you think our council could do with an extra $40,000? That’s how much popcorn (council’s cost, not retail) the council got stuck with last fall. To meet in the units in the middle, and to make smarter business decisions for everyone, they opted to allow units to order as much of these items as they wanted, but they cannot be returned to the council. Order these items VERY CAREFULLY. Once the “extra” chocolate and higher price point products run out at Camp Belzer during the first half of the popcorn sale, the council won’t be placing additional orders to keep those stocked. Once those items are depleted at Camp Belzer, units will need to have customers place their order on an order form and receive the product in November. This will help units have a healthy “final order” with “guaranteed sales”.
- There are a ton of resources available to you during the popcorn sale to ensure your success in your role as Unit Kernel and your unit’s sales, leading to your unit’s profit! Pull out your Unit Kernel Manual now. This is the Unit Kernel’s popcorn guidebook. All the details shared at today’s training are enclosed in the Unit Kernel Manual, plus additional details that we won’t dive into today. The Family Guide is for the boys. It contains 1 order form, product picture page (this is what the Scout shows the customer), prize flyer, letter to the parent, and blitz flyer/order form. If your Scout needs an additional order form, give him the separate order form – it has Sales Tips for the parents & Scouts on the backside. (No need to give a whole Family Guide to each Scout that needs an additional order form – just give the single paper with the order form. Boys only need 1 prize order flyer, 1 product picture page, etc.) The Family Guide will be mailed to each boy that is registered as of 7/31/15. For all new boys that join Scouting after August 1st, especially at the August 27th council-wide recruitment night, they’ll need to get their popcorn forms from their Unit Leader (they will be inside the School Night crate). Once Scouts use those order forms, additional forms may be printed off the council popcorn web page or picked up at a local Scout Office. An electronic version of ALL of these items will be available on the council popcorn web page, in case you want to print more copies than what you get here today, or if you need other people in your unit to reference these details.
- Other resources available to you . . . With your unit leadership, decide when your official “Unit Popcorn Kickoff” will be. It should be as close to your recruitment date and the start of the sale (September 4th) as possible. Your Kickoff should be upbeat and inspiring! Get your unit’s best “class clown” dad to help. Use music & decorations. The council will provide to you the following items to have a great Kickoff: *Sample agenda *Patch – to show the boys what they can earn if they sell at least 1 item *Poster – to put on the front of your table during a “storefront sale” (i.e. at Walmart / Kroger) *Online sales postcard – easy steps to help Scout set up his own online account ---- this is our largest area of opportunity!!! Your DISTRICT FACT SHEET contains the district-specific information that you need to know. i.e. When and where do I pick up my popcorn at the warehouse? Where is the warehouse? How many times do I order popcorn on the Trail’s End website and when is the deadline? How do I contact my District Popcorn Kernel? Your District Popcorn Kernel is your local go-to resource person for questions, problems, comments, and assistance. The council popcorn website is a great tool to find common popcorn information and forms.
- Bookmark the council’s web page on your home computer if you haven’t already. You’ll go there a lot. Go to www.crossroadsbsa.org. Click on Resources (top right corner of screen). Click on Popcorn.
- This is the main landing page of the council popcorn website. You could also go straight to www.crossroadsbsa.org/popcorn. Notice how the popcorn page looks completely different than last year. See the new menus on the left side: - Order popcorn (this is where you’ll click to reserve additional popcorn in the middle of the sale for pick-up at Camp Belzer) - Popcorn Resources (this is where you’ll find documents, like the Order Form, District Fact Sheets, prize flyer, etc.) - Prize Program (detailed flyers and information regarding the bb gun incentive, sample Scout Shop voucher, Monster Jam incentive, Top 20 Sellers Pacer incentive, etc.) - Sales Methods (descriptions of the 4 types of methods to sell popcorn) - Unit Commission Structure (how unit profit is calculated this year & some examples) - Unit Sign-up (Unit Commitment Card is here & how to submit it to council … this is how your unit gets officially signed up to sell popcorn in the Trail’s End system, your Unit Kernel gets login information, and your Unit Kernel will receive the bi-weekly popcorn e-newsletters throughout the sale.)
- We’ll cover the 4 ways that we sell popcorn now.
- This is the best way to sell popcorn. You get your biggest bang for your buck here. Customers ordering popcorn on the order form tend to spend more money, and actually order what they really want, when they can pay for it later. Be sure to tell the customer upfront that they’ll get their popcorn in November. (Most people don’t mind waiting as long as you’ve been clear about when to expect it.) Leave a note (or receipt if they paid) with the customer with your unit information just in case they have a question about their order or want to order more! We’ll explain why Take Order will be really important this year later in the presentation. There is a special prize that can be earned by all boys if they sell a certain amount of popcorn on the order forms during the first two weeks of the sale.
- Going door-to-door (or “Show & Deliver”) is an efficient use of your time IF you can figure out how to catch people home. Use Google Maps (or similar tool) to map out nearby neighborhoods & divvy up Scouts in pairs to cover all the homes. Neighborhood blitzes can be fun! Have a rendezvous point in the morning, give pep talk to Scouts, send them out, and choose another wrap-up rendezvous. Have Scouts tell their success and/or funny sales stories to the group while you chow down on some pizza! Show the customer the order form first. If he/she orders something on the form, ask the customer if he/she would like the popcorn NOW and to pay NOW. (Don’t ask the customer to choose items from your wagon or box. Your inventory might run low, and you don’t want the customer choosing the smallest or cheapest item, just because that’s what is right in front of them.) Some houses you’ll “expire” and won’t have to go back. Remember, you can use the credit card readers when going door-to-door!!!
- Use this picture here as a good example of what a storefront sale table should look like. The table has products out of the case, stacked neatly. Scouts are in uniform and smiling, standing in front (not behind) of the table. At least 2 adults (two-deep leadership) are present with the Scouts at all times. Find high-traffic, cooperating stores for storefront sales. Can anyone here name the best 3 or 4 stores to work with in our district? <get feedback from audience> Schedule your timeslots as soon as possible. They fill up quickly. Schedule the boys to all participate and take turns with 2-hour shifts. Sign-up Genius is a great, free website to use to schedule timeslots with your Scouting families. Practice the sales pitch with the boys before they have to do a real one. This method of selling usually doesn’t generate the best sales results per hour, but it provides great visibility for Scouting in our community. Remind boys to always be mannerly (say “please” and “thank you”) and be polite, even if a customer chooses not to buy something. Remember to hide the $5 products under the table. Consider providing an eye-catching Scouting activity that makes passersby curious (i.e. knot tying).
- Online sales are W-A-Y under-utilized. If we better understood how easy it is & how to use it, our sales could dramatically increase.
- Benefits of online popcorn sales: (read bullet points) **Note that boys can sell popcorn online all year long. If they sell popcorn to grandma in New Jersey in March, the Scout still earns commission on the sale, but the sale doesn’t count towards his prize program in the fall. The only timeframe that online sales count towards the prize program is SEPTEMBER 1 – OCTOBER 18. Also note that boys can council sales online on Sept. 1st, but they have to wait to start selling on the order form until SEPTEMBER 4TH … so they get 3 head-start days online.
- The coolest Trail’s End improvement this year Single sign-on to get Scouts’ online sales figures! You’ll be able to see how much each Scout has sold online by simply signing into your Trail’s End account. You won’t need to sign into the Online Sales website to see that separately this year. Visual tool kit – pre-written tweets and Facebook posts will be provided there … you’ll need just to copy & paste to social media pages. NEW Address book feature this year! – Scout can save all email addresses in the address book, rather than having to re-type them by hand each time you want to send an email. See the online sales postcards that you’ve received today for more details. Give one of these to each Scout. Scouts and parents will see how easy this is to set up an account and solicit customers this way. Average online sale is about $50. (versus traditional sale of $23.75 this fall with our product mix) If boy sells one $50 item, and he makes a straight 35% commission from online sales, …. How long will it typically take a teenager to sell that much??? Online sales are so easy!
- DON’T FORGET THE MILITARY SALES! Sometimes folks don’t want to purchase popcorn (i.e. they don’t like popcorn, elderly cannot chew popcorn), but they still want to support Scouting, the military, or both. A customer can donate $30 or $50 to the “military donation” in exchange for a ribbon magnet. We will ship popcorn to our military troops for all the military donations received by our Scouts. Many units are not properly recording their military sales, though. Sometimes units just collect cash in a collection jar. Instead, properly record all $30 and $50 military donations, OR collect the $1 and $5 cash donations and add them up to the $30 and $50 military donations. UNIQUE IDEA: Piggy-back on a UFW’s Fish Fry. Set up the Scout popcorn booth next to the fish fry ticket sale booth. Customers pay for their fish fry ticket & drop their leftover change in a jar for Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts add up all cash/coin donations to order military ribbons. Our council gave $75,000 of popcorn to the local National Guard in 2014! That’s how much military sales we had last year! (2 years ago, this figure was $100,000.) The pictures shown here are from January 2015, when we presented them the popcorn.
- This is the coolest popcorn prize that we’ve ever offered! And this is the first time that our council has offered such a cool prize at this low sales level! If you went to a District Day Camp, Belzer Day Camp, or Adventure Camp this summer , you saw this promoted on a huge banner & the boys shot at special bb gun targets. If a Scout sells $750, he may choose a $35 Scout Shop voucher OR a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun with BBs, goggles, and targets – a $50 retail value! (BB gun isn’t a bonus prize – Scout doesn’t get gun and voucher. If a Scout sells at this level but his family doesn’t approve of shooting sports, no big deal – he earns the voucher.) THIS PRIZE IS READY TO USE! No need to go buy additional equipment in order to have fun! It’s all included! Disclaimer about bb gun: PARENTS (or Legal Guardians) will be required to pick up their son’s bb gun and fun kit at a local Scout Shop in person. The parent will need to bring the bb gun certificate (being mailed directly to Scout, not the Unit Kernel) and the signed waiver (will be available online). We will not allow Unit Leaders or Unit Kernels to collect waivers signed by parents & take them, along with the certificates, to the Scout Shops to pick up on behalf of Scouts. Our council’s Shooting Sports Committee has given their blessing on this prize only if we follow strict guidelines, and this is one of them.
- Prize program is still really a VOUCHER program, just like last year. Boys get a Scout Shop voucher and they can use it towards the purchase of ANY item in any Scout Shop in our council. Vouchers will be mailed to Unit Kernels in December and Scouts have until 5/30/16 to spend them! You might notice that the council has pulled back on some expenses in other areas this year . . . It’s because we felt that putting more of the budget into improving the prize program was extremely important! I think you’ll like what we’re offering this year. Pull out one Family Guide right now & we’ll review the prize flyer together.
- We’ve added another top-level prize this year at $1,000! And we’ve FINALLY incorporated LEGO into our prize program again! Scout chooses voucher OR 2 tickets to Brickworld Indy plus a Lego goody bag (March 2016). $1,500 – voucher OR 2 street-level seats + pit party passes (meet the drivers) (January 2016). $3,000 – voucher OR Polaroid waterproof 16 megapixel action camera with mounting kit $5,000 – voucher OR a 16MB Wi-Fi iPad Air 2
- At the end of the sell, the council’s Top 20 Sellers will be invited to attend a spring Pacers game in a corporate suite, watch the Pacers players warm-up on court on the sidelines, high-five the players as they enter the game, get a High Five Club t-shirt, and be recognized on the huge LED ribbon during half time. The top council salesman will be recognized at center court during half time and presented an autographed Pacers player jersey! Last year, the top 20 sellers ranged in sales from about $3,000 on up. The council’s top seller, a Boy Scout, sold $10,015!
- We are trying something new this year. Our sale will begin with order-form-only sales for 2 weeks (just like the Girl Scouts do with their cookie sale). Between September 4th (the first day of the sale) and September 18th, encourage your Scouts to collect their “easy sales” – like to parents, neighbors, aunts/uncles, grandparents, church members, sports coaches, etc. These people usually say “yes” to a sale! In the first 2 weeks, a Scout feels really great for having lots of victories! If a Scout sells $350 during the first 2 weeks of the sale, he earns a $15 iTunes gift card! In order to officially “order” your iTunes gift card, though, the PARENT (not the Unit Kernel) must submit this iTunes gift card order form AND a copy of the popcorn order form to the council (by scanning & emailing or by fax) no later than Monday, September 21st by 5:00 p.m. We cannot accept late orders; otherwise, we can’t prove that the sales were collected during the two-week timeframe. iTunes gift cards will be mailed directly to each boy’s home (not to the Unit Kernel). Pretty easy. And this is the first time that we’ve provided such quick recognition for a job well done at the beginning of the sale! Most years, boys have had to wait until December to get any and all of their recognition items. We hope this will pump up the Scouts even more to keep selling . . . Hopefully striving for the BB gun at $750! Boys will get popcorn in hand to sell at storefront sales & neighborhood blitzes the 3rd week of September (after this 2-week blitz is over).
- Prize orders are due to the council on an Excel spreadsheet by 10/27/15. The popcorn sale ends on Sunday, October 18th, so Unit Kernels will have 9 days to collect all Scout popcorn orders, unsold popcorn, and prize orders. The spreadsheet to complete will be emailed to all Unit Kernels this fall in the e-newsletters, and it will be available on the council popcorn website. It should be pretty simple. Just type in every boy’s name, sales information, and which prize choice he wants. Remember, if a Scout sold 1 item, he gets included on this spreadsheet because he earns a patch. For sales between $200-749, he automatically gets a voucher. Starting at $750, he chooses between the voucher OR the prize at specific increments (i.e. bb gun at $750, Brickworld at $1,000, etc.). Choose the appropriate item in the drop-down menus.
- No more jumping through numerous hoops to get an extra 1% or 2% here & there! The Unit Commission Structure is easily calculated this year by average sales per registered boys. The council will calculate this based on the number of boys registered in your unit in ScoutNET as of 9/30/15. ScoutNET is the official Scouting computer system at the council offices. Don’t want the Scout Shop vouchers? Opt out of prizes and your unit earns an additional 3% commission. That’s a total maximum commission possibility of 41%! That’s C-R-A-Z-Y! No council has ever done this! Remember, if you opt out of prizes, your Scouts can’t choose the bb gun, iPad, etc. If you opt out of prizes, your Scouts could still earn the bonus prizes (i.e. iTunes gift card and Pacers incentive), though. You can have a huge unit with only a handful of boys that sell . . . But if they all sell a lot, you can still earn a high commission. You can have a small unit of 5 boys and still earn a high commission if they each fill up an order form (usually about $600 in sales). See samples of how to calculate this in your Unit Kernel Manual on page ____. Average unit commission in 2014 was 34.5%. You will notify the council if you want the cash option, instead of the voucher prize program, by contacting the Popcorn Assistant or by noting it in the Trail’s End system under the Finance tab. More instructions are in your Unit Kernel Manual.
- Don’t forget the college scholarship opportunity! Scouts who sell at least $2,500 during a fall popcorn sale receive 6% of their sales invested in their own college scholarship account. Once Scouts are enrolled, 6% of their sales each year will be added to their account and interest will accrue on their accumulated credits. Scouts only have to hit the $2,500 minimum sales level one time! There’s one special, critical detail in all of this: PARENTS OF SCOUTS MUST COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE TRAIL’S END SCHOLARSHIP FORM TO ENROLL THEIR CHILD, AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER TO REPORT ON ADDITIONAL SALES. This is not the responsibility of the Unit Kernel or Unit Leader. It’s the parent’s responsibility. Send the forms to the council, the council verifies and approves sales, and the council forwards to Trail’s End. What is the biggest scholarship ever accumulated? One Boy Scout in Colorado has over $10,000 in his scholarship account! Other fun fact about scholarship: Each year, the top 5 Scouts in each region get their 6% matched 1:1 (up to $1,000) in their scholarship account. NEW WEBSITE – In the past, we would mail out statements to Scout parents. Now, parents can go online and see their statements. Parents: Send an email to scholarship@trails-end.com and ask to be set up for a scholarship account to get login information. sell.trails-end.com, Incentives, College Scholarship, Click here to log in & view your scholarship account >> (enter your login information here) Scholarship payout can be used for any form of post secondary education (i.e. 4 yr college University, 2 yr Community College, trade school, etc.). Payouts go directly to institution, not to the boy. See terms & conditions for more details. We’ll put all of these details on our council popcorn web page.
- Just for fun! We’re trying something crazy this year! We’re going after a Guinness World Record for the longest popcorn strand! We need your help. Some folks will string popcorn, others will tie the strands together … Council will provide the popcorn, needles, thread, and other materials. We hope this will attract media and local celebrities! The goal is to make a 1-mile-long popcorn strand! We’ll post more about this on our popcorn page, but you’ll also see detailed information in the popcorn e-newsletters, including a link to sign up your unit to help. DATE IS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17TH AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (SAME DAY & LOCATION AS CUB FUN DAY) ! We’ll only be able to take 120 volunteers (youth & adults). Volunteer sign-up information will be sent out to Unit Kernels via the popcorn e-newsletter, and you’ll click a link through that to electronically register.
- Log on to the Trail’s End system now & get yourself familiar with the program. If you still need log-in information (your username & password), come see me after the presentation. Explore the council website. Get familiar with navigating through the new popcorn links. Bookmark this site & the Trail’s End site on your web browser – you’ll be going there often. (Ask 1 unit in Unit Kickoff –your district that does an outstanding job to stand up briefly & give tips on how to put on the best Unit Kickoff. If you don’t have one, here are some talking points: Did you hold a unit kickoff last year? If so, how was it conducted? Was it exciting or dreadful? Here are some great ideas: Have a 30-minute fun-filled Popcorn Kickoff Customize the unit kickoff presentation in the Virtual Sale Planner at www.leaders.trails-end.com Watch the training videos at www.leaders.trails-end.com for ideas Dress up the room for your kickoff event. Have some door prizes and snacks on hand…especially Popcorn if you can! Plan to have the boys play some fun games to get excited Review the prize flyer with the boys Role play with your Scouts so they’re ready to sell Go over the unit goal and the goal for each individual Scout Present your activity plan to give families a reason to sell Review your unit’s calendar for the year and everything that is a part of the Scouting plan Review the different selling techniques with parents) UNIT COMMUNICATION PLAN Keep the momentum going by communicating to and motivating your Scouts throughout the sale A solid communication plan helps parents understand: “what’s in it for me and my son” Scouts that are trained sell twice as much as those who are not. Get parents and committee members on board by using all of the available tools - guidebook, program planner, popcorn materials, kickoff presentation, etc. Use the Trail’s End Email Library to communicate often with Scout families. There are many templates to choose from, send to hundreds of email addresses at one time, most of the templates are customizable, etc. Talking Points with other adults in your district: How did your unit communicate the Popcorn sale last year? Are you thinking about using a different or new approach to communicate within your unit this coming fall? Email is a simple way to communicate directly and easily to parents throughout the sale: Capture email addresses during unit / Scout signups – pass around a clipboard, or peek at all the applications once they’re submitted. Communicate the following: Scout success stories, unit commission and Scout incentive program, winners of weekly incentives, unit and Scout benefits, etc. How can we make parents aware of all the opportunities popcorn provides for their sons’ Scouting programs? At the kickoff, emails, unit website, newsletter/parent letter, Scouting events (pack meetings, Blue & Gold, etc.) Communication is sometimes overlooked, but the ability to communicate effectively is necessary to carry out the thoughts and visions from your unit to your Scouts and Scout families. The importance of communication is crucial to the success of your unit because you need to reach out in order to hit your sale goal(s). Typically, communication is good at the beginning of the sale and sometimes at the end, but slows down/does not happen in the middle of the sale. If you can communicate effectively from beginning to end, your Scouts will stay motivated and increase their chances to meet or exceed their goals. Initial Order – site will start accepting orders the third week of August. Orders are due September 1st. Don’t let this date creep by you. We’re trying something new this year. You screamed – we listened. You have mentioned not being able to get enough product on hand when you needed it (either through the initial order or picking up additional at Camp Belzer.) THIS YEAR, WE WILL ALLOW YOUR UNIT TO ORDER UP TO 100% OF YOUR TOTAL SALE LAST YEAR FOR YOUR INITIAL ORDER … no questions asked. Order with caution. YOUR SUGGESTED INITIAL ORDER (PROVIDED BY THE COUNCIL) GIVES YOU A BALLPARK FIGURE OF WHAT TO ORDER. You don’t HAVE to order that amount, though. Remember, there are 7 products that you cannot return. If too many units shy away from the non-returnable items and double-up on the returnable products, we might not be able to fill your initial order the way you ordered it! There’s a chance that units might order more of the returnable items than was forecasted, and we might have to talk you down to smaller case quantities so that Trail’s End can accommodate our production. **Get other people to help you do this job. It’s a big one. Don’t do it alone!
- Thanks for your time! Don’t forget to pick up all of your materials tonight before you leave. You’ll need those for your Unit Popcorn Kickoff. (do raffle ticket winners) We’ll hang around for a little while tonight if you have additional questions.