Fall 2017 Popcorn Sale

Trail’s End

Partnering with Boy Scouts of America Councils and Units to

raise the funds needed to deliver the promise of Scouting for over 36

years.

Thank you!

Photo Credit: Scouting.org

Why Popcorn

In this Training, you will learn...

How to prepare

To Provide a Quality Program and The Experience of a

Lifetime.

Parents Must Understand What’s In It For Them

Set Goals Based on Your Budget

Plan Your Kickoff and Ask Your Scouts What Unit Incentives

They Want

Communicate and Recruit Some Helpers

How to train

In this Training, you will learn...

How to sell

Scouts Must Be Prepared and Know What to Say When

Speaking With Customers.

Trained Scouts Are More Likely to Hit Their Goals and Get

More Yeses.

There Are So Many Ways For Scouts to Reach Their Goals.

Start With Family and Friends, Add a Couple of Show-N-Sell Shifts, and Make Sure Each

Scout Canvases The Neighborhood.

Why Popcorn

Program + Popcorn =

Character Development

Gain Confidence

Goal Setting

Money Management

Life Lessons

Public Speaking

Does popcorn drive your program?

Or

Does your program drive popcorn?

The Answers Should Be Yes And Yes

• No out-of-pocket-expense to enjoy 12 months of Scouting activities

• Do one fundraiser a year; more time enjoying Scouting

• Scouts ...• Earn their own way• Learn life lessons and responsibility

• All Scouts will enjoy the Unit’s program

• Consumers are motivated to purchase based on the cause

• We should ask our boys and parents to go out and be confident that our communities WANT to support Scouting. They will IF we ask them to.

Message to Scout Parents

We are selling adventures!

NOT popcorn

Consumers are 2x more likely to support a cause

to believe in!

How To Prepare

How to have a successful fundraiser

1. Plan your Scouting program at least one year in advance• Always get input from Scouts and families

2. Create a budget that captures all costs of the program3. Determine how much fundraising is required to cover the cost of program

• Set fundraising goals (per unit, per Scout)4. Create a fundraising plan

• Determine key dates, incentives, amount of popcorn to order, show-n-sell locations

• Recruit a popcorn team to help share the load• Plan/host a fun and engaging kickoff party• Arrange for popcorn pickup / distribution

5. Host a fun kickoff to communicate your fundraising plan and goals6. Check-in with Scouts and parents weekly on their fundraising progress7. Hit your fundraising goals8. Have a fun and adventurous year in Scouting!

Trail’s End University – Additional Training

Courses For Everyone!

First Time And Experienced Kernels

• Training courses linked from the Trail’s End Popcorn System

• Learn to sell like the top selling units

On My Honor, I Promise To Plug In My JumpDrive

Popcorn Sale Kit

• 4 Great Videos!• Unit Kickoff PowerPoint Presentation • Parent Handout (fill-able PDF) • Unit Incentive Program Handout • Program Planner Spreadsheet • Scout Sale Script and Selling Tips Cards • Unit Kickoff Checklist • Benefits and Features of Selling Online• And Much More...

Play the “Learn From Luke” Video at your Kickoff

Set goals

• Set goals for your unit and for each Scout.

• Scouts who set goals sell twice as much as Scouts who do not set a goal… same is true for units.

• Goals should be based on your budget to fund the Scouting year.

• If a Scout runs out of product, encourage him to continue to SELL to his goal by taking orders to be filled later!

Unit INCENTIVES• Scouting activities that THEY planned

• Experiences – field trips, weekend getaways, sporting events, etc.

• “Little Things” for selling $100, $200, $300, etc.

• Fishing poles and gear

• Camping equipment

• Video games / small dollar gift cards

• Pizza party & Ice Cream socials

• Pie in the Face

• Ask your Scouts what they want… you might be surprised!

communicate Recruit a team

• The Kickoff Party is a great opportunity to present a lot of important information

• Utilize the communication tools on sell.trails-end.com

• Send weekly or bi-weekly emails to families with timely information

• Talk popcorn at all Unit and Den/Patrol meetings throughout the sale

• Post a sale tracker / thermometer so everyone can see sale goal status

• Keep momentum going and provide encouragement

▪ You can do this on your own, but it’s not a good idea

▪ Ask your fellow leaders and parents to help you with…▪ The Kickoff Party – look for someone with

enthusiasm

▪ Distribution – to pick up and transport the popcorn

▪ Communication – to keep everyone informed and motivated

▪ Storefront Sales – to book and coordinate storefront shifts for your unit

▪ Popcorn Chief (a Scout) – ask your top selling Scout to serve as your Co-Kernel

Helpful Resources• Visit sell.trails-end.com after this Kickoff for more good ideas and resources!

• Download and Customize the following:• Program Planning Spreadsheet• Scout Incentive Handout• Unit Kickoff Presentation• Parent Handout• Product and Promotional Images• Selling Tools – Posters, Scout Sales Script & Safety Tips Cards, etc.

• Also available…• Training Videos• Trail’s End Scholarship Information• Frequently Asked Questions

How To Train

Unit kickoff party

• The single most important thing is…

ENTHUSIASM!

• If it’s not you, then find that person!

• Dress up the room, pop popcorn.

• Have games for Scouts to play the minute they walk in the door.

• Role play a “sale” either at a storefront or at the neighbor’s door.

• Families should walk out excited, informed, and ready to sell.

Popcorn Tasting Is Important

• We want our Scouts to enjoy selling popcorn and feel confident when asked questions by consumers.

• After conducting your popcorn tasting, your Scouts will be ready to recommend their favorite flavor and the unit’s favorite.

• Don’t forget to talk about upselling... for example, “Cheese is my favorite and for the price of two bags, you can get a third for free with the Cheese Lover’s Collection!”

A scout’s plan to sell $700…Show your families how easy it is to hit their goal. It’s as easy as

1, 2, 3!

$200

$200

+ $300

$700

1.

2.

3.

Start with family, friends, Mom and Dad’s co-

workers, closest neighbors, etc.

Participate in two storefront shifts with an

average of $100 sales per shift

Canvas your neighborhood by going door-to-

door.

Don’t forget to…

Create an online sales account and send emails to family and friends who live faraway, as a way to help you get to

$700 even EASIER!

Online Selling Training

Make account registration part of your kickoff• Pick a location that has access to Wifi and ask parents to bring a

tablet or smartphone (have extra laptops available if possible)

• Walk parents through the quick steps of registration, and run through the ways to share the personalized fundraising page

Host a text messaging blitz campaign• Pick one meeting night to hold the blitz

• Give parents ample notice for the event

• Send each Scout’s personalized fundraising page to friends and family via text message

Trail’s End National Rewards

Earn Money for College!Online Prize Program

Story:The evil robot, Mega-Corn the Destroyer has come to planet Earth to eat all of the world’s popcorn, so Earth has called upon The Popcorn Squad, a group of brave and adventurous Scouts with super powers, to stop Mega-Corn before planet Earth is eradicated of all traces of popcorn!

Scouts Earn All Six Patches▪ Participation: Sell One Item▪ Online: Make One Online Sale▪ Military: Sell One Military Donation▪ One of Each: Sell One of Each Item▪ Sellers Club: Reach Selling Goal of $700▪ Top Seller: Reach Top Selling Goal $1000

Mega-Corn

Trail’s End Piece Patch

How To Sell

Show-N-Sell Strategies

Secure the right locations• Book locations early• High volume of traffic• Think outside the box – Where do the people gather in your community?

• Retail stores, school sporting events, auctions, churches, farmers markets, fairs

• Always get permission

Accept credit cards as payment• Square, PayPal, Stripe, etc.• This will change your sale!

• You’ll likely sell a lot more to offset cost of transaction fees

Tell your Scouts’ stories with pictures• Customers want to know what they are supporting• Make poster boards for table displays• Make photo books for young Scouts

Show-N-Deliver Strategies

Popcorn Blitz Day• Pick and promote a weekend blitz day at your Popcorn Kickoff• Set a unit and per Scout fundraising goal for the day• As a group, canvas a large neighborhood in your area• Once goals are reached, have an ice cream or hot cocoa party in a nearby park

Pre-Made Popcorn Kits • Assemble kits of popcorn that equal the retail amount of desired goal• Retail dollar amount based on a selling goal ($650 pays for Summer Camp)• Give one kit to each Scout family to sell by a given date

Advantage: Sell Door-to-Door with product in hand – no return trip needed

Little Red Wagon!• Don’t get stuck with leftover product at the end• If all else fails, load up the products in a little red wagon

• Walk neighborhoods, local fairs, tailgates, mall parking lots, local businesses

Take Order Strategies

Take the order form to work• If not allowed to solicit at work, ask if putting a form in break room is acceptable

Create a map of your area• Print off Google Maps of your area, and give to Scout families• Ask Scouts to mark houses that did and did not purchase• Use year over year to help save time• Encourage Scouts to ask for phone numbers & email addresses

Assign Scouts selling territories• Sets expectation – takes out the guess work for Scouts and parents• Helps prevent duplication of efforts

Always save copies of order forms• Give your Scouts a copy of their previous year’s order form at the kickoff• Always require Scouts to turn in their order form, even if they don’t sell

• Prevents submission of late orders

Mystery Houses• Give higher level prizes to three or more random houses in your community• The first Scout to knock on the door of each mystery house wins the prize

Selling to Local Businesses

Many businesses in your community are willing to support• Corporate gifts for clients

• Holiday gifts for staff

• Staff purchases

Follow these steps:• Scouts should lead the sales pitch and dress in Class A uniform

• After school before 5pm

• Look for strip malls or office parks with many businesses in close proximity

• Start at the top! - Always ask for the owner or manager

• Bring several paper order forms, pens, and a way to accept credit cards

• Always leave customers with a way they can purchase again• Print off homemade business cards with your email address / contact info

• Include link to your Trail’s End online selling account

Online Selling

Steps to a successful online sale - Scouts1. Register an online selling account at Trails-End.com – 1 min

2. Create a selling profile (write bio, upload pictures & videos) – 5 min

3. Share the personalized fundraising page on social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) – 2 min

4. Send link to fundraising page via email & text message to friends and family – 5 min

5. Remember to send Thank You messages (written or video) to those that support

Sell a lot of popcorn in less than 15 minutes!• No product delivery – ships directly to customer• No money collection• Average purchase over $60 in 2016

Jayhawk Area Council Sale

Popcorn Focus Group

• Brought together a group of experienced popcorn kernels to critique and offer input on how to make our popcorn sale more successful.

• Units represented were: Pack 169, Pack 10, Pack 11, Troop 11, Pack 175, Pack 186, Pack 110, and the District Kernels.

2017 Changes

• Sale Dates

• New products some with tins

• Sales kits for every unit – includes resources and a Precision RB Shooter to use however you want

• Chocolate products available for pre-order

• No returns on chocolate products

• Returns must be in un-opened cases (only open case when you need them)

2017 Changes Continued

• Online sales have their own prize incentive (you decide what to do with the extra 3% commission)

• No names on tee-shirts

• Top sellers names on banner to be displayed at events all year

• One kick-off / training event in Topeka – make it a bigger deal

Product Line• Chocolate Lovers Tin

• Cheese Lovers Box

• White Chocolate Pretzels Tin

• Chocolatey Caramel Crunch

• Caramel Corn with Nuts

• Sea Salt Caramel Corn Tin

• Kettle Corn (Microwave)

• Unbelievable Butter (Microwave)

• White Cheddar Cheese

• Classic Caramel Corn

• Popping Corn

• $50 Military Donation

• $30 Military Donation

Commission Structure

• 26% Base Commission – Using provided prize program

• 29% Commission with no prizes (create your own)

• 29% on Online Sales

Prizes provided by unit.

Gift cards directly from Trails End above $300 level.

Counted towards $700 Club, Top Seller Cub, Scholarship

Online commissions are received and deposited into unit account quarterly.

Key Sale Dates

• August 5 – Program kickoff and training

• August 31 – Pre-order Due

• September 14 – Popcorn pick up

• September 15 – Sale Starts

• October 28 – Popcorn Return

• October 28 – Final Popcorn Order Due

• October 28 – Prizes Order Due

• November 9 – Final Popcorn pick up

• November 21 – Final Payment Due

Prize Program

• Prize Program provided by National Supply

• $700 Club bonus prize – Precision RB Shooter

• Top Seller Club – Tee-shirt for Scouts who sell over $1000

• Top Seller Banner – Name on banner for Scouts who sell over $1000

• District Top Seller – $200 Camping Package or Academy Sports Gift Card

• Top Seller Drawing – Camping Package or Academy Sports Gift Card

• Trails End Scholarship program - $2500 in sales to start the program

Susie Thompson&

Questions

2017 Popcorn Kernel Break-Out Schedule

Class 3:00 Session 3:30 Session Location

Popcorn Ordering System X X Dinning Hall

Product Inventory X Tabernacle Classroom 1

Kick Off Events X X Tabernacle Classroom 2

Unit Incentives X Tabernacle Classroom 1

Good luck & have fun!