ANGELA Welcome everyone! 1
ANGELA Introduce myself and tell why I’m here. o Name, district, unit and how long I have been Unit and Council Popcorn Kernel. o Story of becoming Popcorn Kernel and our sales before and after. DISTRICT POPCORN KERNELS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES o Name, district, unit and how long been Unit and/or District Kernel. Mention who DE is. 2
DISTRICT POPCORN KERNELS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES o Name, district, unit and how long been Unit and/or District Kernel. Mention who DE is. 3
DISTRICT POPCORN KERNELS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES o Name, district, unit and how long been Unit and/or District Kernel. Mention who DE is. ANGELA Introduce Trail’s End Sales Rep Adam Hall Kelsey Valier We are all here to share some of our best practices, answer questions and, hopefully, inspire you to make this your unit’s most successful popcorn season ever! We do ask though that you hold all questions until the designated times. 4
RICHELLE Ice Breaker: Tube Socks o Who knows the significance of tube socks as it pertains to popcorn? [Throw out a few pairs of tube socks as people answer. ] In 1980, the Scout Executive of Evansville, IN (Bill Spice) and his lead volunteer were looking at their budget and realized that they were not going to balance it. So, they decided to try a product sale, something that had not been done before. The National office was completely against product sales and threatened to terminate Bill if he continued with the product sale. Bill decided that the health of the council (a balanced budget) was more important, so he continued on with the product sale. There were two products that they were looking at: 1) Trails End popping corn in a bucket or 2) Tube Socks. Fortunately for all of us, Bill partnered with Trail’s End. Evansville did balance their budget and Bill kept his Scout Executive job with the council. The next year, 7 councils sold popcorn, the following year 13, and today around 220 councils sell Trails End popcorn. Since 1980 Trails End has returned over $4 Billion back to scouting throughout the US. So, it could be worse, we could be selling tube socks! 5
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JANA Selling popcorn is not just about fundraising, although we will discuss the benefits of that in just a moment. Selling popcorn is so much more! Ultimately, it is a learning opportunity for our Scouts. 7
VICKI [In the slideshow, bring up each word and ask someone to define it, throw them a piece of candy or little doodad, then reveal and explain the definition.] 8
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VICKI [Point out the Sept. 11 date to help sort and pick up product and that they need to check with their District Kernel; not all districts do this.] 15
VICKI [Emphasize the NOTE at the bottom of the slide] Pick up district distribution centers can be found in the leaders’ guide or on Council’s popcorn webpage. We had the question, “Why does the sale run so long?” Obviously, want to give Units every opportunity to sell as much popcorn as possible. But it is up to each unit how long they want to sell. For example, if only want to sell after have Show & Sell popcorn in hand, and stop when run out, that’s fine. 16
ANGELA If you believe the Scouts in your Unit cannot reach the Council specified sales number, you are right; you will NOT reach that goal. However, if you believe they can, they will believe they can…and they will! There is a Troop in Anchorage, Alaska that made a mistake when they placed their order with the council. They ordered in cases when they meant to order in containers (bags). So, for example, they wanted 10 containers (bags) of caramel corn but ordered 10 cases which equates to 120 containers of caramel corn! The Troop wanted to order roughly $10K worth of product, but actually ordered over $30,000 worth. The Troop decided that this was their mistake and that they were going to take the responsibility. The unit leaders met with the boys and asked the boys what they wanted to do. Most of them had never been on a plane before so they decided that they wanted to go to summer camp someplace else. The unit leaders figured out that if they sold all of the popcorn, with the commission earned, they could go to camp in Juno, Alaska that summer. The leadership then comprised a plan with site sale locations, blitz days, and other selling tactics to sell all the product and accomplished the goal of the boys and the Troop. So, all of the boys boarded a plane that summer and went to Juno for camp. Unfortunately, what they didn’t know is that the lake the camp utilizes gets run off from a Glacier and the water was 50 degrees! During the swim test at camp, one of the boys said “we should really do this someplace warm next year!” At that point, somewhat jokingly, a leader said “How about Hawaii?” The boys decided that this is what they wanted for next summer, so the leadership got together, figured out the cost and told the boys that instead of $30K in sales that they would have to sell $90K in order to go to Hawaii. Well, the boys set goals and worked hard and the following summer they all went to summer camp in Hawaii! Every year this Troop comes up with a new “BIG THING” that the boys decide on and they use the earnings from popcorn to get there. 17
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JANA [Rally emphasize the drop (red numbers) in 2014’s sale. Also point out the number of units and scouts NOT selling.] 25
JANA Evansville and Fort Wayne are the closest and most comparable councils to our council. [Emphasize here that it isn’t the number of scouts you have, it’s how well they sell.] 26
TRAIL’S END REP 27
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TRAIL’S END REP For quality control purposes, Council will not be accepting ANY chocolate returns! 29
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TRAIL’S END REP Chocolate Products Again, no chocolate returns. 31
TRAIL’S END REP Already Popped Cheese Flavors Again, no chocolate returns. 32
TRAIL’S END REP Again, no chocolate returns. 33
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ANGELA Trail’s End boasts an extremely generous average 73% return to Scouting on all their products. While they offer their products as a way for the Scouting community to raise funds to offset the cost of Scouting, they (like most businesses) are in business to make money themselves. They have to set a price that will cover their operating and production costs and make a profit as well. Add to that the 73% return to Scouting and you have a very inflated price. But before you blame the “greedy corporation,” let’s look at an example and breakdown a few numbers. One of the best seller’s is the 18 -pack of Microwavable Unbelievable Butter. It retails for $20 and Scouting receives 72% commission. That’s $14.45 to Scouting and $5.55 to Trail’s End. Let’s look at it another way. You can purchase a 6 -pack of Pop Secret Theater Butter Popcorn for $3.99 at a grocery store. To purchase 18-packs of Pop Secret Popcorn would cost $12, $8 less than buying Trail’s End 18 -pack of Unbelievable Butter. So, for $20 people are purchasing 18-packs of gourmet microwave popcorn and donating $8 to Scouting. Which brings me to my final point; it is important to keep in mind that Scouts are not just selling gourmet popcorn. They are selling the Scouting experience. They are selling customers the opportunity to invest in a Scout. And it is his job to convince the customer he is worth investing in! The popcorn is secondary; it is a token of appreciation for the customer’s investment. 35
ANGELA [Everyone can answer!] 36
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SCOTT How many Units here do not already have a Popcorn Kernel? If your Unit does not already have a Popcorn Kernel, you are already behind the curve and you need to get one ASAP!!! 38
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ANGELA Hopefully, at this point, your Unit has already planned its 2015-16 scout program. If it has not, you must do that first. Without a program and budget, you do not know what your goal(s) should be for popcorn sales. BSA has a great website to learn how to plan your Unit’s year of activities and create a budget. 43
ANGELA Once you have determined your Unit’s budget for the year, you need to determine how much popcorn your Unit will need to sell to cover its budget. 44
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ANGELA Breakdown Sales Goal into the smallest increments possible. It makes the Unit Sales Goal seem more manageable and less overwhelming. 46
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ANGELA Scholarship — Really talk this up with especially Tiger parents! 51
ANGELA This year, Trail’s End is giving away a couple extra bonus prizes. Scouts that sign up or log into their Trail's End online selling account by September 30, 2015 will be entered to win 1 of 500 $10 Amazon.com Gift Cards! 52
ANGELA Additionally, units that sell $2,000 or more online will receive a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card. 53
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