By Gene Marks
Meet Lilly Bumpus.Lilly is eight years old. And she’s sold more than 32,000 boxes of Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Do-si-dos, and S’mores in one year. No, this is not a joke. Lilly holds the single season record for selling Girl Scout cookies. Did I forget to mention she’s eight years old?
Moving 32,000 boxes of cookies is a monumental job for even the most experienced salesperson, so you’re probably asking yourself: How in the world did an 8-year-old accomplish this, particularly when most of your salespeople struggle to make their quotas?
For Starters, Lily Has a Compelling Story
Lilly is a cancer survivor. So her story was built around childhood cancer. She committed to donate most of the money raised by selling the cookies to support childhood cancer research. She also donated thousands of cookie boxes to hospitals and to homeless charities.Who wouldn’t buy from someone—especially a child—with this kind of story? Of course, your story doesn’t have to be this extreme. And no one says you have to donate your proceeds to charity like Lilly has (although donating a portion is a good idea).
Lilly also Has an Impressive Organization
That’s because no one, especially an 8-year-old child, can sell at this level alone. She enlisted her family and scores of volunteers in her efforts. She leaned on her “troops” and her Team Lilly Foundation, which is comprised “mostly of cancer survivors, girls still battling the disease or girls who have lost a loved one to the fight” according to Mercury News.Many in the community offered to help Lilly sell cookies. Salespeople need organizations like this because selling is not a solo effort.
“Lilly has always been blessed with the community of supporters she’s had with her,” mom Bauer said.
Lilly Is Selling in the 21st Century
Lilly is also selling in the 21st century, which is why she significantly leveraged online marketing and social media.While other Girl Scouts trudged around their neighborhoods trying to sell cookies door to door during a pandemic, Lilly leaned on the Girl Scouts’ e-commerce tools. She also posted frequent updates to her Facebook and Instagram pages where she has a combined following of almost 200,000.
Finally, She Worked Her Butt Off
Every successful salesperson will tell you that selling is long, hard, and oftentimes frustrating. Many hours are spent “chopping wood” as my father used to say. Lilly and her parents sold before school and after school.She sold online, posted messages in the evening and did live Facebook updates almost every day. She set up a booth outside her home from sunrise to sunset. She threw herself into selling Girl Scout cookies during the two-month period allowed by the organization. Why?
“I just wanted to be inspiring,” Lily said. “I wanted to help.”
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