subject: Sales Strategy For Your Next School Bake Sale [print this page] There is an unforgettable scene in Welsh author Allison Pearsons 2002 novel I Dont Know How She Does It, which has since been made into a Hollywood movie, featuring Sex in the Citys Sarah Jessica Parker, where heroine Kate Reddy, a harried working mother roughs up some store-bought baked goods to pass them off as homemade at her childs school bake sale. As comedy, this is hilarious. As a sales strategy, it is ill advised. Heres some quick sales training for overwhelmed parents like Kate Reddy who must learn to be the sales management teams for their childrens bake sales.
Sales strategy #1: Homemade sells
The number one most important sales strategy message that I can give you: make your own food. Store-bought cookies simply wont sell.
Sales strategy #2: Presentation counts
You dont need any sales training to know that presentation is of supreme importance when it comes to selling food. Resist the urge to hide away your offerings in cute tins and paper bags. If you must package, use transparent plastic, so that your potential customers are assaulted by visions of yumminess as soon as they are within the line of sight of your bake sale table. Winning sales management teams know that the greater the exposure of their customer to a product, the more likely they are to bite (pun intended).
Sales strategy #3: List all ingredients
In this day and age, bake sales management teams need to include allergy awareness in their sales strategy. It is important to name all food items and to carefully list all ingredients. This will increase customer confidence in your products.
Sales strategy #5: Opt for big sellers
No need to get overly creative. Experienced bake sales management teams know that the best sellers at most such events are the most traditional, i.e., homemade cookies, especially homemade chocolate chip cookies the hands-down classic. Barring that, there are a few other classic treats that you may want to consider, including:
brownies
slices of banana bread
Rice Crispies squares
Sales strategy #6: Hand over the reins to your kids
The best bake sales management teams are the ones where the parents like Kate Reddy fade into the background, providing guidance and support. The real purpose of a school bake sale is to give kids a means to raise money on their own. So, as the song says, Teach them well, and let them lead the way.
Sales strategy #6: Relax and have fun
Ultimately, a bake sale is supposed to be fun. Theres no pressure to perform well! Just enjoy it, and if you dont, make sure that you dont get put on the bake sales management committee ever again.
