Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has a safe holiday season! What are your Christmas traditions? I am the oldest of 4 girls. When we were little, I would wake them up in the middle of the night (I barely slept anyway) and we would gather in my room. The night before, we taped Xs on the stairs on all the creaky spots so we could sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to check out the presents. We hid flashlights under our beds. We thought we were oh-so-sneaky! My Dad always changed all the Xs around on the stairs. We would go 2 by 2 downstairs to see the presents and find out who was getting the biggest present, etc. etc. It was very exciting! I still don't sleep much the night before Christmas. Excitement is in the air! My Grandma and I still bake cookies together (peanut butter balls are my favorite!). She wraps all the presents and puts them in neat piles (clothes pile, toys pile), all upside down so no one can snoop. It's funny how those traditions still hold true today. After presents, when my Grandpa was alive, he brought out the infamous huge box of chocolates. My Grandma carries on that tradition still and with extended family- breaks out the box of chocolates. And as our family has grown, that one box of chocolates has turned into 3!

As I type this blog- I cannot wait for this last day of work to be complete and to dive into our annual traditions. I hope all of you have a blessed Christmas filled with your own special traditions and family moments.

Merry Christmas!

Additional Cookie Trainings for Charlevoix, Traverse City and Atlanta

For Service Unit Directors, Service Unit Product Managers and Troop Leaders who have not received Cookie Training yet.

Tuesday, Jan 4, 5:30 p.m. (before the LCM) at the Atlanta Congregational United Church of Christ

Thursday, Jan 6, 5:00 p.m. (before the LCM) at the Charlevoix Public Library in the Trustees Conference Room (upstairs). In Charlevoix, we need to be out by 7:30 so that is why we start earlier.

Saturday, January 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon @ Traverse City Service Center

Wednesday, January 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM @ Traverse City Service Center

Fall Incentives on backorder

So Fall Incentives have been on backorder. As of today- all the incentives have gone out except the water bottle. I did contact QSP directly about the backorder issue and wanted to pass on their response to all of you.

From QSP:In regards to incentives, unfortunately everything is imported. When you run short, the delay to replace the item takes a lot longer than dealing with domestic suppliers as we used to do. I put in an estimate each year by Council based on items that they have chosen as incentives. For example- at the $100 level your girls had a choice of the bracelet or the gel pens. How many girls are going to reach that level are just as important which item are they going to pick. Even with girl input (some 500 are asked each year)into our selections, the numbers can vary dramatically from what really ends up being picked. It also varies by which part of the Country you are getting input from. Also adding to the problem is the fact that your Council is one of the later Councils to submit their orders due to the dates of your sale. Early Councils were pretty much error free. Please don't look at these as excuses, there is no excuse for being back ordered on patches nor will we be again.

We are meeting in early January and will be looking at ordering procedures and we will have inventory level discussions, which I have already been told will change for next year. We are not in any way satisfied with our incentive fulfillment. Besides being irritating to our customers it costs us more to ship twice or three times to a service unit person's house than to over order on inventory, especially the lower end items. Due to economic conditions we also expected a flat year sales wise and it has turned out to be a +8% year which further threw off incentive estimates.

I would also say that we have spoiled the service unit people as the past two years incentives have arrived about the same time as the product. For years prior, they were delivered in January in time for the first meeting so they could be given out.

So, folks- there you have it. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our girls. We are SO PROUD of them for selling. I am confident, that next year, incentives will arrive on time.

Thanks everyone!!

Super Sellabration Dinner in Muskegon

Wow- I have been eating my way through our Super Sellabrations and it has been SO fun and yummy! Our CEO, Gloria Lara joined us at the Red Robin in Muskegon. She congratulated the girls and presented them with a special pin for being a Fall Super Seller! Red Robin also gave the girls restaurant pins. The girls all received a gift bag with a Girl Scout tshirt and other fun prizes. We had such a fun evening! I am so proud of these girls for selling and the leadership skills they are using. Congratulations girls, on a job well done! Goooooooo Girls!!

Super Sellabration Party in Traverse City

We had 3 lovely girls who sold $500+ of Fall Product! We had a great time eating at the Olive Garden in Traverse City. 2 of the 3 girls are first time Girl Scouts. Way to go girls! It was so fun meeting the girls and their moms and spending time with them. I am posting a pic of our fun dinner together.

Super Sellabration Party

Last night we had our 1st ever Super Sellabration Party! This was a party for girls who sold $500+ of Fall Product. We are doing several of these parties in demographic areas. 30 total girls hit this mark. I was so excited to celebrate these girl's accomplishments!

Our Grand Rapids Super Seller Party was held at Red Robin. The girls each received gift bags filled with fun goodies- including girl scout shirts, candy, santa hats, journals and other prizes. Our CEO, Gloria Lara made a surprise appearance and presented the girls with a special gift- a pin. It was a fun night for all!

I am looking forward to our next Super Sellabration Party happening this coming week! Congrats to all the girls for a job well done!