10 Things My 7 Year Old Knows About Selling

Let me tell you a story. This really happened at my daughter's day care.



My 7 year old and her friends at day-care decided to collect some money for the Haiti earthquake victims fund. So they set out to sell hand made bookmarks. She and the other girls made bookmarks that said "Boys Rock!" and offered it to the boys. The boys would bring some money and hand it over the next day.


The next day she came home and told me this story. "Daddy", she said. You are a marketer. Can you tell me why we couldn't collect any money?


Needless to say, I was flattered and just a little proud that my little one was taking marketing advice from her dad.

So I sat her down and gave her tips on how to market her little - ahem! - operation.

The next day she implemented my suggestions and had collected $12/- in under 5 minutes and much more before the day was done...

Here is what she did not do.

0) When she failed once, she didn't give up. She didnt try the same plan.

And here's what she did.- She got expert advice.


Here is how she collected the money.

1) She started targeting parents rather than her classmates.

2) She changed the product to speak to the parent than the classmates. " My son rocks".

3) She waited until the parent was close to the son or daughter and they had exchanged their hugs before starting her pitch.

4)She used emotion in her pitch by starting with "For the victims of Haiti earthquake, can you please..."


5) She clearly stated that she was looking for $1/- or more.

6) She found a rather large open box to hold the money because they could not find a money jar.

7) She started with $1 in the box; so parents could see that someone had already given.

8) They let each parent pick out their choice of available bookmarks.

9) After the parent had given the money, they made each person write their name on a piece of paper and wrote the amount of their donation against it.

10) When each parent gave, they all sang "Thank you" in chorus and clapped their hands loudly.

11) And when she got home, she gave Daddy a big old hug.


And in this true story, my dear entrepreneur are the 10 Golden Nuggets of Sales Wisdom.