Wichita Girl Scouts learn cookie-selling tricks at Cookie College (+video)

Wichita-area Girl Scouts will be set loose to sell their Thin Mints and Caramel deLites in two weeks, and it’s useless to resist them.

The little businesswomen know your sugar secrets. They know all your potential excuses not to buy, and they know how to counter them.

They learned all their tricks at the fifth annual Girl Scout Cookie College, an event held Saturday afternoon at Wichita State University’s Rhatigan Student Center. About 60 Scouts, most between fourth and eighth grades, attended for training, team building, idea sharing and cookie eating. But not nearly enough cookie eating.

“We only had one cookie, and that’s not enough,” said Katelyn Barnes, 10.

Eating had to be limited because shipments of Girl Scout cookies, which go on sale Feb. 13, aren’t yet in. But they’re expected to arrive this week, said Robin Parker, one of the organizers of the event sponsored by Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland.

The young students split up between different classrooms and rotated classes throughout the day, just as real college students do. In one session, they talked about business ethics and communication. In another, they learned how to market their business, making signs they plan to hang in their cookie booths.

Lauryn Lee, 10, designed a poster with several persuasive sayings, ranging from “Keep calm and eat cookies” to “What do you want? Cookies. When do you want them? Now.”

This will be Lauryn’s fifth year selling cookies, and her secret is kindness, she said.

“I’m just really nice when I sell my cookies,” she said. “And I try to sell them to a lot of people.”

In one session, led by local marketer and former Girl Scout Rachel Stanley-Williams, girls were encouraged to list potential reasons people might say “no” to their sales pitches.

“I’ve already bought some,” the girls decided, could be countered with “Don’t you want some more?”

“I’m allergic to gluten,” they reasoned, could be countered with an offer of the Trios cookies, which are gluten-free.

What if they say they have no money?

“You could say, ‘OK, thanks,’ ” one Girl Scout offered.

“That’s one option,” Stanley-Williams said. “Or you could tell them they could stop back by later. Or offer to e-mail them a link so they can buy cookies instantly at their houses.”

Cookies, which are $4 a box, will be on sale from Feb. 13 to March 20. Local girls will offer these flavors: Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Peanut Butter Patties, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Shortbread, Cranberry Citrus Crisps, Thanks-A-Lots, the gluten-free Trios and Lemondaes, whose fans will celebrate the cookie’s 10th anniversary this year.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Wichita Girl Scouts learn cookie-selling tricks at Cookie College (+video)."