Top seller ready to start

BY ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
Thursday, January 17, 2008

The five-time winner hasn't reached her twelfth birthday.

When 11-year-old Alexis Koehler was in kindergarten, she was too young to sell Girl Scout cookies.

Since she was eligible to sell, however, she's been the top cookie seller in the area.

Alexis, along with her mother and troop leader Cecilia Koehler, has had a winning strategy for selling cookies for the past five years. Each year, the Koehlers sell thousands of boxes of cookies as part of the Girl Scout cookie annual fundraiser, which starts Saturday.

"Last year, we sold our last box on the last day of school, so we were selling 4-1/2 months," Cecilia Koehler said. "It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication."

Dedication that has its rewards, Alexis Koehler said, including a trip to Walt Disney World for the entire troop.

Some of Alexis Koehler's favorite prizes are trips to summer camp, including horseback riding.

"You did everything with the horses; trimmed them, groomed them, did tricks with them," she said.

It was not initially a goal of the mother-daughter duo to go for "top seller," they said.

"They said, 'You're the winner,' and I thought, 'The winner of what?'" Alexis Koehler said.

Koehler is among more than 10,000 area Girl Scouts who will begin going door to door, distributing fliers and practicing other sales techniques beginning Saturday, said Ingrid Williams, chief communications director for the Girl Scouts of Magic Empire Council of northeastern Oklahoma. The Magic Empire covers the Tulsa area, Muskogee and Stillwater.

Sales will continue through Feb. 3 and delivery and booth sales will begin in March.

"A lot of this is on the side of goal setting," Williams said. "Troops teach them how to work with money as well as the usual safety lessons. They're learning the business side of things."

In addition to the 78 percent of proceeds going directly to area Girl Scout projects and troop funds, girls also have great personal rewards beyond the prizes, said Sasha Foppiano, council communications specialist.

"They get over that shyness," she said. "Girl Scouts made me swallow that down and go talk to these people to sell cookies."

Every girl has her own selling strategy, Williams said. Alexis Koehler's selling strategies include having a regular customer base each year, while with a friendly face persuading new buyers.

"They say I'd make a good car salesman," she said.

The Koehlers' success story is inspiring for others and remarkable, Foppiano said.

"She increases sales every year, so she has mastered the art of sales," Foppiano said. "She's a good people person with good communication skills."

More importantly, their story of having a mother and daughter work together is something Williams hopes other Girl Scouts will enjoy this selling season.

So, what is the selling secret? That's just the thing -- it's a secret, they said.

"I'll probably be the top seller until they figure it out," Alexis Koehler said.

Althea Peterson 581-8361
althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com

Counting on Cookies

The first recorded Girl Scout cookie fundraiser nationally was in Muskogee in December 1917.

Alexis Koehler, with help from her mom, Cecilia Koehler, has been the top selling Girl Scout cookie seller for five straight years.

She surpassed her own record of 2,992 boxes in 2006 to sell 4,063 boxes in 2007.

Cookies are $4 per box, with 78 percent going directly to local Girl Scout troops and council projects and activity funds.

New flavors: “Lemon Chalet Cremes” and “Sugar Free Chocolate Chips.” All cookies have zero grams of trans fat per serving.

If no Girl Scouts offer to sell cookies, call 749-2551 or 800-707-9914 to order cookies through the local council.

Associated Images:

Alexis Koehler (left) and fellow Girl Scouts Hannah Neese and Taylor Hill (right) look over paperwork and talk about this year’s Girl Scout cookie drive. The three talked during their Scouts meeting at McKinley Elementary School this week.