Plan for a Successful Fruit Sale

STEPP PRODUCE COMPANY

Visit our website at www.800apples2.com

Phone: (800) 277-5372

PLAN FOR A SUCCESSFUL FRUIT SALE

(1) Set the date. We recommend that you keep the sale to no more than three weeks. Most groups have found that an intensive three week sales campaign will produce the best results. Three weeks is ample time for most participants to meet their sales goals. A longer campaign can tend to drain the enthusiasm of the participants. Customers will also appreciate delivery within a shorter time frame. Even though we recommend three weeks, we will work with you to accommodate your schedule.

(2) Order free sales kits. As soon as you have set the date for the sale, call us at (800) 277-5372, (800-APPLES-2). We will send you brochures and tally sheets. We will also send you our cd that has helpful information, art work, etc. We will also discuss the price and availability of the fruit.

(3) Organize. Good organization will involve delegating responsibility to different leaders. Following is an example of how you can do this.

Sales Director – Is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the fruit sale, directing the managers, team leaders, and motivating team members. The Sales Director will communicate directly with our office. We will keep The Sales Director informed of prices, availability, shipping dates, etc. The sales director will be in charge of placing the order with our office by fax or email by the order deadline.

Team Leaders – Are responsible for overseeing the performance of sales people on their team. Team Leaders will keep totals of the fruit sold and motivate their team to meet their goals. They will need to work directly with the Sales and Distribution Manager. They will also need to work directly with the Treasurer regarding collection of money.

Receiving Manager – Is responsible for securing a location for receiving, unloading, and distributing the fruit. He will be in charge of verifying the exact count, inspecting for quality, and signing the bill of lading. A resourceful receiving manager may be able to negotiate the use of forklifts and possibly a warehouse, making it easier to unload the fruit. The Receiving Manager should do everything possible to ensure quality control. He should make sure that all participants of the sale are informed about the care and handling of fresh fruit.

Treasurer – Is responsible for collecting, distributing and accounting for all money. The treasurer should work directly with the Team Leaders in order to coordinate collection. He should keep the Sales Director informed of collection progress.

Publicity Manager: This person should develop a plan for taking advantage of free publicity through your group's website, local newspapers, television and radio. Write up a brief announcement outlining the purpose of your fruit sale. In many cases if you are giving part or all of your profit to a worthy cause, your local media will announce your sale free of charge.

The publicity manager should also work with individual team members to post brochures in public places. Put the phone numbers of team members on the brochure. Talk with each team member to come up with ideas for getting the message out.

(4) Plan ahead. (Manager’s planning meeting) The Sales Director should call a meeting of all managers well before the kickoff date. This is the time to pass out sales materials and develop a sales plan. A good sales plan will state an overall objective.

For example: Our goal is to sell one truckload of fruit. This will result in an estimated net profit of $16,000.00. This plan will then outline in detail the strategy for accomplishing this objective.

Sales Objective: To sell an average of twenty - 20 pound boxes of fruit per participant. 20 X 100 participants = 2,000 boxes of fruit = 1 truckload of fruit = $16,000.00. This plan would then set forth objectives for individual sales teams.

The Sales Director should then outline his plan for selling and distributing the fruit. He will need to outline procedure for collection, customer service, etc. He should also outline his plan for handling special delivery of large orders of fruit. He will need to give a roster to each Team Leader, listing his team members and their phone numbers. He should also delegate the responsibility of preparing sales kits to a person or group of persons. Each sales kit should contain tally sheets, brochures, your group's personalized flyers, and other sales materials that you would like to provide for each team member.

The Receiving Manager should then outline his plan for receiving and unloading the fruit. He should also outline the procedure for the handling and storage of fruit. This will better ensure quality control.

The treasurer should then outline his plan for collection of money. He should be given rosters of each Team with names and phone numbers of all participants of the sale.

(5) Kickoff time. It is best to kick off your sale with a meeting of all participants of the sale. At this meeting, divide the participants into teams and pass out sales kits. Each sales kit should contain brochures, receipts, flyers, and any other sales aids. Give instructions regarding sales procedures, collection of money, and payment deadlines. Also discuss record keeping, proper reporting of sales figures, sales methods, and overall strategy.

It is important to stress the reason for the fruit sale. This meeting will allow the leaders to give the entire sales team proper motivation. If all team members clearly see the importance of the sales goals, they will work harder to achieve those goals.

Let all of the team members know that they will have support from the entire team. For example, many businesses will buy large quantities of fruit as gifts for employees and customers. Team members need to know that if they receive a large order, a plan is in place to help them deliver the order.

(6) During the sale. It is best to have team members collect the money in advance from their customers. By collecting in advance, you should be able to collect enough money ahead to pay for your shipment. This will save you 1% to 3% of your total by prepaying. This could result in several hundred dollars in extra profits to your group. It is best to give the customers a written receipt with the team member’s name and telephone number. You can buy these at any office supply store.

You may want to instruct team members that if anyone objects to paying in advance, take their orders anyway. You don’t want to miss a sale for this reason. Most people will pay for the fruit as promised. If not, it can be sold to another customer.

Have team members be consistent in reporting fruit sales totals to their team leaders on a weekly basis. This will help everyone see the progress of the sale as they work to meet their sales goals. Build enthusiasm! Keep your sales results posted on a “thermometer” or graph chart for everyone to see.

A poster with a picture of a fruit truck showing the percentage of a truckload sold is an excellent way to visualize progress.

Some sales teams may want to set aside a special day for a team sales drive. Canvassing neighborhoods in pairs has proven to be a successful strategy for generating extra orders.

(7) Place your order. The Sales Director will need to fax or email the fruit fundraiser order form to us by the order deadline. After we receive your order, we will email or fax your invoice for prepayment. (See credit terms in your price quote)

After we receive your fruit order, we will confirm it with the fruit shippers. After everything is arranged, we will call you to give you the day and time of your scheduled fruit delivery. We will keep you informed on the progress of the deliveries after the fruit is shipped.

The trucker will be asked to arrive on schedule. We will do everything we can to keep communication lines open with him and with the Sales Director. It is important that you give as much information as possible by completing the order form. All of the information on the order form is necessary to ensure on time delivery.

(8) When the fruit arrives. The Receiving Manager will need to make arrangements with volunteers to help unload the fruit. When unloading the fruit, care should be taken to count every box of each type of fruit. Do not distribute any fruit until it is counted and the bill is signed. If there are any discrepancies, they must be noted on the bill of lading before the trucker leaves. When the bill is signed and the trucker has left, you have agreed that everything on the bill is correct. It is very important to correct any discrepancies before he leaves. The trucker is not responsible for shortages unless this procedure is followed.

It is also important to spot check the quality of the fruit throughout the entire load. Any major problems will need to be dealt with before the trucker leaves. Our shippers will be shipping us U.S.D.A. inspected fruit that meets U.S.D.A. quality standards. We will make every effort to avoid quality problems, but if any occur, we will meet them head on and solve them to the satisfaction of all parties involved.

If any one type of fruit averages less than 3% spoilage, this is considered normal by U.S.D.A. standards. Spoilage less than 3% must be reported to us within one week in order to receive credit. If spoilage averages more than 3% on any one type of fruit, we must be notified within 24 hours of delivery. This would be an excessive amount of spoilage and would have to be dealt with within 24 hours in order to receive an adjustment from the shipper.

The Distribution Manager will need to organize his team leaders and members for efficient distribution. Plans for accomplishing this task will vary according to available volunteers, facilities, etc. In short, the more efficiently the fruit can be unloaded, distributed and delivered the better. We will be distributing a perishable product that should be in the hands if the end user as quickly as possible. Please read the section entitled, “Proper Care and Handling of Fresh Fruit.”

(9) Paying the invoice. In the fresh fruit industry, standard terms are net 10 days. Federal law requires us to pay within 10 days to ensure that farmers receive their money on time. If we have extended credit to your organization, please make plans to pay within the credit terms.

(10) Start planning for your next sale. Organizations that have had fruit sales year after year found that they have a high percentage of repeat customers. Customers look forward to enjoying good quality fruit.

In order to make your next fruit sale easier, we recommend that you collect all tally sheets from all participants and save them for future reference. You will be able to develop a customer list. It is best, however to organize that list by sales team members. This will allow sales team members to make personal contact with their customers in the future.

We also recommend that you have a meeting to list points that will improve your next sale. We would also like to hear any suggestions that you think would help us to better serve you in the future. Please fax or email them to us.

(11) Enjoy the “fruits of your labor.” This is the most rewarding part of your fruit sale. You will experience a great deal of satisfaction knowing that you gave your customers quality, value, and enjoyment. The teamwork that you developed will help benefit your organization in future projects. And last but not lease, you will have the funds to provide more services to your organization or charitable cause.