CITRUS SELLING IDEAS THAT WORK: The following is a direct copy of what the Coordinator of the Masterworks Chorale, Ted Jones, distributes to his colleagues. I pass this along to you with his kind permission.

PLAN AHEAD: Make a list ahead of time, with names and telephone numbers for the whole list. Put your name and phone number on the Citrus and Concert Announcement and Schedule, and make lots of copies. Write a short (less than one minute) phone statement, or use the example provided .. You can make 50 calls in less than an hour, and will be surprised at how many people say "YES!". Leave a message on their answering machines, and let them call you back --They will. Follow up with the fruit and concert schedule.

1. Sell close to home. It took me 112 hour to walk around my immediate neighborhood block, stuffing announcements in everyone's mail box. That got me 16 regulars, who have ordered every month for the past nine years. Many of them order more than one box each time. (Already they are asking about this year.) Use the announcement with fruit and concert schedule. Make copies with your name and phone number to hand out to people.

2. Church: Go through the church directory and call the people you think might be interested. Less than an hour on the phone got me 20 regulars, who ordered multiple times and were easy to deliver to on Sunday. (Yes, they are asking too.) Give them a copy of the schedule.

3. Send out a short E-Mail message at work. That won me 30 regulars who just sent back an E-mail response, and I brought the boxes to work. (I have retired, but still sell to some of my work customers, seven years later.)

4. Close friends and family, here and elsewhere. These boxes make GREAT Christmas or Hanukkah presents. It costs only about $12 to send a box by UPS almost anywhere in the US.

Just these four things will dramatically increase the amount of fruit you can distribute. Ted Jones of Masterworks says that he sells about 50 boxes automatically to people who signed for the season or are waiting for his call! More important, he says that these people are still better friends after nine years!

What could your sales mean to the Philharmonic Society of Arlington? The Masterworks Chorale has earned about $20,000 for each of the last six years selling citrus fruit, (a total of over $160,000 since they started nine years ago, and we can do even better!

We have about 120 members in the Chorale and Orchestra. If we sell an average of only 10 boxes per member each month next year, we will earn over $45,000 for that year! This March is a trial run, but that does not mean we shouldn’t try as hard as we can. Does that sound hard? Last year 16 Masterworks members did it, and 10 sold over a ton of fruit (100 boxes). If you sell 10 boxes a month, it will mean an annual profit for the Chorale of over $400 for just your individual efforts! Do you have 10 friends --including yourself?

People want this Citrus Fruit! This is a "No pain, no guilt" fund raiser. We are providing a real service to our customers, and they know it-- especially after they have tried the fruit.