Selling Mark Twain
Do you remember reading in "Tom Sawyer" how young Tom talked his friends into
giving up their time and their adolescent treasures to take turns doing one of
his least favorite chores: white-washing his aunt and uncle’s fence? It was
sales genius! For anyone who knows a little about Samuel Clemmons (the real name
of well-known author Mark Twain), it's easy to see that sales is a skill that
Tom Sawyer came by honestly.
Clemmons was a sales genius in his own right. In fact, while he was alive,
his books were made available only by subscription. An uncommon practice today,
subscription selling was once popular, and conferred many advantages to book
sellers.
Subscription selling permitted publishers much greater control over their
profit model for each individual book they published. As printing would not
commence until orders flowed in, printing runs could be based on actual instead
of estimated orders. This allowed those concerned with production costs to make
profit-maximizing decisions based on real information.
As a result of the personal interaction during the sales process,
subscription selling also resulted in higher sales and profits for publishers
and authors. Quite often, the same texts were made available in as many as five
or six different bindings. With proper representation, book agents could easily
sell the better-quality bindings to more affluent buyers. Sensibly, the more
elaborate bindings were offered for higher prices and, accordingly, commanded
higher margins.
Another advantage of subscription sales is that it brings with it the ability
to connect with an audience that does not shop through conventional channels.
Clemmons recognized that the vast majority of his books were sold to a more
“democratic” audience; one that did not visit bookstores as often as book
retailers, publishers and authors would like. By sending agents out into the
community, awareness for Clemmons’ books was much higher, and he could realize
much greater distribution for each book.
The agent's tools were his prospectus and his pitch. Each book agent would be
well trained in how to carry his samples, speak about, and illustrate Clemmons’
work. Deviations from the system were not encouraged. In Clemmons’ subscription
sales model, book canvassing includes 5 progressive steps taken in the following
natural order:
- First: Thorough preparation
- Second: Securing influence
- Third: Gaining a hearing
- Fourth: Creating a desire
- Fifth: Taking the order
Samuel Clemmons built an immensely successful writing career on the
subscription selling system. Can you make it work for you?
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