My wife Reetta Miettinen, the Managing Director of Taskukirja Loisto Oy recruited me to help the Loisto book stand during the Turku International Book Fair. Taskukirja Loisto is the leading Finnish pocket book company, for example at the moment the top 16 pocket books in the Finnish top 20 best seller list are from LOISTO.
I enjoyed the challenge to be a salesman immensely. We gave away hundreds of pocket book catalogues and sold scores of books, utilising "three for the price of two" special to shift the volumes.
Picture: Kaisa Tenhunen, Leena Lehtolainen ja Sami MiettinenThe situation was very much exactly like from the hit TV-series The Apprentice. A book fair would be a great episode for the programme, and it would be cool to see either Alan Sugar or Donald Trump to recreate this. I tried several approaches to lock in to customers. The most effective style for me appeared to be the use of even slightly over the top humor as well as spelling out the 3-for-2 special discount (the members of Team Prometheus should remember my "literary candy"-routine for some time :-)
The seller should take the use of humour seriously. A good-humoured customer who enjoys their time with you is much more likely to buy than one that is gloomy. This applies in negotiations in general.
I also met a number of interesting people during the book fair, including the best selling author above, Leena Lehtolainen. Her book Luonas en ollutkaan was the No. 1 best-seller in Finland during the book fair. I also discussed with the member of European Parliament, Sirpa Pietikäinen, who had recently inherited the place held by the Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb (also an interviewee) in Brussels.
Picture: Sirpa Pietikäinen and Sami Miettinen
All in all, the weekend was extremely interesting, and the team spirit was excellent. The attendance in the 2008 Turku International Book fair also broke the record with 23,450 visitors, so recession-mentality was not yet present in the event.
2 comments:
I like The Apprentice! Do you think Alan Sugar or Donald Trump are good negotiators?
/ Tim
Hmm, so it looks like you had a chance to practice "speed negotiation". Considering that you probably had between 5-10 minutes to complete each sale, that means that you'd need to create rapport (w/ humor), establish trust ("3 for the price of 2"), and finally leave them satisfied (so they'll buy from you at the next book fair). Not bad!
- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Accidental Negotiator Blog
"Learn The Secrets of Side-By-Side Negotiating To Get The Most Value Out Of Every Negotiation"
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