Usborne - Books Kids Love!

20 Things I’ve learned working the S&L Market

20. Patience is a virtue – sometimes a librarian will meet with you once, or twice, or more without placing an order.  Or she/he may place only a small order to “test the waters.”  Continuing to call on a librarian repeatedly will most often build trust and camaraderie which will lead to greater sales

19. Building a trusting, loyal relationship is important – you want your library and school customers to have great faith in you.  By calling on them every six months, they get to know you personally and look forward to working with you each season.  You want to be a friend, not just a sales person.

18. Professionalism is paramount – this is a market where we are expected to be professional in dress, conduct and service.  It is crucial to your business, and that of other EC’s, for you to maintain a professional appearance, demeanor and impeccable service.    

17. Follow the Home Office S&L Policies – this will save you and the librarians much pain and embarrassment.   Policies are rules, and these are made to be followed for our own good!  Read the manual. Know the policies and abide by them.  If anything is unclear, ask your Supervisor to clarify for you.

16. Service the heck out of your listings – there are so many avenues in one school or library!  Start with the media specialist, then move to gifted teachers, young adult librarians, speech and hearing, foreign language, art, music, special education, classroom teachers.  You can have host a school wide teachers’ lounge display to hit them all at once, or make individual appointments.  But work ‘em from all angles! Often you can find names of all these people on the school/library’s website staff listing.  Do you know what’s going on within the school?  Special events that you can set up a booth for?  PTA looking for a different fundraiser or an alternative book fair?

15. Don't ever wait for them to call you back, nor ask them to call you back.  They don't do that.  Ask when is the best time to catch them & call then until you get them.   Be persistent and polite.

14. When calling to book appointments, be confident and ready to schedule – much like booking home shows, you want to have your calendar handy and after introducing yourself, tell the media specialist right away that you’d like to come by and bring our latest catalog and some samples to share would ______ or ______ work best for her?  Work on the date that’s convenient for both of you and then ask “Are there any specific areas you are in need of adding to your collections?”  That way you’ll know if she’s looking for something specific and what you can focus on when you arrive.

13. Keep good records of past orders, special requests, personal information –  you can go through the catalog the day before you meet with them and check off all the titles they’ve ordered in the past, books that they wanted to order "next time", & such. That way they won’t accidentally order duplicates *and* they may see the mark for one book they ordered in a series and say “Oh, now those are great. I want the whole series this time!”  This is an awesome service that keeps them ordering from you. Also note the pronunciation of the librarian's name, personal tidbits  mentioned (so you can ask how their daughter's wedding went or ask about their special hybrid lilacs, etc.)  I keep one notebook just for my S&L appointment bag with all these notes in it.

12. Organize your samples – On days when I’m really at my best, J I use a method that Ruth Smith taught me.  I put all my samples to show in order that they appear in the catalog so that as I pull them out, we can go along together through the catalog from front to back, allowing them to see everything on the page and talk about things in a relaxed, sequential pace. 

11. Listening will lead to more sales – Keeping my mouth shut a good bit at library appointments usually leads to a larger order.  The librarians are experts on what they want and need and they *love* to look at books.  Allowing them to oooh and ahhhh over our extraordinary books will help them have a long wish list of titles for you to order and they will ask questions. 

10. Have two catalogs when you visit – one for them and one for you.  This allows you to flip around finding things they ask for in your index, while they are ogling books. And this keeps them from having to skip around in their catalog and lose their place.  Give them a Sharpie to mark the titles they want as they go and you can jot down those titles as they mark them so you have a list too.  Then offer to take their catalog home and enter their wish list in OPOL so you can fax/drop off a copy for their approval.  I always tell them I’ll return the catalog so they can keep it on file. 

 9. Treat your customers to a treat – taking a thank you gift around the Holidays is a nice gesture and a reason to drop in and say hello and remind them you’ll be calling in January with new titles to share.  A thank you note or email after an appointment is also a great way to show you appreciate their taking time to visit with you.  You may even want to bring a box of donuts to a visit if you’re feeling extra generous.  These are small things, that set you apart.

8. Go visit even if they don’t have money to spend – First off, they’ll know you’re not just there to service them for the sale.  Secondly, you can help them make their wish list for when the new budget is available – you can even do the order on OPOL and hold it for when they’re ready!  Third, I’ve found that often when a librarian sees something she wants really badly, she’ll find a way to fund the purchase.

7. S&L leads come from home shows consistently – Home Shows really do generate some terrific S&L leads.  The parents there may be involved in the PTA and want to use your services, they may know of grants the school has to spend, they may be a volunteer in the media center and want to introduce you to the librarian.  As long as they are with your own listings or an *unlisted* school, you are set.  So keep working Home Shows too!  This will also ensure that you keep your $350 net minimum per 3 months to maintain the listings you’re working.

6. What goes around comes around – If you get a lead for a listed school, be generous and give it to the person who has the listing.  This is the professional and ethical thing to do.

5. Promote the S&L monthly special!  - The home office is giving you this great tool!  Use it to the fullest.

4. Cataloging is not a four letter work – ordering processing isn’t always a piece of cake.  However, I find it easiest when I either ask the librarian to fill out the form for me, or I go over it with her just as if I were interviewing her.  After the first order, you’ll have all the specs information in OPOL, so all you should need is to look at their last order, order the same labels and get a starting bar code number from your librarian.

3. Know their Method of Payment  -  find out at the appointment what method of payment they prefer to use, school credit card or Purchase Order.  If you are new to their school system, you may ask them to fill you in on their ordering process.  Every system is different, so make sure to find out how their process works.

2. Ask for referrals.  You could ask if they know of other media specialists who might be interested in seeing the books, too. 

1. The Fortune is in the Follow Up – you will have to stay on top of things as librarians are incredibly busy and their time and energy are often stretched very thin.  Remember your order is number one priority to you, not necessarily number one on their list.  So call once a week if you’re waiting on an order and offer to help in anyway you can to make the process easier.  You may be able to help with paperwork or by just faxing/dropping off the OPOL printout to your librarian.