Choosing Ebenezer

There is something about teaching that is a little like sales. I haven’t chased down all the things they have in common, but they do work together in certain ways. I have come to this conclusion from watching Cadillac Man (as promised).

First of all, though an attractive appearance can help, it is not ALWAYS necessary. Good looking people can sell things because they are pretty and because they can sell things. Not-so-good-looking people can also sell things, not because they are pretty but because they learned to compensate, to charm, to begin the conversation. This is how sales work like a classroom.

The quality of a teacher has little to do with how the teacher looks. Certainly it can be pleasant to be in a room with a lovely looking person who has grace and style, but so little of teaching really springs from that. Entertainment sometimes does. Teaching is more about building a productive exchange, like sales. When I work with a writing student, I am beginning a conversation. In some cases the conversation is remarkably short, maybe an hour, but occasionally the conversation is LONG, years long. If it’s a good conversation, both people benefit. If it’s a good sale, both people benefit. AH! This line of thought has possibilities, no?

Sales works like teaching in another way. In the film, Joey (a sleazy car salesman) is trying to work out a deal for the release of captives from an unpredictable kidnapper named Larry. In a moment near the end of the crisis that can could lead to death or release, Joey jumps up and says, “I’ve got it. I’ve got a plan. Not A plan. I’ve got THE PLAN.” Larry asks, “What it is?” Joey answers, “Let everybody go.” He proceeds to have Larry revise the plan, change it so he likes it better, but in the end Larry lets everybody go. Originally Larry did not like the plan. He proposed revisions, but really his revisions were only hesitations, and even though Joey is not altogether honest or trustworthy, the plan works out for the best for all people involved. Everybody gets out alive. Some unhealthy affairs are ended, suffering takes place, but so does healing. Is there a better description of an English class than this.

I know there have been times when students have felt like captives, miserable captives, in my classroom, especially on days when I am returning their work (or giving them tests), but many students have been kind enough to have real writing relationships with me, and some have even gone on to become peers.  There are two teachers in my department who have been my students, and there are even more people on the campus who have been my students as well.  There are people in town who were once my captives and are now my friends.  Some never became my friends, but that’s okay, too.  Not every product or service will do for every customer. 

Maybe we teachers should think a little more about the art of the sale.  Maybe that would help us enjoy the work more. Then again, maybe teaching is MORE than sales…

When I started teaching, too many years ago, I used to make the joke, “I’m so bad at sales, that if I were a prostitute, I’d starve.” Yep. Not all that funny.

In my life I have had a number of jobs aside from teaching. I have been a baby sitter, a custodian, a welder, an assembly line worker, an assistant cook, a waitress, a lab assistant, and a clerical worker. None of these jobs had anywhere near the appeal of teaching, and only one of them involved sales in any way. I was terrible at table service. I couldn’t tell who could be trusted or who could read or who had any money in his pocket. My only other experiences with sales were as a Brownie and a member of the marching band. At various times I had to sell cookies, posters, soap, hard candy, enchiladas, and gargantuan milk chocolate bars.

Now I face the challenge of starting my own publishing house, small though it be. In the past year I have had the chance to observe people working in the publishing industry, and I realize that I am only now beginning to understand what sales are.

My first truth of sales has to do with the product. You can’t miss with good material. If the product is worth the money, it will sell itself, the second time. So, this is especially true with things like wine and soap and exercise pants. I will admit I have done repeat buying, at premium prices, for these items. I need them, and I use them, and I am willing to pay a little extra for the good stuff. Here are some things I put on this list–Imperial Kir at the Pecos Flavors Winery, Thymes Lavender Soap at Tinnie Merchantile Store, and Starfish exercise pants from Land’s End.

As a publisher, I see the value of good product, but how does one sell books? People are changing the way they buy books, and books aren’t wine. You can’t use them up. Finally, how do you sell anything the FIRST time?

I think it may involve a RELATIONSHIP. Sales is more about meeting people where they are and giving them encouragement to try something–something new, something unknown, something…(dare I suggest this) pleasurable. The first time someone buys a product, it may be as much about the sales rep as it is about the product. The moment of a sale is the establishment of a conversation, and the great sales people consider it only the BEGINNING of the conversation.

This week I’m going to watch Robin Williams in Cadillac Man, again.  I have a feeling it will give me useful advice about how to sell.  I just thought it was a funny movie, but there may be more to it.