Daily Thoughts 8/5/2009 ( How You Make The Sale )

J. Sheridan LeFanu, Irish writer of ghost and mystery stories.

Daily Thoughts 8/5/2009

Every couple weeks we have a reference meeting to discuss reference books. I chose Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide by Tony Holmes for the next meeting. It has lots of pictures of old airplanes in an A to Z guide. This book covers the period from World War I to the 1970s. Janes is known for its coverage of military and civilian vehicles all over the world. If you want to know specifications for submarines, commercial aircraft, military aircraft, naval vessels, and many other vehicles, Janes provides excellent concise and accurate information about vehicles Jane's is often the best place to turn.

I did some weeding in the 700s this afternoon. Right now, we are shifting the audiobooks to make room for the fiction books. Things are moving along nicely.

I am changing the books from the Current Events display with more recent books. Right now, I looked up books on Iran, North Korea, and Iraq as well as healthcare. These seem to have a lot of news coverage right now in the United States.

I finished reading How You Make The Sale What Every New Salespersn Needs to Know by Frank McNair. This book is a book on how to do consultative selling. This book is not about how to write scripts, hard sell, or be combative.

It follows the idea that every customer has a problem which they are seeking to solve and it is the salesmans job to find the solution to that problem. This book focuses on how to listen to the customer, ask the right questions, and taylor the sale to the customers need. Frank McNair uses automotive sales for many of his examples.

There are no secrets in this book. The book describes a step by step process; meeting the customer, listening to them, clarifying their wants, determining what problem needs to be solved, knowing your product, presenting the solution with a benefit, completing the transaction, and followup. This book describes each step with examples, end of chapter questions, and chapter summaries.

The book exudes common sense. It is very easy to follow. It is the kind of sales pitch which would make me comfortable; one based on service, feedback, and research.

Starting A New Book To Read

I am starting to read Apollo's Fire, Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy by Jay Inslee and Bracken Hendricks, foreword by Bill Clinton. This book is another platform for a new energy economy. So far it has been very similar to the agenda of the book Freedom From Oil, and has mentioned very similar technologies being sold on the stock market as clean technology. The book is a political platform for the http://www.apolloalliance.org/ a liberal slate of energy legislation. I have found some interesting things to critique as I read the book. There are of course huge holes in the policies being presented, but they are fascinating to me.

I also looked through a core collection book for graphic novels recently called Graphic Novels A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More by Michael Pawuk with a foreword by Brian K. Vaughan (Genreflecting Advisory Series, Libraries Unlimited c2007). This is a collection guide for libraries to select comic books, manga, and graphic novels. It lists core selection titles which should be in libraries as well as award winners. There is an author, title, and subject in the back as well as a suggested list of websites to look at for selecting manga and graphic novels. The book is broken down into different sections of graphic novels-- superhero, action and adventure, crime and mystery, horror, romance, manga, science fiction, western, coming of age/slice of life, humor, biography, and history are covered. If you are looking for a selection list covering up to late 2006 and want to choose titles that have stood the test of time, this book is quite comprehensive. However, the reviews are not very deep.



For a nice introduction to the world of graphic novels, try the 101 Best Graphic Novels by Stephen Weiner. It gives short clear descriptions of a broad selection of graphic novels. The book is printed in 2006, so it is not that dated. It is also fairly inexpensive for a reference book, $9.95.


Both of these books are examples of core collection lists. They would help you build a collection from nothing. Essentially, they list what the author thinks are the central graphic novels in a collection. From these selection lists, you might pick out several of the older titles that are the most recommended and purchase them. There are core collection lists for all kinds of books, everything from business to womens studies.

After you had selected your core titles, then you might look to see what the community might like. This might involve visiting some of the other local libraries or bookstores near you and seeing what they are buying for their customers or patrons to read. This would give you an idea of what your community might like. This is often different from bestseller lists.

After you went through core collection lists, you might go to a specialty magazine like Previews which is the magazine which most comic book stores order from. http://previews.diamondcomics.com/public/ . It lists all the bestselling manga and graphic novels in the last month inside the magazine. This might give you an idea of where to find very popular titles. There are other specialty magazines and sites which focus on specific types of literature, Locus Magazine for science fiction and fantasy, Romantic Times for romance.

Then you might decide you needed some quality titles, maybe some comics literature. http://www.tcj.com/ The Comics Journal might have a few interesting titles or articles.

Every genre has its high end or eccentrically tasteful group of people. For Science Fiction, there is the New York Review of Science Fiction. I don't subscribe to them for the same reason I don't subscribe to The New York Review of Books, it is a bit oddly literary for my tastes. http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/olp/nyrsf/nyrsf.html