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?
Selling Mark Twain - To learn more about this author, visit Robin Johnston's Website.
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Dave Kurlan
Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development.
Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit.
He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine.
He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball.
He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George Ludwig
George Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance.
Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson.
His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more.
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Robin Johnston
(Visit Robin's Website)
Robin C. Johnston is a speaker, author and
executive advisor based in Asheboro, NC.
Robin speaks on sales, marketing, customer
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first-time entrepreneurs as well as
established enterprises. Visit www.robinjoh
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