Don’t ever make the mistake of assuming that creativity is what makes the world work wonders. I see everyone selling something or the other all over. Hard-sell, I thought had finally conquered the human mind… until I read what Leo Burnett had to say on this. He wrote that there’s no such thing as ‘hard sell’ and ‘soft sell.’ And that there’s only ‘smart sell’ and ‘stupid sell.’ If you assumed that smart sellers were only in real life and never online, think again. If you thought only those who had old cars, outdated gadgets, and real estate in god-forsaken places, think again. I see even authors and publishers doing this without being bothered about how they will be perceived.
Let me first talk about Lit fests. There is one called the Vasant Vihar Lit Fest.
What? Now a Vasant Vihar lit fest?
Looks like it…
So how far are we from Mayur Vihar or Pahar Ganj or Uttam Nagar also jumping in?
I guess, they aren’t far behind.
So the lit fest race is ON?
Looks like.
The truth is that most published work in our country qualifies to go directly to the recycle bin. MOST. I mean, I don’t want all my author friends to unfriend and unfollow me on the social media. But lit fests, as I understand, are just another attempt to sell everything from ‘fun-time’ to parties to opinions that no one ever pays heed to. A friend on Facebook, Shreemoyee Piu Kundu wrote in a recent update that she ‘always maintained that literary festivals now raining down in a country where plush bookstores store more mobile phone covers than books are more commercial enterprises than coming from a place of genuine and deep respect for all sorts of writers’.
It isn’t just these fests that have become more like sales jamborees because even book launches have appeared almost like Eureka salesmen ringing your door-bell in the years gone by. I recall a funny incident at a recent book launch. Once the protocol of holding the book up for the dozen odd people to click and share on the social media was over I stood there in a corner waiting to buy a copy and get it signed by my friend who had written it. That was when this smart looking female came to me and said, ‘You like reading books?’
I do, I said.
‘Do you mind if I give you my book?’ she asked, ‘I’ll sign it for you.’
Now, why will anyone refuse an author offering a signed copy of her book? I nodded my head and she simply went to a pile of books in the bookstore-cum-café where we were all gathered and came back with a thin volume with an ugly cover design and a title that I wouldn’t ever have picked. She thrust one in my hands and smiled, ‘You will be helping an author.’ And after saying this she vanished.
Of course, I ended up buying this one as well but wondered why she said she wanted to give me a signed copy. According to my sixty year old mindset she could easily have asked me to buy a copy. That would have been so much better. By the way, this ‘art of giving’ being another forlorn euphemism for selling is there even on Whatsapp and every other communication channel now existing. To get ore tips on how to reach your customers for selling products services or even properties, just read this article about the new IDX Broker alternative. If you’re having a problem selling your property, conveyancer Melbourne – haitchconvey.com.au will help you sell it faster and fix the documents right away. Hiring a property solicitors plays a vital role in a smooth transaction. But if you’ve got misconceptions about process servers, read this article to gain knowledge on this.
I have since then discovered that authors on the social media never really say that they want to sell a copy. They talk about giving it away. Selling is more like a funny euphemism that will probably make even Philip Kotler cringe. However, this isn’t smart selling at all. The truth is that even book launches have become complex layered events where I have seen other authors pushing their own publication. If things move in this direction for some more time, even authors will be thought of as shady dealers… I mean, this has already happened to thousands of educational institutes and colleges, hospitals and clinics, law firms, management and other consultants, and even tutorials.
Selling to scrap metal dealers, I have always maintained, is a noble art with no place for shifty phrases that never mean what they say. Before stepping into the world of corporate communications and then into journalism and blogging, I have spent more than twenty years in hardcore sales. Never once do I remember slipping in sentences that mislead or force a wrong decision from a potential customer. I have always believed that giving out all facts straight wins more customers than attempts to slip in sideways or giving a voice to claims that may not stand the scrutiny of a deeper investigation.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with sales instincts so long as they revolve around facts that can be proven and are not shamelessly attempting to fool a person. If you’re a mortgage lender, then your sales instincts should be to find ways on generating mortgage lead.
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We live in a world populated by sales instincts
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Arvind Passey
22 January 2019
