It's a great day to be a bookman

            What do you think about sales? This is what Seng Kiet asked me when we used Skype to have a conversation few months ago. I was so surprised that Lorraine actually called me for one day because we never used to hang out together so often back to the university life in Malaysia. She asked me whether I was interested to work for a book company so that I was able to save some money during this summer. When Seng Kiet (Lorraine's manager) gave me the presentation about the sales, I was impressed by Seng Kiet's sincerity. Since Lorraine and Seng Kiet were in Buffalo, New York and I was in Lincoln Nebraska, thus they had to use the computer to talk with me. I still remember, my answer to the question that Seng Kiet asked was "sales, for me, is a "win win" situation, you win I win everybody win". I felt this strongly after my summer came to the end. It was because I was actually improving myself (all kinds of skill) and I was actually helping Mrs. Jones to understand the words of God better.

            Few weeks later, Lorraine called me again and said there was a manager called Victor was coming to UNL and he was able to meet me up and talk more about it because I was actually having some thoughts. It was hard for me to take the first step and join this. Victor came to UNL quite often, whenever he came, we met up. The date was getting nearer but I felt like I didn't do much preparation for varsity as I was quite busy for personal schedule as well. The stressful thing was the moment when Spartan called me and asked me about the stuff related to driving license. Everything was settled in a real quick and inefficiency but luckily Tick Loong trained me for the sales talk and he shared a lot of his experience when he was a bookman.

           It was the time I was trained in sales school in Oxford Mississippi, I met a lot of people from Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam and China. I didn't used to drive often back to Malaysia so when I knew that I have to drive my own car from Louisiana to Oxford, I was stunned. The difficult thing that I had to go through in sales school was the approach and pre-approach demonstration. It was hard for me and I felt so down. A lot of managers said that I was so unfriendly, fierce, being not persistent of getting names and did not follow the so called the five elements of pre-approach. I was so stressful and felt like crying after that. However, I was told that the real situation was totally different when compared to the demonstration performed by managers.

            Here was the time, I followed my headquater manager, Louis to Alexander city in Alabama state. Everything still seemed blur for me but I got to knock my door. Nobody actually told me what was country side, what was country people, what was county, what was the difference between city and country side, what was the difference between the mentality of white people and black people and so on. I drove my car to the Wetumpka city and knocked my first door in city. It was hard for me to get into the house but yet, I got to notice the importance of conducting the 8 steps for sales:

1) Prospecting and pre-approach

2) Approaching the customers

3) Set up

4) Defining and fill in the need

5) Presenting the products

6) Responding to the objections

7) Closing

8) Cementing & Pre-approach

            Step one is the most important step in sales because it will save my time for finding the strong prospects. Besides that, we need to catch the Mrs. Jones at the right time. Specific questions must be asked so that we won’t catch the wrong people, we won’t miss catching people and we will get to know a little bit about the background of the person. Arranging the strong prospects is another crucial thing that need to pay attention to.

            Step two is hard for me because people used to build two kinds of images on me, one is serious and the other one is I look like a kid. I learnt to be friendly and give a big smile whenever people opened the door for me but sometimes it was still hard for me to enter the house. For my first two weeks, I had never followed my pre-approach properly. I just knocked the door randomly and visited them. After that, I knew the importance of building credibility by throwing the names that I have visited to Mrs. Jones. First image is very important, there was a Mrs. Jones, he analyzed my personality by interpreting the first image. I used to pay a good smile or else be joyful whenever I met people. I was surprised that some Mrs. Jones, they bought the books from me because they like my manners. Therefore, we should create a good image from the perspective of appearance, personality, smile, posture, gesture and manners when we step out to society for working.

            Step three is set up. Basically, set up is a step to build the credibility of our personality, let them feel more comfortable about you and get to know more about our Mrs. Jones so that they will decide whether should listen to you. Some Mrs. Jones, they were hearing to me but not listening to me. A good set up skill requires only one thing, which is sincerity. No matter what kind of situation besides selling, we should always tell the truth and try not to cheat Mrs. Jones. At this point, I am improving my life skill, which is to make Mrs. Jones feel interested on me. I am glad that some Mrs. Jones said, "tell me more about yourself, I found that you are interesting". Sometimes, I could see from Mrs. Jones's non verbal communication will imply that he/she really interested on you. By having a good set up skill, I was able to proceed easily. I was so surprised that I was able to sell some books in court house, city hall, saloon and gas station. The people in the court house even agreed to help me to take care of my bounce check personally without having me to go back to Alabama. Also, I learnt how to control some distractions as some of it really freak me out. With manipulation, the communication will be more effective and efficient.

            Step four is defining and fill in the need. This is how I analyzed what selling idea do I need to form so that Mrs. Jones will be interested to get the books. For example, those books can be a gift to others, donation to library, study guide, investment of education and as a collection. Same thing apply to our lives, we need to figure out what people really need, then we'll fill in their need by presenting what are most suitable for them.

            Step five is the presentation. Basically the key in this step is to gain attention of the audience. Try to make them feel interested about the books. What I did was, I used to relate the contents of the books to the real life of Mrs. Jones so that Mrs. Jones won’t feel boring and left out when I talk about the book. Sometimes, when I talk about something, Mrs. Jones get excited and tell me more about the matter happened to him/her. Once he/she get excited to share more about their story, this step is going to be a successful step. In this step, sometimes I take advantage of chance to continue my set up a little bit too. I did not afraid to show set although it was tiring. Sometimes, we talked out of the topic too, just like we need to think out of the box whenever we face to certain problem in order to look at the things at a different perspective.

            Step Six is about responding to objection. Some Mrs. Jones, they vocalized some strong objections because they did not want to or else unwilling to buy the books from us although they are able to afford it. This was hard for me because initially, I was so shy to push them to buy. I did not be persistent initially and just left the house when they said no. After that, I got to know that if I persistent to help myself, Mrs. Jones will help those who help themselves. Once somebody's objection has been responded properly, that person will feel more comfortable with you and it is easier to close. What I did was, I always relate the importance of the books to them.

           Step seven is the critical step for sales which is closing. If I do not close it properly, I might lose a lot of sales. During the closing part, I have to be very humble. First of all, I built the price credibility so that Mrs. Jones would feel that it was worth buying the books. At the same time, I did not push them too hard for buying the books. I tried to create a joyful and relax atmosphere so that they won’t feel pressure. Then, I explained the payment method that Mrs. Jones is able to deal with. Most crucial, I always tried to build a community spirit that everybody has been blessing me through college by getting the books from me. Also, I tried my best to help Mrs. Jones to get the books if they were unable to get it at that time.

            Step eight is about the cementing. This is an useful step because we do not want our customer to feel regret of buying the books. I personally think that this can be applied to our real life no matter what in order to make the person feel good for helping us. The main point is, he/she might be glad to help us again for the next time. Learning how to response to different Mrs. Jones in order to make them feel good is another life skill. Gradually, I know the importance of cementing when I actually got a book return from my Mrs. Jones.

            Actually, throughout the whole summer, I cried about two times. A lot of things happened such as, tire burst, sickness, people unfriendly to me, people invited me to have sex, working in heavy rains, and having hard time to bear my Mrs. Jones. I even changed my county about 3 times, from Elmore county to Macon county and Coosa county. I couldn't forget the difficult moments that I had been through in Macon county. Somebody told me, if you ever cried over something that you have contributed to, you will appreciate and get to know the beauty of your tears. What I have gone through have made me stronger and guide me to look at this world from different perspective. I am glad that I have overcome certain fears of unknown. I am glad that my manager always be with me to encourage me and keep my mind positive.

            Overall, what I learnt can't be completely told but I definitely have grown. I never ever feel regret to join Varsity. If somebody ever asked me, what is the most unforgettable memory of you for this year? I would say, those days when I was a bookman. I definitely going to apply what I have learned throughout the whole summer to my real life. Last but not least, I am so proud that I am a bookman. It's a great day to be a bookman.