As a bookseller at various stores, I can honestly say with, LOL, humility, that I was extremely customer oriented. Too much for one owner who found customers annoying and wouldn’t deal with them or authors unless forced to. There was, I’m not sure if this holds true now, a certain snobbishness in some independent bookstores. Some workers practiced this behavior within a famous independent bookstore in NYC, almost as if the customer wasn’t good enough to walk through their doors, and if they did arrive and wanted to ask a question, they were looked down upon long noses of distaste as if to say, “you really don’t know the answer to That?”
Well, those stores are long gone, as are most, within Manhattan.
One of the first things I learned when dealing with inexplicable customer behavior, was to be patient, keep my cool, never ever become snippy, testy, sarcastic, or downright rude–behaviors I encountered quite frequently even among co-workers. Actually, it wasn’t an attitude taught, I chose to adopt that stance. I’d worked in retail before, various and sundry things, and in my mind the old saying, ‘the customer is always right” remained.
So, what to do when customers are rude to you or ask impossible questions, or have particular behavior idiosyncrasies? Go with the flow. Be sincere. Helpful, even if you can’t help. Make sure their non experience be a good one–get my drift? Even if a customer comes in and wants ‘that really good book, oh what was the name, oh, I can’t remember the author either, but I do know the cover was red!’ make them feel you are doing everything possible to locate it, short of grabbing any red jacketed book in the store and thrusting it towards the clueless patron.
It’s a mite easier when the independent bookstore is specialized, like crime fiction, or science fiction, history, etc. The content is limited at least, to that genre. So, suppose the question is posed, here’s what I remember responding:
Do you remember when it was released–this year? Last? Before that? Male or female author? Male or female protagonist? Type of mystery, hard boiled, traditional, thriller, puzzle, humorous, classic, private eye, serial killer, talking cats, Jesus, Boy Detective–the last was only asked in my head or if the customer seemed particularly apt to have a great sense of humor.
Usually, we could pare it down to genre within genre, and maybe the sex of the protagonist and if really lucky, when it was released. Once I teased every possible piece of info from the customer I’d start throwing out authors and protagonist names.
So, if we narrowed it down to traditional female protagonist within the last couple of years, I’d begin. Is cooking and recipes involved? Is it set in a bookstore, flowershop, private school? What part of the world is it set? England (good start, so many traditionals are set there) New England-specifically Martha’s Vineyard? Philadelphia? Arkansas? Is the amateur detective married to a minister? A caterer? A wedding planner? A genealogist? A show dog breeder? A secret shopper? A vampire? The list could go on endlessly–the varied professions these guys have is staggering. But hopefully I’ve now got it narrowed down to area of country, place of business or profession, and from there can pull out a couple authors whose basic profile fits.
It’s set in Arkansas, maybe in a bookshop? I bring out Joan Hess’s latest, and the customer whoops it up–that’s it, that’s the one! Naturally, the cover is dark blue.
This is when I’m lucky, if I’m not, I try to involve the customer in a book I think she may like, based upon her traditional bias. And it really must to be something I love, and believe will satisfy a disappointed shopper. I had a few standbys for this very problem–An Embarrassment of Corpses by Alan Beechey–has everything a traditional needs and more, humor, great characters, engrossing plot, and naturally, a ferret. (well, the last only interests me.) Today if selling, I’d fall back upon the first Elaine Viets in her Dead End Job series–the protagonist is running from the law and can’t use her social security number to get a job, so she finds jobs that are completely off the books–and naturally, they aren’t the most fabulous things. In one title the amateur detective is working in a chain bookstore. Ms. Viets works at the real job without disclosing her intention to write. That’s dedication to the written word!
If this doesn’t work, and I’m happy to say it usually did, I at least did everything I could to hunt the fugitive title down, and find a substitute. Almost every customer appreciates the effort. Will they return? Enough times to make the long journey worthwhile.
Hello Dianne,
I often hear booksellers complain about those customers – ‘I think it was red…’ but I agree with you – and often we can figure out what the book was. These customers are looking for help from a perceived expert – ME! – and I try to live up to their expectations.
I do the same as those customers when I ask someone about why my lawnmower won’t start or why my roof leaks… and then I do business with the person who is helpful in figuring it out.
HOWEVER…
In the article above you wrote:
‘…a certain snobbishness in some independent bookstores. Some workers practiced this behavior within a famous independent bookstore in NYC, almost as if the customer wasn’t good enough to walk through their doors, and if they did arrive and wanted to ask a question, they were looked down upon long noses of distaste as if to say, “you really don’t know the answer to That?” ‘
– and I think I know the store you mean…
but then I clicked on one of the teaser quotes/comments from other articles which took me to your sociopathic bookseller piece, where, in reply to George’s letter, you wrote:
In all the bookstores I’ve worked over all the years that I’ve worked, no one had such a lofty view of their jobs. We all love the printed word. Most of us took the selling of such seriously, but never never ourselves.
and I thought there seemed to be a slight inconsistency between the two quotes. lol
Bob
Bob, lol–you would be correct–except–I didn’t work at the bookstores I was describing above! But, a technicality, I agree, lol.
I should have been more specific–I should have made clear that none of the actual booksellers took themselves that seriously–the owners, oh yes.
Some fellow sellers were obnoxious to customers, but not because they took the profession seriously. I’d rather that be the reason, than downright rudeness.
Thanks for reading the articles!
I kinda loved those challenges- trying to find the right questions that will get you enough details to locate the book.
Or the thrill of just guessing based on the customer. I remember a few years ago I had a couple of occasions where a book had been recommended to the customer and all they could remember was that it was a novel with a weird name they couldn’t recall. “Shantaram?” I’d ask. To the wide-eyed wonder of trainee booksellers, the customer would exclaim that yes, indeed, that was it!
Good times.
That is pretty awesome! First answer is correct. I’m happy someone else finds that task enjoyable!
I don’t even know what colour the cover was… .lol…
I’ve been trying to remember the mystery I read a few years ago – the main character is a Scottish barber who works in a shop with 2 (or 3?) other barbers and fantasizes about killing the others because people prefer the others to him. In the end he accidentally kills both of them and gets away with it. I think he even kills the cop who nearly catches him.
He has a friend he chats with about philosophy.
It’s a fun read.
Anyone?
Bob
Wow. That sounds entirely foreign to me–but remember, I’ve been out of the biz for a little while–but I belong to so many mystery groups, someone will know for sure! Want me to try them out? I’d like to, because that sounds like a really goofy story, lol. One that I should read, perhaps!
If you can find out it would be great. The book is definitely a little unusual and with some good bits of humour sprinkled through it. If you can get a copy and read it, I’d be interested in your reaction to it.
Thanks,
Bob
Bob–I’ll definitely give it a shot!
Stand by, I’ll try to get back to you soon!
Hello Diane,
I put the question to the members of oldbookstore yahoo group and got the following reply. It was a bonus to find out that there are several more books with the same outrageous character.
Bob
Bob,
I think you’ll find the barber is “Barney Thomson” and the author is Douglas Lindsay. He wrote a whole series of novels about Barney Thomson, apparently killed him off, but he was so popular he brought him back to life in a way reminiscent of Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Barney Thomson was a Glaswegian barber who kept getting involved with or mistaken for serial killers. The first in the series was “The Cutting Edge of Barney Thomson” in which he accidentally kills some other barbers and discovers his mother was a serial killer. The second, “The Long Midnight of Barney Thomson” finds him on the run from the police and ending up in a monastery off the north coast of Scotland (in a fictional location not far from where we are). As the series progresses he finds himself in the Eastern Highlands, in the Borders, in the Scottish Parliament, and on a west coast island.
They are both violent and hilarious, and each of them has a wonderful cast of characters.
He did a book signing for us a few years ago. From his books you would think he would be a six foot extrovert. In actual fact he is smaller than me (and I’m only five foot five inches) and is so shy he blushes a lot.
In the UK the books used to be published by Piaktus, but a few years ago he got the rights back and he has republished them under his own imprint.
You can find out more about Barney Thomson and his creator Douglas Lindsay on:
http://www.barney-thomson.com
They are wonderful books!
Best wishes,
Kevin Crowe,
Loch Croispol Bookshop, Restaurant & Gallery,
Durness,
Scotland.
http://www.scottish- books.net
http://www.worldbookmarket .com
My favorite circumstance like that was actually due to my own ignorance of my collection (at a library ref desk, but similar situation). The man asked for “the red book.” I said, “which red book?” The man said, “the red book that’s behind the desk in the reference section.” “Ok, what’s it about?” we went on for a while… until I finally discovered that it’s a book entitled “The Red Book,” and one of our most-requested books on African-American history. (First week on the job!)