Note: You must be an "Educational
Consultant" to service public and private K-12 schools and libraries. Only
Educational Consultants may conduct Book Fairs at Schools and libraries, set up in
teachers lounges and make direct sales to schools & libraries. Minimum orders are
$25. Please refer to the EC manual (in the EC kit) for specific details. You
may order the EC kit on the supply order form.
My Library Visits
by Ruth Smith, Director in
Birmingham, AL
More than half my sales more years are to libraries. This
may be an avenue you would like to pursue. After calling ahead
to make the appointment, here’s how the visit might go:
I arrive on time, dressed nicely; friendly & confident that she will fall in love
with these books. I have a catalog & pen for each of the people I'm meeting. It may be
just the children's librarian, or also young adults' librarian, a teacher or principal, or
a buyer. I tell them it is fine to circle things in the catalog if they'd like & I'd
be happy to write up orders for them, or work with whatever procedure they want to use.
I usually start at the front of the catalog w/ the board books. (I have my books
prearranged in catalog order.) As I hand them one book & let them look at it, we look at
that page in the catalog together so they can circle the whole series! You want them to
use the whole catalog to order from rather than just the samples you brought. Then we look
on those pages at information about books I don't have with me. I point out ones that are
new, revised, or that I particularly like.
I bring books I particularly like, but probably not models, nor sticker, flap &
slot books. As we get past the board books, I tell her that most of the books come in both
paperback and library binding. I let her hold a library bound book & show in the
catalog the (P) & (L) and mention that I brought mostly paperback editions so I could
bring more for her to see. Even though the librarian's time is precious, we take quiet
time to look at & even read books if she seems to want to.
Sticking with my sequence through the catalog prevents skipping over something she may
want. I continue handing her a book & looking at that catalog page together, letting
her ohh & ahh & circle the series, then look at the others on that page before
moving on to the next book or page.
I draw her attention to the First 1000 Words series, since she will want all of those
in library binding. She may already have them in hardback before the nice revisions which
include multiculturalism and more modern illustrations. I point out the computer books,
noting that we have the most current, up-to-date editions published. Overall, we
don’t have to say much about the books. She’s very familiar with books &
knows what she likes and needs.
I don't go through the Kid Kits, telling her we are done, that the rest of the catalog
includes kits and more about the new titles. I tell her that the books come within 2 weeks
or can come with processing if she would rather. If she is interested in that, the order
form for all cataloging products is on the back of the mini S&L order form. The form
will answer her questions about that.
I reiterate that I will work with whatever ordering procedure she wants to use. (EVERY
S&L order I've had has used a different procedure. She may give you a purchase order
right then, she may need to request a PO from the school or library acquisitions office
where you to come back in a few days to pick it up, she may not have access to funds for
months, she may need to spend her money now or loose it, or she may need to send it
directly to the company - make sure she includes your ID# on her order.) Again, I offer to
write up her order from what she has circled in the catalog & I ask if there are
titles she would like in multiple copies. She may want more than one copy of books she
expects will get high circulation.
Listen to what she says & see how you can service her the best. While not taking up
too much of her time, remember to smile, ask her about herself & be friendly enough
that she will want to see you again. You will probably get an order from her every 6
months when the new titles come out or when she gets her money. It is OK to ask her when
her funds are available or when she does her buying or when you should contact her next.
She has money that she HAS to spend on books; we have books she wants. Just help her make
it as easy as possible. You can ask her if there are other librarians or Library Media
Specialists she recommends that you visit.
Smile & be confident that we have the best books and the best bindings available.
Giving your service to the librarian will help more children have access to these great
books.
With librarians that I've met with multiple times here's
what I do:
I go through all her invoices & highlight all the titles in the
catalog that she has bought from me so we know what she already has.
As we go through the catalog, I say "Looks like you didn't get any
of this series last time, so I brought one in case you'd like another
chance at it" or "I brought one from this series in case you need them
at this point"
Purchase Orders may be mailed from the school
district or library directly to the Home Office, if
needed:
EDC/Usborne Books
Attn: (your name)
PO Box 472037
Tulsa, OK 74147
Please note - When you transmit
a S&L order in OrderPro, you don't also need to mail
the Purchase Order to the Home Office.
These training pages at www.UsborneUSA.com
were created by Nancy Ann Wartman, Independent Director with UBAH,
to provide training for consultants with Usborne Books at Home.
Tips & thoughts from UBAH National Convention CLICK HERE
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Copyright 1999 - 2008 NAWartman phone: 800-393-8224 / 859-431-6269
This web site,
www.UsborneUSA.com, was created by
Nancy Ann Wartman, Independent
Director with Usborne Books at Home. UBAH = Usborne Books at Home
The words "Usborne" and "Usborne
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