Enchanted Toymaker becomes Greasy Salesman
So today I had my first appointment with the owner of a local gift store. My goal was to impress her with my fine little handcrafted works of art, my impeccable sense of style, perfect manners, and crushing good looks.
Instead, I waltzed into the store with ink stains on my shirt and the only treasure boxes that I had ready were two boxes- complete with cute little 'rustic' defects that I have since corrected in the latest batch. And though showered and shaven, I neglected to put on deodorant this morning, thinking- how could I sweat during such a short meeting? Well, sweat I did. I was so fucking nervous that I managed to say all the things I intended not to say while my face turned red with embarrassment and my armpits moistened and broadcast to the world that I was indeed as nervous as an actor about to perform to an audience without knowing his lines.
In the end, the answer was a polite 'no'. "A little more 'rustic' than the ones was have now." she said.
She did, however, seem to like them. And that was encouraging. She said that they didn't have the money to buy anything now, due to bad summer sales, but was interested in seeing my other works at some later date. Finally she mentioned the idea of consignment. I was armed with the knowledge of what that word meant after speaking to a teenager at a store in the mall. He had used the word and, at the time, I pretended to know what it meant fearing what the teenager might think of me if I didn't. I later looked the word up on the internet and found that it means that the store displays your item but does not buy it from you. Instead they take a percentage if it sells and if it doesn't sell then they give it back to you.
"I'll have to talk to my accountant. He comes back in 5 days" she said. "Don't come in during the weekend. It's the busiest holiday shopping time."
So, a polite 'no' became a tedious 'possibly'. I guess that's a win. The best thing to come of all this is the knowledge of what to do differently. I have sales training from two previous jobs. I know what I am supposed to do. It's doing it that is the trouble.
My goal is to have as many retailers selling my boxes as possible. I'm listed on ebay now and I have the website but its not enough to be online. I need these little treasure chests to be staring up at people in the toyshops.
I have to be a salesman.
Instead, I waltzed into the store with ink stains on my shirt and the only treasure boxes that I had ready were two boxes- complete with cute little 'rustic' defects that I have since corrected in the latest batch. And though showered and shaven, I neglected to put on deodorant this morning, thinking- how could I sweat during such a short meeting? Well, sweat I did. I was so fucking nervous that I managed to say all the things I intended not to say while my face turned red with embarrassment and my armpits moistened and broadcast to the world that I was indeed as nervous as an actor about to perform to an audience without knowing his lines.
In the end, the answer was a polite 'no'. "A little more 'rustic' than the ones was have now." she said.
She did, however, seem to like them. And that was encouraging. She said that they didn't have the money to buy anything now, due to bad summer sales, but was interested in seeing my other works at some later date. Finally she mentioned the idea of consignment. I was armed with the knowledge of what that word meant after speaking to a teenager at a store in the mall. He had used the word and, at the time, I pretended to know what it meant fearing what the teenager might think of me if I didn't. I later looked the word up on the internet and found that it means that the store displays your item but does not buy it from you. Instead they take a percentage if it sells and if it doesn't sell then they give it back to you.
"I'll have to talk to my accountant. He comes back in 5 days" she said. "Don't come in during the weekend. It's the busiest holiday shopping time."
So, a polite 'no' became a tedious 'possibly'. I guess that's a win. The best thing to come of all this is the knowledge of what to do differently. I have sales training from two previous jobs. I know what I am supposed to do. It's doing it that is the trouble.
My goal is to have as many retailers selling my boxes as possible. I'm listed on ebay now and I have the website but its not enough to be online. I need these little treasure chests to be staring up at people in the toyshops.
I have to be a salesman.