Teacher’s Notebook: Tips on Selling Books and Tapes

Tips on Selling Books and Tapes

Think back to the last day of your teacher training course, the day you had the opportunity to buy, for the first time, books and tapes for resale to your future students. Did you feel pleased at the prospects of this being an additional avenue of income coming to you through T’ai Chi Chih, and privileged to qualify for 40% discount on the products? Or did you have a difficult time picturing yourself selling books and tapes? Did you already have classes to teach lined up, and confidently place an order for 20 to 50 books? Or did refrain from buying any materials, wondering to yourself whether you could “afford” to invest in an inventory before you really knew you could be successful at pulling classes together.

Many newly-accredited teachers have little experience in some of these matter, and becoming a successful teacher involves mastery of many professional skills beyond the core mastery of the T’ai Chi Chih movements and their instruction. One of these areas is the sale of books, tapes, and other items to students.

Most teachers have bought and resold copies of the T’ai Chi Chih text, which has provided them with a certain amount of additional income. Have you been a one-title teacher until now? At present there is a whole bookshelf of materials offered by both Satori Resources and Good Karma Books. Many teachers have found that sincere students are hungry for more materials by Justin Stone, and often buy more than one title during a given course.

Mysteriously, some teachers appear to not sell any of the books or tapes to students. We would like to see this change, and for all teachers to prosper through all possible avenues of their T’ai Chi Chih businesses. Especially now that Satori Resources owns the T’ai Chi Chih videotape, with a profit margin of about $16 per tape, its sales can add up to substantial side income for teachers.

Often it comes down to training yourself to think a little bigger. T’ai Chi Chih is growing quickly because teachers now are beginning to think in bigger terms in terms of who can benefit from it and where it can be taught and practiced. As our vision for the practice grows, so can our vision for supporting that growth through the print and tape media. Your students want the benefits offered by T’ai Chi Chih. They can learn from the book, from you, from the tapes, and be more successful in their personal practice.

And in order to begin selling more materials, you have to train yourself to think a little bigger in financial terms. The mental adjustment to paying $23.97 for an item, when you pay nearly $100 for only four videotapes, can be a hurdle for some people, but getting past that adjustment and finding out the great number of people who want to have videotapes will re-educate your thinking quickly! You may have to adjust to carrying boxes of materials to and from your car and allowing time to set them up before class. But the rewards are worth it. The books, tapes and other things will prove themselves to you. To give you some idea, Christine Sproehnle helps run the bookstore at the Whole Life Expo, which has been held in at least four major cities this year. She says that no matter how many copies of the T’ai Chi Chih videotape she displays among the other T’ai Chi videos offered by the store, Justin Stone’s video always sells out first, and the overwhelming majority of buyers are people who have not yet heard of or studied any T’ai Chi Chih.

About credit: Are you thinking that you cannot afford the initial outlay for a supply of video tapes, books, T-shirts? First of all, you can purchase materials using VISA or Mastercard, if that is easiest for you. The 800 number makes phone ordering easy. And credit directly with Satori Resources can be arranged. If you have bought materials from Satori Resources in the past and are a customer in good standing, we will in most cases allow you a 30-day period in which to pay for your order. You owe it to yourself to become successful in this area.

Back-of-the-Room Sales: General Principles

Actually, entire books have been written specifically on the subject of “back-of-the-room sales,” as they are called in the public-speaking business, and certain proven techniques have been established, such as the following points. [If you are interested in more detail, look up any publication by Dottie Walters.]

(1) Always have books and tapes available at every appearance that you make. This includes both classes and demonstrations. If you expect a large crowd, make sure you have someone trained to attend the table and handle the transactions for you while you answer questions and greet people.

If you teach T’ai Chi Chih at a conference, make sure the conference bookstore knows about the books and tapes and that they can order the books and tapes from you or from Satori Resources. [By the way, Satori will give you a 10% commission on any sales to conference bookstores that you arrange.]

(2) Always mention to your audience the titles that you have available, and invite them to buy the materials. Suggestive selling works. Hold up the books and tapes, showing their covers, and invite your class or audience to look them over at the table at the back of the room. Clearly announce the price, that they are for sale at the table, and mention one or two solid benefits people can experience from having the books and tapes to refer to at home.

(3) Allow ample time at the end of class or during breaks in a weekend seminar for people to thoroughly browse through the available books and tapes. Let students pick up and handle the materials. Lillian Susumi, who specializes in teaching weekend seminars, writes that she is constantly amazed at the number of things people will buy during such breaks.

Ten Ways to be Successful

We interviewed some of the teachers who have been most successful at selling materials to students, to find out specifically what tips they could share. Pam Towne, Lillian Susumi, Carmen Brocklehurst, and Chris McLain generously shared their ideas for this article.

1) Show a limited number of items at the first class.

Most teachers show only the T’ai Chi Chih book, video, and possibly Justin’s audiotape, at the first class meeting. Carmen shows only the book and video.

Pam Towne, who plays the music tape at every class, offers the music tape from the beginning. [If you do play music, students will want to buy whatever tapes you play]. Pam presents the audiotape on the 4th week, waiting until students are certain to have experienced the flow of the Chi, then encouraging students to investigate the deeper meanings of T’ai Chi Chih practice by listening to Justin’s audiotape. She brings Justin’s other books on the 5th to 8th class meetings.

Lillian Susumi offers the video and the textbook on the first evening of beginners classes (Friday evening during a weekend seminar). On Saturday and during review classes she puts out all the materials. On Saturday evening she announces that only on Sunday will T-shirts and sweatshirts be available for purchase.

2) Encourage students to buy at least the T’ai Chi Chih book at the first class.

Pam Towne tells students that she does not consider the book an optional purchase, that she feels everyone needs the book as bare minimum. “You’ll definitely want to get a book before you leave tonight,” she suggests to students in a positive way, which stems from her clear conviction that the book is important.

3) Speak from the experience of former students.

Carmen tells her beginning classes of the many students who have come to her wishing that they had purchased the book the very first day, and who have steadily reported that having the book is a tremendous help between classes.

Chris McLain also quotes her students. She points out to people the importance both now and in the future of having the book, since attending the T’ai Chi Chih demonstration or even the first class is only the planting of the seed of T’ai Chi Chih. Some people go on to continuous practice, but others take T’ai Chi Chih, then may put it aside for a while, only to take it up again in a year or so in a more dedicated way. At that point, having the book and videotape is invaluable.

4) Assign Books and Tapes as Homework Instead of Discussing Philosophy.

Chris McLain also finds that in eight hours of class instruction, there is very little time to dwell on philosophy and readings. She assigns the book and audiotape as philosophical and background reading.

5) Ask for student comments on materials during the course.

Carmen Brocklehurst always makes a point to ask students who purchased materials at the first class meeting, “What did you think of the ?” Hearing the specifics of content discussed will involve other class members in seeing how helpful the text and tapes can be.

Even negative comments can be used positively. Shortcomings can be acknowledged, and in some cases even used as an exercise in helping students to Focus only on the movements.

Carmen introduces the video by talking about Justin. She refers to the fact that Justin is simple and humble, like T’ai Chi Chih, and not interested in the Hollywoodish aspects of video presentation. She explains that the film is VERY BASIC, and that purposefully Justin insisted on having no facial lighting, so that people would not focus on his face, but rather on the movements.

The comments from the next week usually include statements such as, “It was just what I needed; the tape really helped me focus on the movements.”

6) Use Books as Course Material for Intermediate Classes.

Chris McLain uses Justin Stone’s other titles (Meditation for Healing, Abandon Hope, Heightened Awareness, and 20th Century Psalms) as a main part of the curriculum of her intermediate classes. The group does T’ai Chi Chih together, then discuss the readings. She says it is amazing how often the books speak to the particular issues going on within the group at any given class meeting. “The process leads to deep bonding between the class members,” she says.

7) Be professional in your organization and presentation.

Lillian Susumi points out that it pays to attend to details and to project a beautifully professional image in how you conduct your classes. Arrive early enough to be completely set up beforehand. Carefully set up your table. Have someone on hand to attend the table as storekeeper. One of Lillian’s students remarked to her, “Lillian, you think of everything!”–“And that’s the way it should be,” exclaims Lillian.

8) Set up a Lending Library.

Many students will buy the videotape at the end of a course. Some teachers have encouraged students to rent or borrow the videotape for a week at a time during the course. They keep at least three of each title on hand (one for their personal library, and at least one to lend) just for this purpose. Students must return the materials by the last class.

9) Hand out copies of Satori retail flyers and order form for students to take home.

Stamp your name, address and phone number on the paper and let your students know they can order from you at any time. (See enclosed black-line master of Satori retail flyer on last sheet.)

10) Think big!

There is no reason why each teacher cannot be successfully selling at least the T’ai Chi Chih book and videotape to a majority of students. If each teacher would sell only twenty videotapes a year (and many more than that can easily be sold), the proceeds would pay for a new and beautifully photographed edition of the T’ai Chi Chih textbook. At some point a more professionally-produced video is equally possible. We are dedicated to reaching that point quickly through increased book and tape sales now, for we wish to support T’ai Chi Chih with the best possible in published materials. You can help us fulfill our mutual goals quickly and easily. How can you expand and improve your book and tape sales? Freely use the suggestions herein and write us with suggestions of your own. We will be happy to pass them on to other teachers through the Vital Force.