{Chairman”s Perspective}

crisis? If publishers want books other than million-copy best sellers to sell, they have to rely on handselling in stores, which likely won’t happen in the big boxes.

• If a customer has a question on teens or marriage or whatever, and buys a book and the question is answered, then it probably doesn’t matter where the book was purchased. I asked a woman in my store if she needed help, and she said she needed a book to help her be a friend to her 16-year-old daughter. I suggested her daughter doesn’t need another friend; she needs a mother. That led to a great discussion, and she left with another book and a whole new outlook. We need to ask the Lord of the harvest how to best position ourselves to sell what He wants us to sell.

• Christian retailers offer a ministry of service. It’s not merely a matter of selling a book, but selling the right book for identified needs. Therefore, Christian retailers try to be product informed, skilled listeners, and sales counselors. The dynamics that occur between a customer and a sales counselor can include as little as a pleasant, cordial interchange that reflects caring and an atmosphere of Christ’s love, to an actual salvation experience that determines eternity. That’s very unlikely to happen on the Internet or at Sam’s Club.

Does it matter if a minister gives the message, or is the same content delivered with the same effect if Michael Moore gives it? Is the message impacted by the medium of delivery? Of course it is!

The icon of “get the message out” is stale, flawed, and has caused almost irreparable harm to the industry in all channels. It’s an emphasis that ultimately is motivated by bottom lines. Jesus was never about quantity, always about relationship. There’s a difference between picking up a book in a stack and going to the checkout of a big box, and interacting with a concerned, caring Christian who leads customers to the benefits and features that match their needs.

• God’s Word tells us the Gospel will continue to advance—no matter how we screw up the methods! However, the “rub” comes into play when Christian publishers expect to benefit from the sales in the general market but offer no other options, concessions, exclusives, terms, etc. for the independent.

When a general-market retailer sells a Christian book, it has taken away that sale for a Christian-retail store. It’s not just the revenue on that book that’s lost, but the entire purchase (on average of $30+). Impulse sales add up considerably, and when strong traffic “drivers” are “driving” traffic to other sources, gift and music product sales lose, too.

If Christian stores are doing their job well, then it’s not just another retail establishment, but…a place of ministry.

Most retailers can compete on price, but not if customer counts continue to slide.

• The Christian-product category has grown dramatically. In terms of growing the product category, the statement holds some truth. However, as soon as the Christian-product category levels out in general retail (and there are signs it has begun to do that), general retail will not longer treat Christian products like the “darling” they have for the past few years. Because some vendors have spent far more energy (and money) on the general trade, the Christian Retail Channel has been languishing more than it would have otherwise.

• Manufacturers often incur higher sales costs by selling to individually owned retail stores, but the benefits can’t be denied.

Without individual stores, whose basic premise is built on owning a piece of the American dream, business ownership combined with ministry, publishers who share the same sentiment will have no outlet to the consumer. Many books are strictly ministry titles, which help consumers with issues, and the retailer assists the consumer by offering various products combined with a knowledgeable staff to make recommendations. Distribution channels and mass merchandisers won’t be interested in carrying those titles as the turns are often small, thereby eliminating that type of book. The sales channel then becomes the decision maker determining what’s published based entirely on what’s most salable through their channel.

Most publishers know their distribution channels and what percentage of their business is in each. If one of those channels were to disappear, it’s almost impossible to replace those lost sales. That fact is true evidenced by publishers’ sales records in a region when a store closes. When a local store goes out of business, that business is never recouped by other businesses in the area. Stores rarely see much more than a brief bump in sales when their competitor closes and the majority of the sales are simply lost.

As options for sales channels decrease so do publishers’ profits. Most of the major Christian publishers still see significant sales move through the traditional Christian-retail market and would be foolish to walk away from that even though it may cost more to sell to that channel.

• Christian books sold in a secular environment sit alongside other “religious and spiritual” material. I cringe when I think of a new Christian going into one of these stores looking for material. In our stores, customers can trust what they pick up to be in accordance with basic Christian principles. This is the biggest danger in secular bookstores selling Christian books. We just need more help getting people to shop with us. We’re trying, but are losing them. It’s obvious by the increase, at least locally, of the “Christian” section in our local secular booksellers.

• I’m in favor of seeing Christian books sold in multiple channels. We need to take light into the darkness. For the few brand-name authors our industry has, there’s probably little concern for where they’re sold since the demand is so great. But for the rest—the huge majority—those authors are dependent on someone who identifies with their mission and message, and you simply won’t find such outside of CBA. I know there are Christians in key (buying) positions in mainstream retailers, and they, too, feel it’s their calling to get Christian titles on the shelves of the stores they work for. They should. But when it comes down to the one-on-one with frontliner and customer, you’d be hard pressed to make the case it doesn’t matter.

It’s all about growing the market, and no one does that better than CBA. We encourage readers to expand their faith by introducing them to additional subjects, authors, or even deeper works. By making available the largest assortment of Christian titles to meet all their lifestyle needs, we expose the consumer to more of every publishers’ works than any other retail channel out there.

Since the general market is focused only on hits, they look past backlist. CBA majors in backlist, the most profitable products for both retailers and publishers. No publisher can say they’re getting the same amount of shelf space for their backlist in any venue compared to CBA. Some fare better than others—but they have a long way to go to meet CBA.

Whether you agree or disagree, I’d love to hear your comments on this topic. Contact me at Maconcb@aol.com or send a letter to ksamuelson@cbaonline.org for consideration in Member Forum next month. AR

The Official Magazine of CBA

October2006 | AspiringRetail | 7