A warm and fuzzy book about Carpets
When I review a book I look at it and to figure
out all the ways reading it can help you sell rugs. I
mean really, it is not like this is Oprah's book club
I am much better looking and this is Rug News, we
deal with rugs. This month I am going to review a
book that is very different. Normally I tell you to
read it but this time i am going to tell you to give
it away. "Once Upon A Carpet" by Kathleen
Bashian.
Once Upon A Carpet
by Kathleen Ryniker Bashian Ph.D.
retail: $49.00
Hardcover - 96 pages (July 16, 1999)
Kathleen Ryniker Bashian; ISBN: 0967269806
"Once Upon A Carpet" is not about carpet
on a scholarly level it is about Oriental Carpets on
an emotional level. This book is a celebration of
those things which make us love our Oriental carpets.
When Kathleen Bashian explains how how a British
King, Henry VIII used carpets to "advance a
commanding royal image" she is showing the
reader how to use carpets to create their own
"commanding royal image". You may think
that your customer bought that rug because it went
with the sofa or matched the drapes but on another
level many of your customers will identify with the
section on "The projection of power and
authority". Going beyond the power and glory Dr.
Bashian plucks at our heartstrings with vivid imagery
of a toddlers first steps or un wrapping holiday
presents on a cherished carpet. You may not stop to
consider how important those little things are but
they have helped you sell a lot of rugs over the
years.
One particularly poignant part for me was in the
discussion of sacred space Dr. Bashian compares the
medallion of an Isphahan to the "eye of the all
seeing god". Many years ago in the days of my
foolish youth I had an odd experience that is most
comparable to what people call a near-death
experience. I was in a dark room in a very sober
relaxed condition in perfect health. Out of nowhere a
tiny pinpoint of light appeared in the ceiling and
burst forth into a ball of tongues of flames. At that
point the ball of flames opened into a window and I
began to float up towards the light. I could see
beings on the other side of the window into another
world. I called out "who are you, what do you
want". Quick as I did that the window slammed
shut and I fell back into my body from a considerable
height. Only when I hear people describing the
so-called near death experiences do I hear anything
like my experience. Anyway I probably sound crazy but
the only thing I have ever seen that resembles that
window to another world is the medallion of some
Persian Carpets. That is the point of Kathleen
Bashian's book it summons up those good feelings
about carpets and focus them.
As a wee lad I remember the yearly trips to the
liquor store with my Dad. My father was a scotch
drinker. Not much of a drinker but a scotch drinker
when he did. One fifth of scotch would generally last
all year long but my Dad would buy scotch by the
case. At Christmas time he would give scotch to his
customers. My Dad had a steel fabricating plant and a
mine and mill supply business and I remember his idea
of gift giving like this: "Barry', he would say,
"a bottle of scotch is a gift but a case of
scotch is a bribe". So no matter what the
competition was doing he would limit his gifts to a
single bottle of scotch generally alternating between
Haig and Haig Pinch Bottle or Chivas Regal. The
bottle of whiskey was in part thanks for past
business and part in hopes of engendering good will
that will translate into future sales. The important
part is that my father had a captive audience. If you
owned a coal mine or a construction company you
needed the things my father sold and if you did not
buy from him you went to the competition but you had
to buy.
Oriental Carpets are not like construction supply,
there is not the same perception of need. When did
you customers ever wake up and think if I do not buy
a new rug I am out of business. You might but they
don't. In all but the most unusual cases no one
needs an Oriental Carpet. Your competition is not
just the other Carpet Dealers it is the Mercedes Benz
dealer, the jeweler, the pool dealer and countless
others. How do you make your carpet more important
than a pool or a Mercedes? The highly charged emotion
message of Dr. Bashian's book is to subtly implant
the message that the reader needs an Oriental Carpet.
After reading Dr. Bashian's book the reader begins to
perceive Oriental Carpets like Lays Potato Chips, no
one can buy just one.
Let me sum up my thoughts on giving this book to
customers who buy better rugs:
Reading this book will give your customer a
greater appreciation of the the rug they bought
from you.
Reading this book will give your customer a
greater appreciation of you and will raise your
credibility in their eyes.
Anyone who buys a good carpet will buy two. You
didn't deliver it to a one room cabin did you?.
So my advise is to buy this book and give it to
your best customers. The key to success is making
sure that they buy the second carpet from you.
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
