Written by: Sripad Vaikhanas Maharaja
Oh Gurudeva! Oh Nitai! What is going on? Why is no one taking a book from me? I am in a great spot, the people are nice, and many seem interested in the books. But when I start talking to them, they lose interest and walk away. What is wrong with me?
Has this ever happened to you?
A few days ago, we got a free booth at a home décor show at one of the convention centers in Bangalore. Giridhari Prabhu and two of Srila Gurudeva’s young householder disciples, Sankarsana prabhu and Radha-priya didi, improvised a nice booth, covering the walls with extra-large blowups of many of Syamarani didi’s paintings. On two large tables, they laid out the beautiful posters from those paintings, some of them framed to show how nice they would look in the home.
The other tables were filled with the books of Srila Gurudeva in English, Kannada, Tamil, Telegu, Orrian, Bengali and Hindi. We also had Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is and Krsna Book in most of the same languages. In one corner was a table with devotional paraphernalia, japa beads, neck beads, and other items. All in all, it was pretty good looking, roomy, easy to get around and colourful. Now all we had to do was start preaching and selling.
As this was a home décor show, the posters were a natural seller. A lot of people were happy to have such beautiful pictures hanging in their homes. That gave us a chance to show books to those people who came up to see the posters. It was a perfect tie in- “What do you like about this painting? Would you like to know the story behind it?” Our approach was to always start with a big book- why not? It is the same effort to sell a big book as a small book. If that doesn’t work, you can always switch to the small book.
There was a nice flow of people throughout the day. Because the book and poster tables were so pretty, a lot of people would stop just to look at them. With so many nicely designed and colourful books and posters lying side by side, the tables resembled a field of attractive wildflowers and the customers were like bees buzzing around, looking for nectar.
On Saturday, I went go to the show. Yippee!!! It had been a while since I had been able to go out on book distribution. I knew I was a little rusty but was looking forward to talking with people and selling books. Indoor shows are great. You get a calm atmosphere and controlled climate, no rain, no hot sun beating down on you.
So, how did I do? Sankirtana book distribution is such an amazing activity because it is instructive on so many levels. I was about to re-learn many of these important lessons.
When the first people came, I was so intent on selling a book and “preaching” to them, that I would place a Bhagavad Gita or Jaiva Dharma in their hand and tell them non-stop for as long as they would stay, all the reasons that they would love this book and how important it was for them and the entire world that they get one. I was eloquent, charming, and persuasive, and must have sounded so learned and intelligent. The only problem was, no one bought a book. These were nice people, receptive and appreciative, but they did not take any books, large or small.
What was happening? What was wrong with my presentation? When I stopped to think about it, I realized that I was making all the classic mistakes. I was telling these people everything that I thought was great about the books. I figured if I said enough good things, something would strike a chord and they would want one. But, I wasn’t engaging them. I did not know who they were, why they may have stopped, what they did, what were their interests, what were they looking for in life, nothing.
I wasn’t relating to them as persons. I was talking at them, not with them. From my presentation, it seemed if I had no interest in them; I was only trying to sell them something that was important to me.
So then I realized that these are people, souls, just like me. They are wandering here and there searching for happiness and to make some meaning out of life. If I don’t know something about them, what makes them tick, then can I explain how the books in a way that is relevant to their life?
From that point on, I began taking a genuine interest in each of them. “Hello, my name is BV Vaikhanas and I’m from America. Who are you? Very nice to meet you.” Then a big genuine smile from me. “Where are you from, what do you do, what are you interested in, do you have a family, do you like to read, do you ever meditate, what do you think is the meaning of life, what are looking for, what would make you happy?” As they answered, I would come to understand them and could present the books in a natural way that had application to their life.
As I began to remember these lessons, everything began to change. My mood became one of compassion and surrender to the will of Mahaprabhu. I gave up the idea that I was a talented sales master and tried to see myself as a humble servant of the Lord and the other souls out there. As that mood took hold, books began to flow from the table very easily into the hands of happy people. The day just got better and better after that.
The show turned out to be a great success. We sold around a hundred big books and even more CD’s, small books and posters. We met lots of nice people and learned some wonderful lessons about building relationships and sharing these teachings in a very personal way. And we felt like we have a role in the grand mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Gurudeva. It is a pretty good feeling.
