Lost connections

I think it was at the 1986 Toy Fair when I first sensed the confusion. What was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? It made no sense to me. It was as if someone had randomly taken four words out of the dictionary and strung them together. Yet, this ridiculous series of words was being murmured continually by confused salespeople in the offices, elevators, showrooms and hallways that constitute the sidewalks of the toy industry; passing the word from person to person that another new “it” property was being unleashed on the industry and no one seemed to understand it. Buyers and sellers would shrug their shoulders, look a little bewildered and mutter, “I don't get it, but the kids like it.”

Those four words, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” may mark the first time I had a sense that salespeople were selling products that they could not comprehend to kids they no longer understood. Salespeople had become disconnected.

This really hit home to me when I recently conducted a “Quality of Sales” survey for the book industry. The survey asked manufacturers and buyers to rate the job that salespeople do. It was essentially the same survey I had conducted for the toy industry, yet I was getting back some surprising results.

When asked to rate the product knowledge of book industry salespeople, book publishers gave their salespeople far higher marks than toy industry manufacturers did for their salespeople. To be precise, 61 percent of book industry publishers rated their sales reps as having good product knowledge while only 23 percent of toy manufacturers said the same.

I was to speak at Book Expo, the industry's major U.S. show, on the findings—and the gap was bewildering. I try to have an answer when I raise a question, but this time I did not have a clue. Why were book industry salespeople perceived as so much more knowledgeable than their brothers and sisters in the toy industry?

A bit humbled, I decided to do a little qualitative research to find out what was going on. I began stopping people in the aisles and booths of Book Expo and asking them why they thought their salespeople were so knowledgeable. Almost to a man and woman, they replied that it was because the salespeople who work in the book industry have a real passion for the products that they sell.

It was then that it occurred to me that maybe many toy industry salespeople no longer have the passion. They don't love the products they sell.

In fact, some don't even like them. They say so. Salespeople are also parents and it is not uncommon to hear the comment: “I don't let my children watch a particular kids' show or play with a particular product because, take your pick: (a) it makes them act disrespectful; (b) it causes them to act out; (c) it is too violent; (d) all of the above.”

When I really thought about it, maybe salespeople are not just disconnected from the products they sell. Maybe some of them are actually alienated.

If that is the case, how are ethical people able to sell products that they won't purchase for their own children? The answer is that they obviously can and do. Maybe, however, they don't do it as well as they could. Maybe not understanding or not even liking a product can get in the way of selling it.

So what do we do about it? Well, for one thing, we can wait. Today's kids are growing up and soon they will populate the toy industry. They will get it—unless, of course, what kids like changes yet again. In that case, they will be as clueless as we are.

So, while we tap our collective foot and wait for them to grow up, we can take the following steps:

1. Marketers can do a better job of “turning on” salespeople about the products they sell. Not just educate them but excite them. Unlike salespeople, marketers not only get it but they get it better than ever. They employ “cool watchers” and “trend spotters” to make sure they understand what kids are thinking and liking. And they do a great job of marketing to today's children. What they are failing to do adequately, or at all, is to market to the salespeople who sell their products.

2. Hiring authorities can start checking out what potential salespeople think of their company's products. It might be interesting—and necessary for the company's future success—to find out a potential salesperson's knowledge of and opinion of the various characters that the company licenses. A sales person's lack of knowledge or consistently negative opinions could be seen as a red flag about that person's suitability for toy sales.

3. Salespeople can do a gut check about whether they are in the right industry. If they don't think the products they sell are appropriate for their own children or grandchildren, they should consider selling a different line of products.

Short of that, we might all want to climb off of the high horse and consider that each generation of kids embraces something that really turns their parents off—remember the World War II generation's reaction to rock 'n' roll?

Finally—and this comes under the heading of 'easier said than done'—we can stop saying “I don't get it” and start getting it. How? By making ourselves part of the 21st century entertainment community. Instead of shrugging our shoulders, we need to begin living what these kids are living. We need to immerse ourselves in their shows—or at least watch an episode or two—go to their movies, visit their favorite Web sites and learn their jargon.

Living the life will help you to sell the life. Will that be fun and easy? Maybe or maybe not. It depends upon you. For some people, embracing their own childish side is easier than for others; visit the product development department of any toy manufacturer to see people who are successful at it.

If you are part of the toy industry, living the life may not be an option. In this day and age, when toys are so influenced by the wider children's entertainment world, it may be a crucial part of the job.

Editor's Note: We want to know what you think. Email your responses to this column to cannicelli@reedbusiness.com. (Please put 'Letter to the Editor' in the subject line). We may print your response in a future issue.