Chapter Seven: Training to Be the Very Best Bookseller

It was another eventful week at Changing Hands! Here's a look at what I was up to this week:

Day One

Today started off with me finishing up organizing the history section. After a little over an hour of wrestling with the unruly military history section, I finally got it to a point that I was satisfied with.

Next, I went under the guidance of Danny, one of the managers of the used book trade counter. He showed me how to input used books into the store system (a.k.a. Booklog), a very important aspect of running the store that I was extremely excited to be able to help with. Inputting used books involved many of the same steps as receiving new books, gifts, and remainders. However, I had only observed other people performing those tasks, so I had to get the feel for doing it myself. The first thing I did for each batch of books was create a P.O. (or purchase order) for the books to be entered into that indicates that it is for used books. Once I do that, I can begin to enter used books.

Before scanning a book, I had to type a "U"into the ISBN field so that all of the used books that I input will have an ISBN that begins with the letter "U", indicating to employees that they are, in fact, used and not new copies. Next, I scanned a book. Sometimes, it is a book that has been traded before and is thus already in Booklog. That case requires the least amount of work as I don't have to input any additional information. However, if a book has never been traded before, I have to manually input all of the book's data into Booklog. The most challenging part of this is knowing the which section the book needs to be shelved in. When a trader first takes books, they label the book's category and price using a more old-fashioned labeller. On this label, each section in the store is given a three-number code that corresponds to a three-letter section code that I need to type into the computer. I had a cheat-sheet that helped me out, but after a while I began to remember the codes for sections like Literature and Mystery since they came up more frequently.

After inputting almost two carts worth of used books, my day was over.

Day Two

Today I got to work again with Brandi, the Kids Book Buyer. We first put some signed books from an off-site event onto the floor and packed some of them up to be sent to the Phoenix floor. After we had finished that, I got to help her out with doing some actual book ordering. This was probably one of the hardest yet most fun things I got to experience at Changing Hands so far. It was fun because it involved a lot of flipping through adorable picture books. However, it was so hard to decide how I liked each book because they were all cute in their own ways; some books had great illustrations but kinda "meh" stories and vice versa. Brandi has such a strong knowledge of which kids books sell well and what customers will enjoy, something that is necessary when making an order. She definitely didn't need my help, but she warmly listened to my input on certain certain books and took my comments into consideration.

After reading picture books to my heart's content, I finished off my day by sitting in on a training session led by Leah and Joel with three new hires. This session focused on Booklog and some of its most commonly-used functions such as inventory search.

Day Three

Today was also spent training, this time with two of the three new hires and focusing on customer service. First, Joel and Leah sat with us and explained protocols for talking to customers (and even dealing with disrespectful or inappropriate customers) and filling out the store's various forms. Then, we actually went out on the floor and stood at the back info desk so we could practice actually helping customers. The three of us  followed Joel around wherever in the store he went to help customers since we were still being trained, so we were sometimes jokingly called ducklings and even his minions! One of the most rewarding customer interactions I had was when a customer was looking for a book that was in the Military History section. If you remember from my last post, the Military History section and I have spent some time together, so I probably know that section the best out of all the sections in the store. Thus, I was able to walk with the customer right to the shelf and hand her the very book she was looking for! This was one of a handful of customer interactions like it that I got to participate in today, but that one was particularly special since I actually felt like I had a good knowledge of how to help her.

Next, the other trainees and I got to man the front info desk with Leah. Unlike the back info desk, the front info desk must be manned at all times to keep an eye on customers entering and exiting the store and also to help those customers if they need it immediately as they enter the store. We also practiced using the phones to page other stations in the store as well as over the loudspeaker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I learned a lot this week, and it's nice to learn more about the store alongside some pretty cool people! I'm sure I'll keep on learning new things next week, and I'll be sure to tell you all about it in my next post, but until then, happy reading!