What kind of book customer are you?
There's a blog post that's been making its way through the Internet recently in which a big-box bookstore employee characterizes the many types of readers who stop by the store, and how each of them can drive a bookseller crazy.
Author Matt Blind places customers in seven categories: seekers, idiots, grazers, browsers, campers, independents and time-sucks.
On a side note, while I sincerely hope I'm not one of the idiots, I'd like to point out that I've seen many a movie whose meet-cute premise would have completely fallen apart without the "idiot" genre of customer.
Blind, who's named his blog Rocket Bomber (I am a huge fan of the tagline: If it explodes, we like it!), has since written an explanation/apology/defense since his original post blew up -- pun intended -- with enraged or just slightly miffed readers.
I understand the need to vent after a taxing day/week/month at work, but insulting your customers -- and telling them to just buy stuff on the Internet so they don't bother human beings -- hardly seems like the way to fix the problem. Unless your problem is "employment" and you're purposely trying to convince everyone to stop going to bookstores. I don't care if you do work at a big-box chain and not the Cheers equivalent of bookstores, that's just not good business sense.
But, if you're just in it for the fun, it is a good question. What kind of customer are you? I've determined that I'm a seeker who nearly always evolves into a browser. Who leaves a bookstore with just one book, after all?
(Photo by lhumble at stock.xchng)
Comments
I am an idiot.
Posted by: JTK | June 15, 2009 12:56 PM
I am an idiot one day, a time suck the next and a seeker another. This Matt guy is not only an idiot but apropos to his name he is also blind. People vary in behavior from day to day and if not that often from time to time. But to the business world that likes to categorize and pigeon hole customers this unpredictability in human behavior must be confounding and disconcerting. The attempt on the part of this smart alec book store employee to bite the hands that feed him shows he had rather go fly a kite than service needy book readers. I myself categorize book store employees into 3 types--idiotic, more idiotic and most idiotic--often they are where they are to while away their time and most had rather stretch out in the Starbucks next door to their stores to swill lattes and chew the cud rather than help out customers.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 15, 2009 1:42 PM
i'm between a browser and an independent. but i agree with you, nancy, and anonymous -- matt blind is an idiot for pigeonholing (and insulting) customers.
Posted by: maryann | June 15, 2009 2:23 PM
Matt Blind is a horse's patoot.
Posted by: Eve | June 16, 2009 10:31 AM
Thanks for the constructive feedback! I'm appreciative of all my customers and potential customers,
but I have to say that most comments -- here, on the original post, and elsewhere on the internet -- are missing one salient point that I brought up in the second line of the original post: most of the types listed are not paying customers and waste the time of booksellers -- booksellers that could be using their time and expertise helping others.
That is to say, I reserve my 'hate' for 'customers' who either don't or won't buy books in the bookstore. Coffee drinkers are fine, and all, but a $3 cup of coffee is not a $8 paperback or $25 hardcover -- and at my bookstore we sublet a space to Starbucks, we don't run our own cafe, so I don't see a dime of the coffee profits.
And thanks for the name check. A lot of blogs linked without mentioning the name of the site, let alone the author.
Posted by: Matt Blind | June 18, 2009 11:13 AM