Know Thy Enemy: Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Know Thy Enemy

Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Learn to think like your competition

Part 15 of the 36-part “Book Wars” series of articles

by David A. Rozansky, Publisher, Flying Pen Press

Readers, Writers & Royalties columnist

June 29, 2009

Copyright 2009 David A. Rozansky

(Note: This is the 15th article in the “Book Wars” series of articles, wherein the author interprets the strategies taught in The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene, and applies them to the business of the independent bookseller, in the arena of the difficult book trade. The first article in this series can be read at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977657920).

In war, Intelligence about the enemy is vital to any general’s strategy. So it is in business and any form of competition. When we talk of Intelligence strategies, our imagination often conjures up images of secretive spies skulking around in dark alleys, but the truth is, spies are not the key to Intelligence. Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War has a very long chapter devoted to Intelligence, and he makes a very clear point— what really matters is knowing how the enemy thinks and reacts.

This is such a critical strategy in competition, I will need to write a rather long article to discuss it. If you have been following this series, you will find that the extra time spent on this topic will be worth it.

An army at war must follow the orders of a single general if it is to be effective, just as your staff should be following your orders without question. And when trying to predict your competitor’s moves, only their leader’s mind can supply that information.

Thus, it becomes critical to know how to read people. We all learn at an early age to lie and deceive, to get our hand into the cookie jar only when no one is looking, and good business people learn this ever so much more so. But at the same time, no one can hide their thoughts for very long, and the bookseller who learns to read these thoughts through the competitor’s actions is going to have a distinct, almost overpowering advantage.

There are many books about how to read people. I have read a few on picking up poker player’s “tells.” One general book on reading people that I want to read and review very soon is You Can Read Anyone by David J. Lieberman. It looks like it fills the bill for just such an education.

But back to Robert Greene’s book. Greene explains that no one can hide their inner thoughts and emotions for very long. The distraction of daily tasks, the inherent stresses of business, and the shifting conversations with staff and customers constantly act upon your competitor’s psychological façade. Your bigger competitors may also have to deal with stockholders, market conditions, thousands of local governments, and the flurry of headaches that come with a world headquarters. (If I can plug a book for a moment, Looking Glass by James R. Strickland is a cyberpunk novel that takes the concept of “breaking the corporate veil” to some very thought-provoking heights.)

Watch closely and continuously, and you will see the cracks in the enemy’s veneer, and see his psychological weaknesses that hide underneath. These weaknesses become the very places where you can exert the most pressure to the best effect.

When watching your competitor, do not impose your own emotions and values on him. Your ambitions are not his ambitions. Interpret his actions based on sound psychological observations devoid of your own bias.

Go one step farther, and try to think as the enemy thinks. By getting into his head and knowing—I dare say “reading”—the competitor’s mind, you can then stay one step ahead of him, much to his consternation.

Once you figure out the enemy’s psychological weakness, you will be able to create a bundle of tools that will completely rattle him by pushing a few buttons.

Greene suggests some Intelligence strategies, which I will try to paraphrase. For a deeper understanding of these techniques, I would point you to Greene’s book and to the many suggested titles he lists in the back of it.

· Mirror the Enemy: One effective mindreading technique is to simply mirror the competitor’s actions and behaviors. Once you learn the details of how the competition does what it does, you are likely to begin seeing how the competition’s boss acts. With regard to bigger competitors, this is more difficult, but not impossible. If the competitor abides by a particular strategy, try to stick to that same philosophy, just to see where it takes you.

· The Close Embrace: Working under the tutelage of a competitor is perhaps one fo the best ways to learn their thinking. Open an Amazon Seller account, take a job at a Barnes and Noble as a simple clerk (Probably in another city, but you would be amazed at how local chain store managers have no idea of who their local competitors are.) Volunteer at the library, if that is your biggest competition. Watch carefully and quietly; don’t ask too many questions.

· The Friendly Atmosphere: Make your enemy comfortable. Whenever we are comfortable, we let down our guard. Loose lips sink ships, and a lot more. Ply them with drinks, share with them a few little luxuries, and then prod, carefully, but prodding nonetheless. You can prod with action, suggestion, or slightly off-topic questions. You can even have others prod for you.

· The Poker Tell: The reason that Intelligence strategy seems so difficult is that we all are adept at lying. But at hiding the truth, we are not so keen, and instead of trying to get at the truth, watch instead for the lies. In poker, reading people is an exercise in watching for “tells.” When people are trying to keep something secret or hidden, especially a weakness that can be exploited by their opponents, there I a tendency to act in the opposite fashion. A poker player with a strong hand tries to appear weak through sighs, weak hand motions, and apologetic comments; conversely, one tends to disguise a weak hand by appearing strong, with stronger language, slamming chips on the table, and holding his chin high in confidence. So to in business—a competitor who acts one way is likely disgusing a weakness or strength that is quite opposite to their apparent behavior.

· Applying Pressure: Simply put, people drop their duplicitous nature whenever faced with a crisis. The immediacy of the situation does not offer them the luxury of trying to figure out how best to hide their inner selves. Simply provide a crisis and watch the reaction. Many first salvos in any conflict are often such a ploy, to elicit an honest reaction.

· Pushing Buttons: Much like the previous technique of creating a crisis, this technique rests on the fact that under pressure, people can’t hide their true ways. But instead of one big crisis, you can instead create constant pressure in little ways. This can even be a lot of fun, if your competitor is highly reactive to needling. Keep the enemy emotional, and all of his secret thoughts will become plain to see.

· Pick a Fight: This is also similar to the technique of creating a crisis, but one step beyond. By launching an attack that threatens to become a long, drawn-out, knuckle-bruising brawl (perhaps falsely, perhaps not), you force the competitor to act decisively instead of deceptively. This technique is not for all occasions, but when it can be used, it is very effective. A real fight with real fisticuffs could work, too, but the law is going to take a dim view, so keep the fight in the arena of business competition.

It should be clear that Intelligence is more about trying to think like the enemy, not about digging out trade secrets. Cloak-and-dagger spies are what most people think of when it comes to Intelligence gathering, and in some ways, they can be helpful, but spies generally are not all that useful, and Greene gives some very good reasons why. He also gives some espionage strategies that may be of use, in light of this thinking.

But before I can get into that, be clear on this: spies are rather ineffective. Plans change, people are on the lookout for spies, and spies can never be trusted. As people are always afraid of spies, they tend to keep information close to their chest, and once you enact your own secret plan, the competitor’s plans will have to change rapidly, anyway. Better to predict the opponent’s move rather than respond to what secrets he has already put in place.

That is not to say you should not bother to learn what the enemy is up to. While spies tend to be ineffective, scouts on the other hand are vital. One cannot launch a price war if one does not know what price the competition is charging. One cannot provide a better selection of books if the competitor’s selection is unknown. Customers, sales reps, and authors can be great scouts, often unknowingly.

Greene also points out that a network of allies is so much better than a network of spies. Your alliance of local businesses, local government, and loyal customers will tell you what the competitor is doing, and better yet, how they are likely to react to any given situation. If your competitor buys considerable signage material at the neighborhood hardware store, and you have established a strong mutual friendship with the hardware storekeeper, you are likely to hear about it shortly after the sale.

One trick that has often shaped history is the act of befriending someone who is a close friend or coworker of the enemy. Once that person is in your confidence, talking about your competitor can yield some great Intelligence.

The competitor’s disgruntled employees and unhappy customers are always a good source of Intelligence. This is why you should work hard at keeping staff and customers very happy. You might even go as far as to hire the people your competitor has fired.

However you find your spies, be certain never to rely on one spy. Everyone filters information through their own emotional lens. By combining Intelligence from several spies, you will have a more focused picture of what is really going on.

The best spy, however, is your competitor himself. In this Age of Information, almost anyone in a position of leadership leaves behind them a trail of writings, interviews, blogs, tweets, memos, directives, letters, and e-mails. All but the emails are generally available to the public in some way, and all too often, emails get out. The bigger the competition, the greater the papertrail. It is wise to use only current information, but a Google alert will gather news of the competitor’s actions and thoughts as they occur. And be certain to read between the lines, keeping in mind that the public façade hides the true nature of the individual.

Also remember, as we have discussed in the defensive strategy of Non-Repetition, you can never expect your opponent to react to the same set of circumstances in the same way twice. The competitor’s thoughts and reasoning are always changing, and so you must keep your Intelligence up to date.

Because your competitor is likely trying to figure you out, trying to get into your head, it is important to practice some defensive Counterintelligence tricks as well:

· Keep yourself and your business formless and difficult to read. The defensive strategy of Controlled Chaos can be very helpful in this regard.

· Occasionally, act predictably, as if you have developed a habit. It will draw your opponent’s attention (hopefully away from your real intentions). It can even elicit a predictable reaction from your competitor as they try to exploit this so called weakness you have demonstrated, provided you know your opponent’s mind.

· And of course, as is the case in all forms of competition, from football to checkers, from business to war, use a misinformation campaign. To put it in terms of a bookseller’s world, plant a few red herrings into the plot, to keep the reader (i.e., your competitor) guessing.

I would leave my Book Warrior friends with a couple of reading suggestions. The strategy of Intelligence is so critical that it requires constant study. Hopefully, the suggested reading will be of great help (and no, other than the IndieBound Affiliate commission, I have no interest in the following books):

· I already recommended You Can Read Anyone by David J. Lieberman. I’ve not actually read it, so skim it first, but I have it on my wish list and will buy from my local independent bookseller. I will report back on it in my column, “Readers, Writers, Royalties.”

· I recommend Plug Your Book by Steven Weber. It is a book written for authors and publishers about how to make the most of Amazon’s marketing tools. An independent bookseller would be wise to learn all of Amazon’s arcane ways, to learn the “mindset” of the computers that run Amazon.

· Another book aimed at publishers is the incredibly inclusive 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer. Kremer has made a name for himself as the top expert on how authors can market their books. Not everything in the book will help an independent bookseller; but in helping publishers make sales, Kremer gives a deep and detailed look at how many of the big booksellers operate, including some even an independent bookseller may not have thought of, such as churches, book clubs, and the publishers themselves. This is a basic primer for Books Warriors who are just now learning how the big guys operate. Check out Kremer’s website and weekly “Book Marketing Tip of the Week” newsletter.

· No Book Warrior should be ignoring Shelf Awareness, a daily news-collator covering the book trade. It is designed specifically for independent booksellers. It carries news of independent booksellers, chains, the difficulties facing booksellers, articles that extol unusual successes of booksellers, and legal rulings and filings that can change the topography of the Book Warrior’s battlefield. It’s timely, it’s comprehensive, it’s valuable, and it’s free for the asking.

Oh, did I ever mention that I used to work for Barnes and Noble as a lowly book shelver and cashier, and that I am not particularly happy with the way they laid me off? That was the final impetus to create my own small business. Call me, I’ll pitch Flying Pen Press titles, you’ll pick my brain.

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This is just one article in David A. Rozansky’s column, Readers, Writers & Royalties, a blog column about the book trade, from writing and publishing, to selling and reading. This series of articles—“Book Wars”—is an interpretation of the strategies listed in Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War, as they apply to the independent bookseller. The next installment of this column will discuss how to apply the lightning-fast strategy of the Blitzkrieg and why one has to go slow to use it.

Readers may find archived articles or subscribe to Readers, Writers & Royalties at www.ReadWriteRoyalty.Gather.com. Subscribe to all of Mr. Rozansky’s articles at www.FlyingPenPress.Gather.com.

David A. Rozansky is the publisher of Flying Pen Press. He has been in publishing since 1987, and has more than one million published words under his byline. Flying Pen Press is at http://www.FlyingPenPress.com. He is available for speaking on the subject of writing magazine articles, public relations, marketing and book-length material.

Bibliographic information for books mentioned in this article:

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
(Penguin Books, 2007, ISBN 9780143112785, trade ppb, $18.00).

You Can Read Anyone by David J. Lieberman
(Viter Press, 2007, ISBN 9780978631307, trade ppb, $13.95)

Looking Glass by James R. Strickland
(Flying Pen Press, 2007, ISBN 9780979588907, trade ppb, $14.95)

Plug Your Book by Steven Weber
(Weber Books, 2007, ISBN 9780977240616, trade ppb, $18.95)

1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer
(Open Horizons, 2006, ISBN 9780912411491, trade ppb, $27.95)