Storybook - Washrag - A Black Cloud Business Book
Washrag
- Sell What You Have -
- Not What They Want -
Segodinerk changed the world for Traders like me and you.
CHAPTER 1: What Is A Washrag?
Think of the way you clean your store. Do you spray each item lovingly with its own special cleaning solution, wipe it down, and then clean the cleaning rag before moving on?
No! You go over everything with a general cleaner and a single washrag. That washrag collects grime that no one wants. It gets gunky, but it cleans up.
It "cleans up." We use this phrase for another action too: for making Kinah tail over fur.
So, how do you clean up? You become the washrag that everyone needs. And I'll tell you how!
CHAPTER 4: Killing Your Customers for Fun and... Bankruptcy
Gomurinerk, on the other paw, did not learn to be a washrag.
Too scared of losing his client list, Gomurinerk went out and hunted down outlandish requests at his own expense. Finding, procuring, and transporting the items would leave him nearly broke. He barely netted any Kinah after the sale... if his clients still wanted the product by then.
His unprofitable problem reached a milestone when a customer demanded a Poisonous Dryac.
Note that I say "customer," not "Daeva." The customer in question, Homarn, was only sixteen years old and had yet to ascend.
Heedless of the Black Cloud Merchants' by-law that stipulates no Shugo shall deal in poisonous live cargo, Gomurinerk moved forward. He believed the old saw, "Provide anything the client asks for, then charge extra."
Oh, if only he'd been a washrag!
As you may expect, Gomurinerk successfully tracked down a Poisonous Dryac. For months he toiled. Following paths through the deserts. Making his own tranquilizers. Hauling his capture in a hand made cage.
Homarn paid Gomurinerk well for his services, then reached out to touch his new acquisition.
Poisoned! Homarn expired on the spot, while his very influential family looked on. Black Cloud Merchants still cannot do business in Homarn's home district on the date of this printing.
CHAPTER 23: The Washrag Inside You
As all the previous examples, good and bad, have shown you: becoming a washrag isn't an action, it's a state of mind.
That state of mind lets you sell what you have right now. Don't go hunting for product. Don't give your customers deadly pets.
Start by saying, "No, no, Daeva. What you really want is--".(*) Then build a sensible argument. You can't lose!
(*) NOTE: Black Cloud Merchants masquerading as everyday Shugos may want to say something more like, "No, nyerk. Daeva is really needings--".
APPENDIX: Questions To Get You Started
1) Which products aren't selling? Why?
2) Why would a Daeva want this product?
2.5) Go deeper! Pretend you are a stupid Daeva--female, male, young, old, Elyos, Asmodian. Look at the product through Daeva eyes.
3) What words did you use? Can you evoke stronger feelings with related words?
