You have a “job” to do. You have that Art Fair, Studio Event, or Gallery Show next week or next month. This is where you go to “work” and earn a living. This is not a cocktail party. Or at least it shouldn’t be a casual meeting in your mind. (Gallery openings are notoriously hard for serious selling – a cocktail party on steroids. See if you can break away from that trend.)
You have spent enormous effort to get this space set up to show potential collectors your amazing artistry. You have a responsibility to find homes for your art.
If you are at an Art Fair, you have taken time away from creating in your studio. You may have even traveled a great distance and have significant expenses. You have spent a great deal of time creating work for this show. You (hopefully) have spent time, and possibly money, marketing your event.
In addition, if this is an Art Fair, you have spent money to RENT your “storefront” at this show. You have rent to pay for that show AND you are paying for your studio costs and other business expenses. The overhead expenses are ongoing no matter where you are showing; Art Show, Gallery Opening, or Studio Event.
These costs are real. You can’t spend the majority of the day talking about anything and everything and sabotage your ability to sell your work. You cannot let a fresh set of eyes be averted and their minds distracted from your work. And no… they don’t necessarily get back to browsing.
There are three stages that every buyer must go through. Distracting them with chit-chat can send them on a detour – and so off-track! – that they never even get to the first stage: Awareness.
Chit-chat kills momentum
The Awareness Stage will usually lead to Consideration, but only if the viewer is given the chance to remain on task.
Help them stay on target. You are not “selling” weather, the recent news about an earthquake in Nepal, the rising costs of homes, or declining costs of gasoline. However, the people browsing your collection will happily engage in chit chat, of course. We all love a little “neutral ground”. But this is not the time or the place. (Revisit the chapter on Empathy. There is a difference between being friendly and having Empathy.)
Artists can authentically engage, but remain focused on SELLING & find homes for more art. Click To Tweet
I am not saying don’t engage in some casual and friendly bonding. I am saying that the moment they are focused on your work, do not change the subject back to chit chat. It’s not in your best interest.
It’s not in their best interest.
And it’s certainly not in the best interest of your art finding loving homes.
So true. And timely as I open a solo show tomorrow, thanks
WONDERFUL! I am so happy (even thankful on this Thanksgiving Day!) to have been of value to you, Barbara! Have a GREAT solo show. Let us know how it goes!
Thank you for that reminder, Mckenna, to button up and concentrate on the task at hand! I think this is one of the key lessons I’ve learned from your guide. People’s interior thoughts about your work are inaccessible to you if you don’t focus on opening up the conversation to them in a way that gives them permission to express their real needs and concerns as they consider making a purchase. It’s so easy to miss the little signals, both verbal and non-verbal as to what they have on their minds if you don’t focus and pay close attention. Here’s a recent example:
A couple were looking round my studio at a busy time and I had to deal with some other customers before I could get to them. But I had registered that they were very interested but something was causing them to hesitate – I could read it in their body language. So when I could finally give them my complete attention I silently thought “What would Mckenna say? She would ask some questions and try to understand where they were coming from and what their issues were” So I asked if they had somewhere in mind for a piece of art and it came out that they’d just re-decorated their living room and had a new carpet that they were very excited about and wanted the picture to match the carpet! They were embarrassed to mention it but eventually it came out that they’d brought a carpet sample in the car and hadn’t dared to bring it in. Well, I sent them off to get it and helped them look at a number of pieces that would match and in due course they made their choice and went away very happy!
“What would Mckenna say?” I would say…BRAVO Rebecca! I am beyond proud to be in any way responsible for your obviously improving engagement skills. I LOVE this story. It’s quintessential selling by listening and probing. I repeat: BRAVO!
Thank you for your kind words. I do think I have improved a lot in my interactions and I’m enjoying it more. Your guide has been my touch stone.
Neutral territory feels SAFE. It takes effort to step out of the neutral zone and ask for the sale, and risk the rejection. Yet you can’t feel the elation of a sale either if you don’t take that chance.
Yep, Susan. You nailed it.
And that thing we all get hung-up on, “asking for the sale” (said as though in a giant tunnel with lots of reverberation) is really easy when you remember your selling purpose, right? Pull out your Flashcards and re-visit #1, #13, and especially #14!
I would challenge everyone to consider removing ALL neutral zone chatter for an entire presentation and see what happens. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!
This “chit-chat” thing really hit home with me at a recent show. There were two of us together, and you had to pass by her booth before you came to mine. She is a good friend, but she loves to chat. So when people came by she would talk about the art, but then get off on all kinds of other subjects. The potential customers would be so distracted that they didn’t realize they were looking at art – it just seemed like they were at a party. Some didn’t even make it as far as my booth because they had become so distracted. It took them out of a ‘looking at art’ mind set. And don’t even get me started on customers that bring their pets. You might as well go take a nap while everyone drools about a little dog. Total disengagement!
Hey, if she really is a good friend, you might pull up my blog and share it? We all have our moments, but some people really have an almost pathological need to chat! And it will often kill sales for whoever is next in line because – as you note – they have lost all the shopping mode. Or, they just got “talked out” and can’t face another new conversation anytime soon.
Betsy… I would look for the littlest movement in anyone’s eyes or body movement that hinted at interest and engage them asap. Dog’s are cute, but I am sure your art is much more interesting. Allow them to drool and then help them discover and drool on your art collection.