Let’s face it, the true sale is really about closing the deal.  Selling art is really personal. I know many artists who have a really hard time selling their originals.  Artists spend time with their art, sometimes days, sometimes months or years.  They learn to grow and love their art.  They tweak it and manipulate it and move it and maybe paint over or start over many times. When it comes time to sell it, some artists just have a hard time letting go.  So, the first rule of thumb in selling is that you have to be passionate about wanting to sell whatever it is you are selling.  If there is hesitation on your part, the potential prospect or buyer will see that.  And, ask for the sale.

Next, know when to push and when not to push the sale.  Sales is also about reading the personality of your buyers.  Some people like to be wined and dined and entertained and others like a more direct, get to the point approach.  The minute they say they like your art enough to buy it, ask “will that be Mastercard or Visa, check or cash, money order”?  This mere question often gently pushes a prospect into the sale.

If someone likes your art but hesitates, find out why.  Is it too large?  We can get you a smaller print.  Is it the framing?  We can frame it in a different color or with different matting.  Is it the price?  Can we make you a print instead of selling you the original?

Above all else, LISTEN to your prospects.  If they want red, don’t push blue on them.  If they want big, give them big.  Some artists are so busy talking about the aspects of their art that they like that they miss what their buyers like.  Survey buyers and non-buyers to find out what they like and what they don’t like about your art.  If you can handle the criticism, it will make you a better artist and a better salesperson.

It also can’t hurt to have people you know encouraging the sale.  If you are at an outdoor art sale, bring friends to subtly mention that you’ve been written up in magazines or won some awards.  The more people in your outdoor art show booth, the more buzz is created.  Use testimonials on your website from every happy customer.

I personally like to sell.  It’s how I started out in my career, cold calling.  I made it into a game.  If people were rude to me on the phone, I scored points.  I learned how to work with rude people in the selling process.  Here are a few tips I learned:

• Always be the nicest to the gatekeeper.  They hold the key to all of the information about a company so don’t negate, look down upon or bypass them.
• Never spill your beans in the lobby.  In other words, don’t start talking about what you do or what you are selling ad nauseum.  Instead, find out what your prospect needs first.  They don’t want to hear about things they don’t need and it will typically turn them right off.  But, if you have a solution to what they do need, you will be revered for solving their problem and they might look to you for more things as well.

Give your customers more than what they expect.  WOW! your clients.  I offer creative packaging.  I work with broken musical instrument parts in my work so I often use creative musical cases to package the art like violin or guitar cases.  When your customer walks away with creative packaging, they become a walking billboard for your art/your company.

Finally, don’t forget to follow up.  I became a SendOutCards.com rep so that I never forget to send a thank you note to my clients.  It means the world to them to know how much I appreciate their sale.  The cards I send are also worthy of being framed.  I’ve had clients want the packaging almost as much as the art!

Good luck, and contact me if you need help selling your art.