ONE MAJOR KEY TO CONNECTING WITH COLLECTORS: SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM!
Last month I almost lost sale on a large painting, and admittedly it was my fault.
But I learned a lesson and luckily, I was given a second chance.
Here’s what happened:
We thought we would try something new at Drew Brophy studios this holiday season to pump up sales and to create a personal connection to Drew’s collectors. We held a studio “open house” the four Saturdays before Christmas.
It was a success; we had existing collectors show up and many new people who had never been in our studio before. We sold over two dozen original paintings!
However, I almost lost the sale of the largest painting that month.
That’s because, in the hustle of being busy with many customers, I forgot one of the golden rules of selling art:
Make it easy for your customer to buy. Solve their problems and you’ll make the sale.
One of Drew’s regular collectors, Tim, had showed up to open house and was interested in a very large painting called The Circle of Life.
His problem was this: he needed to have it transported to his new home in Hawaii.
When he suggested that he look into shipping options himself, I agreed to let him do the work on solving that problem. That was a mistake on my part. It was my responsibility to take care of the shipping. I shouldn’t have made the customer do the work on that.
A few days later he called and said that he couldn’t buy the painting after all; the shipping service that he was using for all of his other belongings wouldn’t insure the painting.
This is when I realized the error of my ways and said “let me see what I can find out about shipping and get back to you.”
I made a few calls to others who ship large items to Hawaii and got leads on different companies that insure artwork. Then I called for price quotes and insurance information and chose the best option.
I called Tim and said “I found a good shipping price from a company that is willing to insure it. How about this; we will build the crate for it, package and ship it and all you have to do is pay for it?”
There was a good chance that he had changed him mind on buying the painting. But happily, he agreed to the shipping quote. SOLD! The Circle of Life is going to its new home Hawaii this month, and all is well.
The moral of the story is this:
Make it easy for your collectors to buy your art. Solve their problems for them. Ensure that their experience with you one of ease and joy.
PS: There are many different aspects to connecting with your collectors. I’ll be hosting a live call with expert Artist Coach Ariane Goodwin to discuss her own wonderful ideas on how to connect with collectors.
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