In case your doing the math, I have only been doing artfairs as a major part of my income for the past 10 years or so. But before that I usually did 1 or 2 a year for you know . . . like . . . fun. Actually I grew up doing a similar type event with my mother so it’s probably closer to 30 years of doing them. But let’s not quibble over reality, shall we.
As is my want I am breaking this up into two parts. The first is about people and selling. The following post will deal with travel and tents.
People and Selling
1. People Lie. Well maybe not “lie” exactly, but don’t get your hopes up when someone says “I’ll be back.” Unlike Arnie, once someone utters those three little words there is a 99.9725% chance they won’t. That’s not to say they don’t mean well. I’ve come to the conclusion it is a combination of guilt (over not buying) and wanting to show they really do like what you do without giving you money.
Similarly, Beware of too much praise. The more gushing praise a person gives you is in direct relation to the likelihood of them not buying something.
2. People are generally honest. (Okay, I just couldn’t help myself there.) What I mean is most people aren’t looking to steal from you (some jewelers may disagree with me on this one.) In all the thousands of checks I’ve taken in the past decade or so, I’ve only had one bad one.
3. Be nice to your neighbors A weekend is a long time to be pissed at someone you can’t walk away from for the next couple of days. Similarly be courteous during load-in and load-out. That’s the real measure of how nice a person you are.
4. Be gracious and grateful to everyone. Treat your $20 sales like you would your $200 or $2000 sales. Often times it’s the multitude of small sales that will get you to your goal. Also relationships with patrons are sometimes built from smaller sales first.
5. The S Rule Shiny (urm . . .)”Stuff” Sells. When doing an indoor event use lots of lighting. Pay the electrical fee and bring lots and lots of lights. It makes a huge difference. Trust me on this.
6. Be Attentive. If your sitting in a low chair and someone asks you a question, stand up. (A tall directors chair is helpful also) look them in the eye and smile.
7. Be Agreeable. Being affirmative is a sales technique that at first I had to think about but now is just part of how I relate with people naturally. This means that when talking with people I often nod my head in subtle agreement. This builds repore.
Also, if the time comes when someone says some thing you painted (or whatever) is wrong. Arguing with them is a losing proposition. If your wrong (and they know it or they think that they know it) trying to convince them otherwise, will only make them think less of you. And if your right, you will make them look bad (or feel stupid) and they’ll still not like you. Listen to them, say nothing, and smile.
8. Don’t Hover. Customers are wiley prey and they don’t like to feel trapped into talking with you or worse yet, buying something. If possible don’t stand in or at the front of your booth. Just outside near the opening is good. At the events we do often we sit outside at the back. They can find me easily and yet I’m not in their personal space.
9. The key to Selling is to ask questions about you patron and then listen. You might be surprised how few people want to know about your work and your process despite them having asked you something about it.
10.The key to Sales is variety. Variety of images and price points
.
Tags: artfairs, business
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Excellent points, all of them.
Of course the physicality of all that standing and moving around is beyond me, something I didn’t realize at the time I was doing it. That affected how I did at any kind of fair — at first before I’d blown my back I’d be getting a lot of interest and sales, but as soon as I got tired or sick no one wanted anything. Same with the street art. I would have done better going home anytime I felt bad than staying out and trying to push it.
I can’t imagine trying to sell artwork at those kind of venues with physical issues. It’s incredibly hard on me and I’m healthy, relatively speaking.
So why do you suppose your sales went down?
Hi, Mona
Am reading all your lens notes…..
It seems to me selling is a lot about connecting with people, and if they think they are contributing to your discomfort, they pull back. Which is the opposite of what you need when you don’t feel well….at least, you want the sales part to keep going forward. I hope your friends’ back is better…..hard to work under that kind of pain….
Howdy Pat!
I think that’s a somewhat accurate assessment. You need to be easily available. And yes I think you can project a certain emotion when you feel poorly. People are attracted to bright things, including personalities. It hard to be charming when you’re sick. A person gives off subtle cues which people subconsciously pick up on and avoid.