On Selling Art - Part 1

Good record keeping is a prerequisite to selling.  This was key to my art sales and it's key to yours. 

If you read Alyson Stanfield's art marketing book (and I suggest you do), I'd Rather Be in the Studio!, check out Action #2:  Organize your information, it all has to go somewhere.  Alyson's right.  That information does need to go somewhere, so organize it, and make it easy to retrieve when you need it. 

Here's the information you're going to put into your record keeping system:  Every time you meet a new prospective customer, create a document and make some notes about that particular person. 

Write down what they like, what styles of art turns them on, the names of artists whose works they already own, what they're specifically looking for, any budget information, which artists that you represent that they enjoy (this applies more to galleries since you likely only "represent" yourself), any special events that might be important, their kids names, etc, etc, etc.   It's important to note, that at this stage, you probably won't get ALL of this information, so just record whatever you can.  Also, it's very important to get this information down on "paper" (or in your computer) as soon as possible.  When you're talking with someone in person, you'll have to do your best to remember as many details as you can.  Back in my gallery days, I made a lot of sales by phone, so, in many cases, I was able to jot down a lot of this while conversing with the client.  I suspect you'll be able to as well.

Another important tool that you need for your record-keeping is a good database.  I mainly recorded the customer's name, address, phone number, email address, and most importantly which artists that particular person liked (whether I represented the artist or not).  The database is important because databases make it easy to search for information....information that you'll forget. You want to be able to ask your database to show you everyone whose interested in a particular artist, a particular subject matter, a particular style of artwork, a size range, a price range, etc. 

For example, when a new painting arrived, the first search I ran against my database was the computer equivalent of the question, "who has expressed interest or purchased works by this artist?"  And that gave me a good working list of prospects to immediately start contacting.  You can also think about other artists who paint "similar" to you (or similar to the artist you're working with if you're a gallery person) and have your database show you people interested in the other artist as a good starting point....that can really help out when you're just getting started.  (Incidentally, this is one place galleries have a big marketing advantage over individual artists:  Galleries already have a good prospect list that they can draw upon since they represent multiple artists. Plus, since they represent many artists, their prospect lists tend to grow much faster.  Artist studios, on the other hand, tend to only focus on the works of one artist.) 

In the case of an individual artist, you might get away with not having a sophisticated database for a little while since you're only "representing" one artist (yourself) so theoretically, everyone in your files is interested in you.  But eventually you'll probably need a good database setup anyway since it is invaluable when it comes time to create mail-merge letters and invitations.  Plus, as the art world changes, I think a great strategy for individual artists is going to be to partner with other artists and cross-promote one another's artwork.  Regardless, at a minimum, you should know which artists each one of your prospects enjoy.  The information gives you insights into their tastes.  And to keep track of it all, we're back to the same solution: a database.

If you're "database" is a drawer full of business cards . . . . then I wouldn't be surprised to learn that you're not selling very well.  And as Forrest Gump said, "that's all I have to say about that."