Selling Art through Referrals

You may remember the Fabergé Organics Shampoo commercial where Heather Locklear tells us to be sure to tell two friends about the shampoo and “then they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on?”

Fabergé was not advertising so much for you to buy shampoo, they where really advertising for you tell two friends about their shampoo. A brilliant strategy.

Most solo entrepreneurs, meaning entrepreneurial artists, are introduced to new business by way of referrals. Also known as “word of mouth marketing.”

And this is why social media is a key tool to employ in a referral marketing effort. 

If you are not handling referrals correctly it could really be costing you.

Handle referrals correctly and your art sales will increase and selling your art will take far less time and effort.

I recently gave one of my “MAKING Art/Making MONEY” students a referral for a potential commission.

Wait! Before you email me asking me for referrals to my collectors, please know I do not refer business to anyone who I do not know.

What’s so beautiful about this referral is that:

a. She is a qualified collector, meaning she is genuinely motivated to buy

b. She trust’s my judgment so the artist won’t have to do much selling

What happened? My student promptly responded to the referral but she made one critical mistake. She did not confirm to me that she received my referral.

It’s okay. She’s still a student and she is still learning and they don’t teach you this stuff in art school.

So. Here’s what you do. When you get a referral, qualified or not, you immediately thank the person who gave it to you. Immediately.

That is if you would like to get more referrals from that person. Remember. They have gone out on a limb for you so let them know that they can trust you to follow through on their introduction.

Then your immediate goal is to get that referral on the phone or meet with them in person before the next shinny ball distracts them.

If it was an email introduction, and you don’t have their number, you might reply with something like.

Hello Sally,

Very nice to “meet” you.

Thank you for your interest in my art.

I would love to talk to you about the commission that you are interested in and see if what I do is a good fit.

I’m currently available next Friday, 12/06 PST for brief chat by phone?

Please reply to confirm or suggest a few other times that will work best for you.

I’m looking forward to speaking with you.

Sincerely,

Tammy

• Notice. It’s short, sweet, and friendly.
• We get way too many emails for our health. If you have a number it’s better to call immediately. Why? You don’t sell art via email. Selling is a live contact sport.
• Start your message with a “thank you.” People appreciate good manners and this sets the right tone. It’s a big gift to get a referral. Be gracious.
• “See if what I do is a good fit.” This is very deliberate. Why? Because most artists reek of desperation for sales and this is so not appealing and it puts you and a disadvantage. And guess what? It might not be a good fit.
• “I’m looking forward to speaking with you.” This demonstrates that you are indeed interested in their business.
• The goal is to make live contact ASAP. So you give them a specific time so that they can say yes or no and give you a time. If you don’t do this, you could be left hanging.

Action step. Has someone given you a referral that you have not yet taken action on? Get on it. NOW.

How have you handled referrals in the past?

What would you do differently? Learn from your mistakes.

Go over last year’s sales and determine how many sales came by way of referral. What is the percentage?

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