Why do people buy art? Why do they buy anything? Because the pain of not having what is being sold is greater than parting with their money.
So what is your mission when selling your art? You might think that it’s communicating the value of your art. Yes and no.
Remember. During a conversation with a prospect, you’ll want to talk about 20% of the time. Your prospect should speak about 80% of the time.
So how do you convey the value of your work and not talk so much? You ask questions. What kind of questions? Leading questions.
Remember the show Columbo? Peter Falk played a private investigator who asked suspects leading questions. That is what you want to do with your prospects.
What questions do you ask? First, relax. Selling is simply having a conversation. Your first job is just to establish rapport.
Once you have established rapport you may find that your prospect has just remodeled their dinning room, they have a celebration coming up, or they have been looking for something special for the wall in the den for a year.
Selling art is not a manipulation. Who likes that? You are simply helping your prospects come to their own conclusions. And if you’re effective they will conclude that what you have to offer will solve a particular pain in their life.
Please note. Everyone’s pain is different. Your job is to uncover it.
Pain? Isn’t art about inspiration? Well. That’s what I used to think, until I uncovered my collectors’ pain. The real reasons they bought my work. For example:
1. The real estate investment firm that needed to convey the story of their luxury resort property in a way that distinguished them from every other luxury property.
2. The busy CEO who needed to come up with a memorable, meaningful, and thoughtful gift for his wedding anniversary to, in his words, help him “save his marriage.”
3. The empty nester who was ready to indulge and celebrate her passion, not her childrens’ or her husband’s. Her passion is art and color.
Note this too. If you uncover enough pain it is interesting how their budget will increase.
During this process your prospect may conclude that what you have to offer does not provide an antidote to their pain. And that’s okay.
You can then let this prospect go and just ask for a referral.
About Ann Rea
Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.
I couldn’t agree more with you Cathy, I carry my camera everywhere, and find my painted images using the photos, are quite different.. atmospheric and emotional, and somehow alive to me…
I thought about the value of painting versus photos a lot (I do a kind of hybrid) and I think paintings have a LOT more going on than rarity. Paintings have physical texture, and they have varying levels of abstraction. It might be like the difference between a movie and a play – they are very different things, and they have different kinds of power. I think of my paintings as “performances” of the images I capture with my camera.
It is simply a perception of rarity. A photograph is often reproduced in the same form. There is only one original painting.
The conventional view that somehow painting is more valuable than photography has always baffled me. A photograph is documentary. It is a recording of a specific unrepeatable moment that can retain value indefinitely if cared for properly. Painting is a whole other animal.
Very good points.
I always view the collector and dealer as completing the circle.
It’s an odd activity. Grownups standing around attributing value to a piece of fabric with pigments applied to the surface. It’s only utility is to fill space.
make it all seem a little mysterious. And that keeps it fun. I could never gauge which piece a collector would pick no mater how well I knew him or how familiar I was with their collection. I have “nailed” countless paintings that ended up in storage after languishing in galleries for years. Then someone snaps it up!
I have puzzled rather or not to release a marginal piece and finally given in to a show deadline with a just a little embarrassment, only to obtain a half dozen commissions from the piece. Mystery.
We work hard to compete, to produce and market our work and to develop a sustainable career
but maybe people buy to fill a space, to appreciate the work for it emotional value or narrative, or simply to signal friends that they are urbane and loaded. Who cares, we are just happy they share the mystery and help us close the circle.