Art, the Most Difficult Sale of the Design Process
Hello. From time to time on our art blog I am going to post some information, ideas, and opinions about art as it relates to design and sales. With my own opinions blasting out into cyber space, I also want yours. Please take the time to let us know what you think. Tell us you disagree. Tell us you hate us. Tell us that our opinions are B.S. For God's sake though do it constructively. Tell us why we are so bad. I want this blog to be a learning experience for all. So enjoy, and fire away. We can take it.
I believe that everyone agrees that ART is the MOST difficult part of the design process in terms of the sale. Believe me I know... first hand... from many, many customers, clients, designers, and friends, that art is difficult to get from the gallery walls to the client's home. Sometimes selling art to a client is like pulling teeth. The fact is that most people (including some designers) just don't get. They don't have a handle on what art is, how it relates to the design scheme, and especially: How to get the client to open up the wallet for something that they can't sit on, work on, cook on, or basically live on.
I want to make that process easier for you as a designer. That's what this blog is for. I want to inform, help, teach, and get taught myself, about how to sell art to people. Better yet: How to get people to buy art.
For every person that says to you "Perfect! I love it! How much?" You will hear, "I don't like it", "I don't get it", and the ever popular, "How much did you say that thing was?!" Here is a basic rejection we have all heard, and one way to deal with it:
Objection by your basic CEO or business owner:
Art is unnecessary, it serves no purpose, and it’s EXPENSIVE!
You know what you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT (kind of…)! Art is an expense. It makes you spend money. Just like you spend money on: your car, your home, your clothes, your hair cut, your golf clubs, your vacation, your insurance policy, paper for the printer, school for your kids, your computer, your cell phone, your Blackberry, your $7 coffee at Starbucks, and your $10 beer at the ballpark. These are all things you choose to spend your hard earned cash on, because: they are in one form or another IMPORTANT TO YOU! What you need to see is that art is important to you too. All of these things reflect your style and give others a piece of information about who you are, what your values are, and what you want. Art reflects your style just like all the other things on that list. For example: If you wore a pair of jeans to the office you would probably feel out of place and possibly a bit silly even if you consider yourself a tee shirt and jeans guy. The jeans are inappropriate in an office setting, and reflect on you in a negative way in an office environment, because they don’t say “professional”. Sometimes of course jeans say “I don’t have to dress up like the rest of you, because I run this place.” Most of us though are not afforded that luxury. If we showed up in jeans on Monday someone would ask if we were feeling ok. And probably we would be sent home.
Bad art, or worse NO art also reflects on you in a negative way too. It says I am not willing to invest in the things necessary to my complete my environment for myself and my coworkers. Art makes your business look like you are going to be there for a long time. It makes you look solid and dependable. Just like the thousand pound desk that took 4 big men to move into your office, and an army of workers to fit, finish, and ship it, art completes a space and completes your image. You spent 7 grand on that desk, why match it with a framed poster for 50 bucks that you could get in Costco while you were shopping for that 5 gallon bottle of mayonnaise?
The point: don't sell art. Sell what it can do for the client in terms of prestige, image, and the joy of ownership. Sell it as a necessity not an add on or an option. Leave that kind of selling to car salesmen!
Jeff
I believe that everyone agrees that ART is the MOST difficult part of the design process in terms of the sale. Believe me I know... first hand... from many, many customers, clients, designers, and friends, that art is difficult to get from the gallery walls to the client's home. Sometimes selling art to a client is like pulling teeth. The fact is that most people (including some designers) just don't get. They don't have a handle on what art is, how it relates to the design scheme, and especially: How to get the client to open up the wallet for something that they can't sit on, work on, cook on, or basically live on.
I want to make that process easier for you as a designer. That's what this blog is for. I want to inform, help, teach, and get taught myself, about how to sell art to people. Better yet: How to get people to buy art.
For every person that says to you "Perfect! I love it! How much?" You will hear, "I don't like it", "I don't get it", and the ever popular, "How much did you say that thing was?!" Here is a basic rejection we have all heard, and one way to deal with it:
Objection by your basic CEO or business owner:
Art is unnecessary, it serves no purpose, and it’s EXPENSIVE!
You know what you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT (kind of…)! Art is an expense. It makes you spend money. Just like you spend money on: your car, your home, your clothes, your hair cut, your golf clubs, your vacation, your insurance policy, paper for the printer, school for your kids, your computer, your cell phone, your Blackberry, your $7 coffee at Starbucks, and your $10 beer at the ballpark. These are all things you choose to spend your hard earned cash on, because: they are in one form or another IMPORTANT TO YOU! What you need to see is that art is important to you too. All of these things reflect your style and give others a piece of information about who you are, what your values are, and what you want. Art reflects your style just like all the other things on that list. For example: If you wore a pair of jeans to the office you would probably feel out of place and possibly a bit silly even if you consider yourself a tee shirt and jeans guy. The jeans are inappropriate in an office setting, and reflect on you in a negative way in an office environment, because they don’t say “professional”. Sometimes of course jeans say “I don’t have to dress up like the rest of you, because I run this place.” Most of us though are not afforded that luxury. If we showed up in jeans on Monday someone would ask if we were feeling ok. And probably we would be sent home.
Bad art, or worse NO art also reflects on you in a negative way too. It says I am not willing to invest in the things necessary to my complete my environment for myself and my coworkers. Art makes your business look like you are going to be there for a long time. It makes you look solid and dependable. Just like the thousand pound desk that took 4 big men to move into your office, and an army of workers to fit, finish, and ship it, art completes a space and completes your image. You spent 7 grand on that desk, why match it with a framed poster for 50 bucks that you could get in Costco while you were shopping for that 5 gallon bottle of mayonnaise?
The point: don't sell art. Sell what it can do for the client in terms of prestige, image, and the joy of ownership. Sell it as a necessity not an add on or an option. Leave that kind of selling to car salesmen!
Jeff
posted by TRA Art at 10:20 AM
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