ACE Newsletter

Facts Tell, A Story Sells

Artists do it all the time. In their enthusiasm to answer a question or explain what  and how they create their art when a prospect inquires, they tell too many facts, too fast.  Facts about the paint, the clay, the temperature to fire, the equipment to produce their art, the paper they work on....and don't see that the now glassy eyed prospect was lost back at the second sentence.

It's a common mistake.  Many artists are guilty of subjecting their prospect to "information overload."   And by that time it's too late for the artist.  At the first opportunity (usually after repeated glances at a watch) the artist watches the prospect beat a retreat via the need to move on to another booth, another appointment or follow a friend to lunch.  The prospect is escaping!
On the other side of the coin is the artist who says virtually nothing to the prospect and lets the individual walk away with no knowledge of that artist's world. Both extremes will prevent the artist from reaching his full potential as a marketing artist.
Every person in sales is guilty of either of these cardinal sins at one time or another.  Those who learn to overcome the desire to "explain too much" or "say nothing", will enjoy far more success than the ones who continue to talk too much or say too little!  It's a simple but effective sales technique known in the phrase, "Facts tell, a Story Sells!" And it works.

Under the free art lessons videos on the Jerrysartarama website and also one of my articles on EzineArticles, I  share information to the working artist about the best artist business cards. 
Sure I share the tips and the reasons for them and why they work but I also share a story. The unrehearsed story flowed easily in front of the cameras in the video studio because it was something that I had experienced and the story brought my facts to life.  In other words, it was entertaining, yet factual, informative and kept the listeners attention more effectively than dry facts would!

Sharing stories and anecdotes actually comes easily to most people when they are in familiar surroundings with family and friends. But in selling your art product, you are also building a relationship with your prospect. And you are expanding that relationship into a friendship with those prospects who are your clients.

So expand what you say to prospects into a storyline instead of a factual recital. Determine first what makes your product unique. What may be bland and boring to you, may offer your prospect a unique glimpse into your art world. Let them experience it! 

Instead of waxing eloquent to your prospect with too much "artspeak" or technical information about your wall hangings,  tell the client your story about what is involved with collecting the materials to create your art (raising the animals, gathering the wool, trips to a farm, strolls in the woods for natural materials, etc).

A photographer, instead of discussing F stops and perspective, may instead tell a humorous adventure story about getting the perfect shot or the backyard wildlife setup to capture his bird images.

A landscape painter may share a story about a particular adventure while painting on location. The point is to let your prospect know something about you and what you do in a lighthearted manner of a storyteller. Paint a visual picture for them of your world!

I have a friend who is an eclectic art collector. He is one of those collectors who has the confidence to buy what he likes. Among his acquisitions are a Salvador Dali and a Picasso.  He'll point them out to you if you are interested.

But the artwork that he talks about is the painting that he watched the artist create on the sidewalk of Paris. He enthusiastically shares HIS story of watching, over the course of an hour or so, the scene he was looking at, come to life on the canvas of this artist. He experienced it. And he bought it!  So this piece of art, that cost far less than others in his collection, holds it's own story for the buyer. And he shares that story with everyone who looks at that piece.  The client bought the experience.

In this example, the artist demonstrated the story to an audience who probably would have walked right past a series of paintings on the sidewalk. So your storytelling can be an anecdote OR it can be demonstrated. Many people buy from a blacksmith,basket weaver , potter, painter or glassblower because they watched the art product being created!  Theme parks, craft villages, ethnic tourist stops all know this. People live vicariously through others and your art world and talents are something they appreciate and want to experience on some level. And they will share the same story with their friends!

Although humor is good, ridicule is not.  Use common sense and discretion in your stories.  Artists have a tendency, when they gather, to drift into discussions about their difficult clients.  But it is too easy, when telling the same story to a prospect, to have the prospect misconstrue the purported humor as criticism or ridicule. If you talk that way about another client to them, what will you say to others about them?

 
Good speakers at any event interject stories, humor and examples into their speeches to keep the audience interested and inspired. It is not random. Politicians engage experts to ghostwrite their speeches. Comics rehearse and practice their routines. Take the time to think about what you do and how a story in your artist life can enhance the art buying experience for a prospect. Practice it. Try it out. Tweak it.  Learn it enough so that it does not sound rehearsed.  Learn to talk while you work or demonstrate. Add fun facts and humor and stories that capture the essence of what you do as an artist. And then watch what happens to your art sales!

Warm regards,

Theresa