Rule # 1: Know Your Customer: They Are A Person Too

As an emerging artist, one of the first lessons that my artist community buddies have impressed upon me is to get to know your customer. This includes way more than putting a name to a face. It means to really invest the time in order to know the person behind that "customers face". I'm not talking about just the person that is willing to hand you over their disposal $$$ for your art, but the nuances that make them an individual personality. I have to admit, this has not yet become my best strength.

I have always been blessed with the ability "to never meet a stranger". As a result, as a former middle school teacher, I always made it my goal to learn the names of each of my new 120 students within the first week of school. Most years I could celebrate about a 90% + success rate knowing either a first name, a last name, or an already assigned nickname. This came from a never ending barrage of asking their names over-and-over again, in every setting of the the school day. While this technique proved benificial to me in my former life, it has not translated as well to my art career.

In the art world I have to be more intentional about getting information about my customer in the "short windows" afforded me. In the beginning, my opportunities are brief; a 1-2 minute discussion as they enter my booth for the first time, a 5 minute continuation as they return to make a purchase, an encounter at the snack bar, or, if I'm really fortunate, a return to my next show. Each of these encounters are brief, so I must value them each as an opportunity.

I'm not afraid (or embarrased) to re-ask their names, as I did as a teacher, but I need to be equipped with questions that will enable me to obtain more information than a name. What do they do professionally? Where do they call home? How did they become interested in collecting your style of art? What are their spouse & family members names (if they are in the booth with them)? and etc. All such inquiries enable me to build repoire with my customer, letting them know that I value them as a person, rather than just a potential customer.

Find new ways to gather this type of information and use it to develop your customer base. Keep a notebook at shows and jot down information that you garner from these brief encounters, start a data base and update it with additional information as you obtain it, talk to other artists that may have relationship with your customer, and learn from other collectors that may know the customer (collectors typically travel in close circles with other collectors to the same shows).

In an artcle by Harvey MacKay, 66 Things You Should Know About Your Customer, MacKay discusses his business philosophy about the importance of knowing your consumer. He so feels the need to know his customers on a personal level, that he demands everyone on his sales staff to use the 66 Questions, as 66 Questions a prerequistite for gathering information before being assigned to a client. I know the amount of information may seem overwhelming, but, anything you learn about a customer will enable you to build your relationship. Knowing them as a person becomes more valuable, than knowing them as a customer.