The Six Steps to Closing a Sale - Part VII

Yes, an unplanned part seven - impulse buys

The Six Steps to Closing a Sale - Part VII

“An oil painting artist in his studio in front of an easel talking with a potential buyer in the style of Van Gogh” rendered by OpenAI’s DALL-E

This article series is a continuation of a theme that we talk about a lot. In fact, you might call it a key principle and it is this: artists need to think like a business. Artists are not only in the business of making art, but also in the business of selling their art. Many have mastered the creation process, perfected their technique, found their niche, and developed their style, but when it comes to running a business, particularly the business of sales, there are a lot of new skills to master. 

Putting on the sales hat requires that you get comfortable engaging in one or more difficult conversations with potential clients. These conversations revolve around budgets, finances, payments and the actual process of closing a sale. We have put together this article series to help artists during these interactions. By following the six steps to closing the sale, artists will be equipped to close more sales confidently.

The six steps outlined below are well researched and are utilized by designers, videographers, and others in creative fields. This series will cover the following topics:  We will begin with covering prospecting and qualifying potential clients. We will then talk about the approach, the presentation, overcoming objections, and the close. Then we’ll wrap this up with a little bit of encouragement.

Here are the topics we plan to cover in this series:

Previous Articles in Series:
1.  Prospecting
2.  Qualifying
3. The Approach
4.  Presentation
5.  Objections
6.  Don’t Sell Past The Close

Today’s article:
7. Impulse Buys

Planned for the next few weeks:
8. Recap

On to the update!

STEP 7:  Don’t Sell Past the Close

This tip will help you increase your sales if you do it consistently.  Here is what you do:  Every time you have made a sale, you ask for ANOTHER sale. Your client is already in a buying mood. We admit that the idea seems simplistic, crass and counter-intuitive. After all, selling art should be a noble and highfalutin affair (wink, wink). Selling art is not like fast food, you’re not running a MacDonald’s. We might as well suggest that you offer a hot apple pie with each painting.