Selling #2 …… Know your product.

Knowing your product is an essential sales skill.

When Artists understand their products features this then allows them to present their paintings to the potential customer enthusiastically and persuasively.

Strangers respond to enthusiastic Artists who are passionate about their Art and eager to share the benefits with them.

When faced with this thought many Artists just say, “ But, it’s just a painting, what do you want me to say?”

“It’s a painting of flowers, it’s a landscape, you can’t say much.”

“Do you want me to tell them the chemical make up of the paint, or what kind of canvas it is and where was it made?”

No, I do not want to know the chemical make up of the paint or where the canvas was made, I want to know about your painting.

You the Artist painted the painting and should be enthusiastic to tell me as much as you possibly can about your creation.

Here are a few points on what is product knowledge for the Artist, of course you can add many more.

+What influenced you to paint this work, the idea, the concept for the painting?

Maybe a book, a song, a movie?

The song by Leonard Cohen. “Where oh where is my Gypsy wife tonight” inspired me to do a series of paintings on the subject.

The book “ The Rabbit Proof Fence” The story about three remarkable young women who travel across outback Australia, inspired me to do a series of paintings.

Talking about these paintings that I was inspired to do, makes it so easy to interest the customer.

What inspires you?

+Did you do preliminary drawings?

If you did sketches or drawings of the subject talk about what you did and process you took to get to the place of painting the painting, show them if you have the sketches with you and if you sell the painting they may want to buy the sketches as well because they are part of the story of the painting.

It’s important to be able to talk about the process that led up to the finished painting as well.

+Did you use your original photographs?

If you used your original photographs to paint a landscape or cityscape, talk about them and what you did with them and how your artistic influence changed the photo to make it a more interesting painting.

All this shows that you know what you are doing and the knowledge you have of your process.

+How did you decide on your colour choices?

Did you decide to paint in warm colour tones?

Or maybe in cold colour tones.

Maybe you chose a chromatic palate of yellow or blue, all this is interesting to the buyer and shows your knowledge of your product.

+Did you stretch and prepare your own canvas?

If you did you can talk about that and how you do it and the gesso you use and how many coats of acrylic paint you put on the canvas, all part of the product knowledge of your painting.

All of this knowledge most Artists know but do not articulate it.

Write it out for each painting so you can learn it, because you often only get one chance at talking about your product.

Know your paintings, the why, the how and the what.

Knowing your particular Artistic product well, will take some of the frustration out of the selling process.