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"Caring for your customers"
How to sell art
There are few things more important to the health of an ARTrepreneur than good Customer service. Succeeding as a working artist will not happen because of your art, it will happen because you understand a happy customer is the best business card you could own. So how do you keep customers coming back for more? It’s not rocket science. Simply provide customer service that exceeds your customers' expectations. Here are a few ideas that will improve your customer service skills and help you reap the rewards of repeat business.
Know your customer – Don’t become a spy, just learn to listen. During any transaction a customer will provide you with bits of information which you can relate to them the next time you see them. This could be as simple as offering their name, or telling you a story about how their brother hurt his leg. Next time you see them you could ask, “Hey John, how is your brother doing?” Someone who knows they were remembered will be a customer for life.
Under promise and over deliver – Don’t ever over promise and under deliver. Think before you give any promises because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one. Instead, under promise and over deliver. If you know you can ship an item in three days, tell your customer it will arrive in five. Once that parcel arrives on day three they'll know you went out of your way for them.
Be honest with your customers - If your customer suspects that you are trying to pull a fast one for profit, you can kiss that customer goodbye – forever! Be up front about all possible defects or problems that might arise so they aren’t caught off guard wondering if they’ve been had.
Keep unhappy customers happy –You can’t provide perfect service each and every time. On those rare occasions when a customer is left disappointed make sure to go above and beyond to correct the situation, even if it’s at an expense to you. Correcting a situation promptly will restore confidence in you as a business person. Remember the saying, “a happy customer tells three friends, an unhappy one tells 10.”
Robb Scott
Contact: artist@www.robbscottdrawings.com
Greenfield, NS
Articles copyright 2008-2009 Robb Scott ©
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