40 Questions Blog Series: Question #18 How Do You Deal with Negative Booth Neighbors and Negative Customers?
Those of you who don't know, I do actively sell at art fairs. I had my first show this year this past Mother's Day and have first hand experience with this topic. Despite high winds and some profits being made I was pretty annoyed by one negative craft neighbor. I will spare you all the details on the experience, however will not
skimp on the on the tips I want to share with you regarding how to deal with negativity in your booth – albeit from a customer or a neighboring craft artist.
Question #18 How do you deal with negative booth neighbors and negative customers?
People just have bad days – upset about paying to enter a show, parking was bad, slow sales, etc. While we are not therapists people do expect us to listen to their good and bad times, simply because you are at the right place at the right time. The acronym SAD – Smile, Acknowledge, and Distract helps when encountering unhappy people. A smile is the first thing people see when they see you – if you smile at them, they will smile back. Acknowledge that you understand or recognize their horrible experience was awful is all people want
in order to turn their mood around. Lastly, distracting a person from whatever it is that makes them unhappy will aid in putting themon the right track to forgetting what made them upset and make them look forward to something that will make them happy.
Don't let them get to you. The main objective to spew how upset a person is, is to let all those around know how miserable they are for sympathy. Misery loves company – and it is true! Yet, if you give into the anger, your whole mood changes and so does your booth. People don't realize they are doing this however it is like a
billboard sign telling all “keep away” if you take a step back from the situation. Nip it in the bud or else it will spread and kill the happy aura that should be in your booth. How do you deal with this? Make a conscience choice to not let it enter your booth or affect your mood. You might have to excuse people from your booth
or do your best to distract them with a different, happier topic. Try, “I am so sorry to hear you're having a bad day, but the good news is you are here now and that incident is in the past...” then pick out something in your booth that would instantly make them forget about their troubles. If it is a neighbor, you need to either
ignore them or be frank and state, “I am busy (with customers, setting up, organizing my booth, etc.) and I cannot help you, please leave so I can finish my work.”
Dealing with “shrieking customers”. Shriekers are those who shriek about the cost of something or argue with you in how something isn't handmade. When you have a shrieker try, “Yes, my hand knit scarves are $125, but what you might not know is they are made from wool from my own sheep on my farm in Kentucky. I personally sheer the sheep, spin and dye the wool, and make all the scarves you see here. Granted, they are NOT for everyone, but I wouldn't be here if people weren't coming back time and time again buying them because their
friends and family want one due to how warm they are and they go with anything!” The idea is to twist it around, showing them there are many reasons why people buy it despite the “sticker shock”.
While each situation is different, I have used these tips to help diffuse negative situations. Try it at your next show and report back how effective the advice is. Don't worry be happy, have a good week all!
- Michelle Sholund, www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com
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