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  Colette A. Zilka June 22, 2011 at 2:44pm

  Wow!  That artist from Leslie's story is a total jerk!  Personally, I wouldn't even want to be next to that guy at a show!  And how are you supposed to know if someone will or won't buy it!  Perhaps that lady just got a large bonus from work and wanted to get herself something special!

   

  It's great reading about everyone's tells.  I am a fine jeweler and most of the time my work is behind cases.  So I tend to greet the customers and tell them my spiel (sometimes making a joke about how it's a speil) letting them know about me and my work.  Then I hang back and let them look.  

   

  I've found I have a 6th sense as to how to tell if they might actual be interested and who may just be looking.  It has everything to do with the speed they are walking the show and how engaged they are with looking at anyone's work versus how engaged they are talking with their friends.  Depending on how interested they are, I adjust the spiel, sometimes it goes to a nod and sometimes it's a full conversation.  Sometimes I'm totally surprised by a sale, for instance, one of my expensive art jewelry pieces actually sold a couple of shows ago to a guy who didn't ask much questions and seemed to just be looking.  So you never know who may purchases your stuff (and should therefor always be polite to people- just like your mom told you to be)

   

  I also like the dog walkers because I get to hop out of the tent when it's quiet and pet the cute dogs!
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  Leslie Turner June 21, 2011 at 9:33pm

  Don't you just love customers who know what they like!
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  Lynda Wallis June 21, 2011 at 9:18am

  Just finished my 5th show...starting to see a pattern of who is paying for my work. Requests by young children have driven almost half my sales-the children see a painting and ask their parent if they can have it. It's very powerful to watch the interaction between child and parent when the parent takes the child seriously, gets out the credit card and buys the painting. It's the best. My other buyers, so far, are well-heeled, well educated people with serious disposable income. They have made the choice to purchase a painting almost before I have a chance to talk to them. Last weekend a gentleman was striding down the street, glanced into my booth, made a 90 degree turn, came in, stood in the middle of my booth, looked around and then pointed and said, 'that one, I want that one.' He handed me his credit card, while I processed the sale he called someone and said, 'I got Dad's gift, stop looking.'
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  Leslie Turner June 21, 2011 at 1:49am

  A few years ago I witnessed a sales "technique" that I still don't understand. I was passing by a very nice, very high end jewelry booth where the artist was talking to a customer. They were discussing jewelry that had been purchased in years previous. It was obvious that this lady was a frequent customer. I was looking at his jewelry and admiring both it and the way he was handling his customer , pretty sure that a large sale was soon to come.

  Then another woman walks up and starts looking at the jewelry. She turns to the artist, but he's still talking to the first customer. She waits a few minutes, then clears her throat and asks the price on a particular piece. The artist looks over his shoulder at the woman for a minute, tells her "You can't afford it" and turns back to his first customer. They continue talking as if nothing had happened. The second woman turned bright red and rushed off.

  My teeth and my admiration for this guy both hit the ground at the same time. 

  I assumed he was trying to impress his repeat customer in some way. Or the second woman was someone who had asked over and over and over what the price was. Maybe it was his ex-wife. Maybe it had been a long weekend and his inner jerk came out to play. Whatever the reason he certainly made an impression.
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  Katherine Graham Sarlson June 20, 2011 at 4:56pm

  Ah, there's another tell.  It appears to me that people who yammer on their cell phones while cruising booths don't buy.

  The technique approach changes with the artist and is different than the "tell" discussion.  I stay tucked away, make eye contact, say hello and sometimes, but not always (depending on the guest) engage in small talk.  I like browsing and looking without being "sold" and try to treat my guests the same way.  *shrug*  Different methods for different people.
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  Dawn Waters Baker June 20, 2011 at 2:14pm

  I've never been able to tell by shoe type, shoe direction or how personable I was or they were if they would buy.  I think it comes down to if they like your work enough to put it on their wall (even if they have a ton of stuff already).  I hate being talked into sales myself so I tend to sell like I want to be treated.  I hang back and give them time to look.  I engage when they give me eye contact.  I don't hide behind a book but I also try to stay out of their way so that they can really experience what my art is like.
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  Liz Ashe June 20, 2011 at 12:39pm

  I try to place my chair so that they will not have to engage with me until AFTER they have looked at 2 1/2 walls of my work-- letting the work speak for itself. If they then respond positively to my greeting  and go back to looking at the walls I am encouraged to believe they might buy. If they turn back, avoiding the wall on which my chair is placed or minimally respond to my greeting, they will never buy my work.
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  Katherine Graham Sarlson June 20, 2011 at 12:24pm

  Dogs.

  Past experience has shown that the majority of people who attend art fairs with their dogs (turning them into quasi "dog parades") very rarely buy anything.

   
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  Donna Sauers June 20, 2011 at 12:21pm

  Peggy, you made me laugh!  For me the word is "pretty" (you know the tone).  I can usually tell if it is my "buyer" by how they are dressed... but I have been wrong so I try not to judge.  If they are responsive to my opening of telling them the I make the beads, etc. I have a good shot on converting them to a buyer.  But it is also a good practice to let the buyer shop how they want to.  I had someone in my booth that didn't want to engage in conversation... so I just let her browze and figured she was just "looking".  She went around the booth, I thought she was going to leave, then she selected several items, went back, selected a few more and bought several hundred dollars of work!  I now know her when she comes back to my booth and I just say "hi, good to see you again", and let her 'browze'!  I greet everyone that comes in and tell them the beads are handmade.  From their response I judge on how they like to shop.
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  Peggy Dalberto June 20, 2011 at 10:33am

  I dread the word "cute". If you hear that alot at an art and craft show it's more crafty than art.  And the clientele are better suited to a craft or flea market.  I miss the days of blue collar factory folks. they liked to buy fine craft, and had money to back it. Also dread the "q-tips" who tell you "oh, my house is full of stuff"  and we must smile and hope they move on.