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How to follow up on art quotes and leads
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Using classic sales techniques to sell your art
At the beginning of my art business, I didn't need to sort my leads. I didn't have enough leads to sort! What are leads? Leads are prospects...these are the potential clients who email, call you, or fill out your online form. They are giving you permission to contact them again.
So you can email them to follow up with them, ask them how you can help them - did they have any more questions (did they even get your first reply email at all?) These are all good reasons to contact again.
Remember: Just because they have emailed you, this should never be misconstrued as them giving you permission to add them to your mailing list. When you contact them, you should give them the link to sign up for your mailing list if they want to, and share with them what the benefits of signing up would be for them.
Do not share their contact information with anyone else or for any other reason. You know the adage, "treat others the way you would like to be treated"? This is close, but for your customers, the adage should be "treat clients better than you would like to be treated." Tell them how their information will be protected, and keep your word.
Once you have started quoting prices, decide how long you will honor that quote and put that information, along with your contact information and links in your signature line so it will go out in all emails you send. I chose 6 months, because I know people are busy. If my prices go down, then I will honor that price. I would always go by the policy of giving the best deal to your clients that you possibly can, but don't cheat yourself either.
After a bit, you will have several quotes that you have sent to people, and you've never heard back. A good way to follow up is to just write a quick email note to ask them if there was anything else you can do to help them. Ask if they have any other questions. Let them know that you want to help them but let them know you aren't going to pressure them.
Now make some email folders that divide the potential clients by your best guess of how likely they are to order: 10%-20% possibility to 90%-100& possibility. I would create the folders to cover ranges of percentages, like that. The reason for this is that you need to focus your attention on the leads that are most likely to result in a sale. Don't waste time running after a 10% possible sale when there are 90% possibles you can focus on.
It's important to realize that if you convince yourself that someone isn't going to order a portrait from you, you will be 100% right every time. I promise. Why? Because you took the attitude that the person would not buy, so either the potential client will sense that, or you just won't try hard enough to work with them to meet their needs. You will have failed to sell.
So, if you don't have many clients yet and you don't have anything going on, and you have 10%-20% probability leads, you should see what you can do. Email them! Call them! Ask them if there was something else they need to know. Find out why they did not order. Ask them to be completely honest, because it will help your business grow.
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