Nurturing Collector Relationships

Follow up after selling a piece of art?

I recently sold this piece from my website and wanted to walk you through my follow up process not only to document the piece but also because I know that people who buy from me once are more likely to buy again.

Which was the case with this piece. Martha purchased 2 pieces from me at an art show in Santa Fe, and now has purchased this piece as a Christmas gift for her sister.

After the piece was shipped, the first thing I did was write a handwritten note of gratitude on one of my notecards with my artwork printed on the front. I wrote this note, addressed it, and let it sit on my desk to mail mailed it about a week after the artwork was received.

Once this note is complete, I turn to taking care of some housekeeping and do the following things:

• • Delete the image from my webpage
  • Remove image from any online sites like Saatchi Art or Artfinder
  • Take the piece out of the ‘available works’ highlight on IG and off the sales page
  • Create an IG post about the sale
  • Catalog the information in Artwork Archive connecting the piece to the buyer’s information
  • Move the file folder for the piece from ‘Available’ to ‘Sold’ on my computer
  • Schedule my follow-up customer nurture sequence in reminders

People buy from those they know, like, and trust. And nurturing relationships with your collectors is never wasted time or money.

A couple of weeks later I followed up with an email asking her what her sister thought of the piece. Sometimes I ask for a photo of it hung on the wall, but since Martha wasn’t the recipient, I didn’t do this.  If Martha wasn’t already in my email database I would have asked if she would like to receive regular updates about my art and with her permission added her to the database. In these emails I always include my Instagram account and make it easy for people to connect with me on IG.

I always try to send something via snail mail to my collectors every 4 to 6 months. Sometimes this is a postcard mid-summer, or a Happy New Year note at the end of the year. I’ll send personal invitations to events or copies of articles published about my work. Every time I get new notecards printed; I make sure to have enough to send a pack of 8 to my collectors (it’s a great way to promote new pieces).

If you have a plan, it doesn’t take much to take care of and nurture these relationships.

If you want to learn more about the Artwork Archive database, click on my earlier post—Keeping Track of Artwork. (Here you’ll find a discount code as well.)

Let me know in the comments below what you do to nurture you collectors.

Be well….be creative,

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