I wrote last in response to someone asking a question on a forum about selling at a retail show. If they ran out of stock, could they successfully write orders from a sample. Many people replied "yes!", sharing their experiences and offering excellent suggestions. Their responses were varied and somewhat different than mine, but I sensed an underlying theme.
I wrote, "My guess, from your experience with taking orders, vs. others' experiences, is that you may be unconsciously adding obstacles to your customers placing special orders." I asked the person to think carefully about their process and see if they could find what those obstacles could be, offering a few suggestions along the way.
Many people react defensively to this approach.
I was pleasantly surprised this morning to read the original poster response. They thanked me for making them think hard about it. They'd discovered I was right! They DID have a hesitation about taking an order and creating work for a customer after the fact.
I was delighted the artist had done the hard work of being honest with themselves about what was going on. They'd come up with an excellent insight—if someone places an order for a new piece, then you don't have their immediate reaction to it and KNOW it's right for them. There's a little insecurity in that the artist has to get over.
And I am delighted the artist then posted that so others could learn and benefit from that. Including....ME!
I realized that was why I tended to shy away from custom orders, too. It feels like a leap off the diving board, making a piece and wondering, hoping the customer will like it, rather than seeing them bond with a piece and KNOWING it's the one they really want.
This is when helping others is rewarding. When someone asks for help, and you ask a question, and they take the time to think and answer the question honestly, and then share back what they've learned.
And the answer helps ME, too.
That's just about perfect.
The only thing left to make it better is to share it with others here.
And the only sticky thing is to ask myself some very hard questions today, too.
