Shop Talk Fanning the Flames: Encouraging Customer Loyalty

Fanning the Flames: Encouraging Customer Loyalty

Up until recently, I was convinced that any lack of enthusiasm towards fine craft by the general public was due to a lack of education about the visual arts. But is there really any evidence to support the observation that the general public lacks visual art awareness and therefore has difficulty appreciating it?

In the fine craft artist’s battle against mass production, believing weak sales are the result of an ill-informed market places emphasis on what mass merchandisers are doing and the audience they are attracting. But what happens when the whole retail experience is adjusted and we place greater emphasis on our own critical practices, our venue choices and how we engage with our audience?

Consider that our craft audience and market demographic are knowledgeable and savvy consumers, growing in their understanding of fine craft and ready to be further challenged. The question then becomes how can we keep the attention of our discerning audience and encourage their loyalty? What actions and attitudes can be adopted to embolden their need and desire to continue to own more craft? How do we build a fan base?

To start, an artist can choose to align with established, reputable galleries, shops and other venues that advocate for fine craft and operate with an in-depth knowledge of processes and techniques. Good fine craft venues are motivated by a passion for craft unlike mass retailers whose staff may not know anything about where it was made, how or by whom. Good craft venues are knowledgeable, supportive and are able to engage with their audiences on a level equaled to the buyers own familiarity with craft. And by carrying the work, they are also recommending it and setting an informed value that the customer can trust is both fair and consistent.

Good craft venues will adopt a critical selection and curation process for the work, a practice which ensures a quality standard to which the artist becomes associated. This practice will maintain elevated expectations of the work in terms of quality, craftsmanship, and originality. Quality work promotes and encourages customer investment – perhaps their first purchase.

Still, serious collectors are not born from a single buying spree. They may start out modestly at first and gradually build their enthusiasm over time as their disposable income increases and their appreciation for an artist grows. Ensuring that the interest in the artist and their work doesn’t wane involves maintaining a relationship between the venue and the audience. Good craft venues all support this relationship by providing a place that a budding fan can visit as regularly or sporadically as they wish. Being able to find and visit an artist’s work consistently helps to legitimize the work and encourage collection.

But craft artists, who sometimes equate growth with continued change, don’t always actively think in terms of the collection process. Time and patience are important factors in building and maintaining a fan-base. Audiences need to see an artist’s work several times before they begin to recognize and develop an interest in it. The hope is for the customer to cultivate an understanding and even expertise about an artists’ work. An enthusiastic collector may even begin to identify him/herself as a connoisseur, further solidifying their loyalty to fine craft.

So what more can an artist do to encourage devotion from their customers? Having work consistently available in a reputable venue is one way. Creating an on-line presence, choosing markets and sticking with them will also contribute to an audience’s ability to find the artist on their terms. Artists can consider exhibiting when the opportunities arise and make an effort to attend the receptions to actively engage with their audience. If possible, regularly scheduled studio sales will add to the customer’s options in supporting that artist’s fine craft practice.

But this is a cycle that needs, at its core, the fundamental belief that the buying audience may be knowledgeable and discerning investors of fine craft that not only like what they see, but enjoy the challenge of learning about the work, the method of production and the artist’s history. We may never reach – let alone retain – the dedicated discount-seeking, big box shopper, but that shouldn’t reflect on the audience we do reach and retain whose ideals are at war with mass retailing and cookie-cutter consumerism.

I believe our audience does want more from their craft experience and focusing our energies on their needs can challenge the methods we use to engage and inspire. It is only when we dwell on the idea that our audience is somehow unable or unwilling to comprehend fine craft, that we’ve set the bar too low for both our audience and ourselves.

- Linda Frena