Galleries aim for many happy returns: unique services and events keep customers coming back for more

Art Business News, March, 2005 by Joe Jancsurak

Chances are if you ask an owner or director of an art gallery that has been in existence for a decade or more, how many customers are in their database, his or her answer will be in the thousands. The information kept on these clients, coupled with special events and services help separate the outstanding galleries from the rest.

What follows are strategies for attracting and keeping customers as told by the owners and directors of eight leading galleries.

Barucci: St. Louis

At the Barucci Gallery in St. Louis, owner Shirley Schwartz has information on 3,000 customers that her gallery contacts a minimum of six times a year, which helps explain the gallery's high rate (90 percent) of repeat and word-of-mouth business. A 27-year veteran of the art market, Schwartz maintains a system for noting purchases and customer requests. "We purchase new art and blown glass with specific customers in mind. And when customers receive personal calls, they do come into the gallery."

Schwartz continues, "We are service oriented. We will rush a framing job when necessary to accommodate and will not add rush fees; we allow work to go out on approval and be returned if it does not work; and we offer free consultation services. Our Web site has been a welcomed addition. We sent out cards announcing the Web site and offered a gift certificate to anyone acknowledging it and sending us their e-mail names."

And when it comes to customer events held at Barucci Gallery, Schwartz has been successful in connecting artist openings with charitable causes, donating a portion of sales to organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, St. Louis Children's Hospital and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Barucci also holds special breakfast events for the interior design trade and architects and sends special gifts to its best customers during the winter holidays.

Coconut Coast Studios: St. John, Virgin Islands

Born in California, raised in Brazil and a resident of the Virgin Islands since 1975, artist Elaine Estern says she "is living the dream" as an artist and gallery owner. Her business, Coconut Coast Studios on the island of St. John, features Estern's works only, which are watercolors of "the marine environment." Her works are unique in that they are "two-world" creations, showing the ocean's ecosystem from above and below.

An artist for 16 years and a gallery owner for 14 years, Estern says she currently has more than 6,000 customer names in her database from all over the world. (She admits a need to reduce that number.) The information she keeps includes names, addresses, e-mails and the dates when customers visited the gallery and what they purchased.

"I use this information twice a year when I send out a brochure with new gift items and new artwork" says Estern, a board member for the local Artist Association of St. John. "I also send cards that include a calendar during the [winter] holidays ."

Estern's says her annual sales are approximately $150,000, and that her repeat business is 50 percent or higher.

"We have a cocktail party each Wednesday that is open to the public. ! make sure that my customers (and potential customers) know about it by providing them with invitations. It is a catered event, and we specialize in watching the sunset, as my gallery overlooks Pillsbury Sound, a premiere location for sunsets. I attempt to always give my personal attention to everyone."

As for Internet sales, Estern says that while her Web site does generate business, "most of my customers will check out my work [via the Web site] during the year, then come by the gallery to make purchases."

Fingerhut Gallery: La Jolla, CA

Located above the La Jolla Cove and Pacific coastline, and just 10 minutes north of downtown San Diego, is the Fingerhut Gallery of La Jolla.

There, customers will find Tom Noel, director, who has worked in commercial galleries since 1974 and as director of the Fingerhut Gallery of La Jolla for the past 11 years.

Noel says gallery sales are around $2 to $3 million annually, with about 40 percent of that figure being repeat customers. "We're fortunate to be located in a large metropolitan area (San Diego)," he says. More than half our business comes from Southern California. The remainder of our sales comes from business travelers, convention attendees and tourists visiting San Diego to enjoy the region's attractions and fabulous weather.

"We have about 5,000 active names," he continues. "While we don't do a lot of organized tracking through our database, each of our staff of five art consultants is dedicated to providing personal customer service. We work on an account system with each staff member getting to know clients' individual needs and preferences. I am blessed by a staff with great longevity. One individual has worked with me for 14 years and the rest average five or more years at this gallery."

In addition to contacting clients when the gallery is introducing something new or holding a special event or show, Noel says he is a "great believer in nonsales-related contact that may remind a client of a great museum show or other events outside the gallery that they may be interested in seeing."