Arm Your Sales Consultants With Education

Art Business News, July, 2001 by Amy Leibrock

Intaglio Etchings' sales and marketing guide gives sales people the knowledge to sell the Rembrandt story

Every piece of art has a story behind it, and part of selling art is selling that story. Collectors pay thousands of dollars for works by Picasso or Warhol partly for aesthetic reasons and partly for the story surrounding the art and the artist.

When John McLaurin and Kathleen DeVaney, co-owners of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Intaglio Etchings Ltd., started selling the Millennium Impressions line of Rembrandt etchings, they assumed that the old master's name and reputation would be enough to propel sales of the newly minted prints. "Our biggest surprise was how little art consultants knew about Rembrandt etchings," said McLaurin. "Many didn't know Rembrandt did etchings." The consultants selling the etchings only had the information in Intaglio's brochure to help them, and as a result, they lacked enthusiasm for the pieces.

McLaurin and DeVaney had amassed extensive research on Rembrandt and his etchings in the course of developing the program, but they realized that the information was useless if the sales consultants in the galleries didn't have access to it. So their solution was to compile all their knowledge into an easily digestible "Sales and Marketing Guide" that could be distributed to every gallery selling Millennium Impressions. The guide explains the best ways to display and light the pieces, sales strategies to get clients interested in the prints and the story behind each of the eight etchings. It also features answers to common questions, a guide to advertising the collection and essential information about Rembrandt, his life and his art, the technique of etching, print-making terminology and tips for framing and caring for the prints. It's all contained in a three-ring binder so galleries can add updates from Intaglio.

"What we're doing with the sales and marketing guide is nothing but making sure that the message is kept in its original format and that it's conveyed properly and accurately," said McLaurin.

Now, salespeople who have studied the guide are prepared to give a miniature art history lesson that has the power to mesmerize clients--even those who can't afford a $1,500 print--and encourage them to purchase their own piece of history.

McLaurin hopes art consultants will read and study the guide several times and incorporate the information into their individual sales approaches. "We can't all be experts overnight, but your client will expect you to be an expert until you prove them otherwise," said McLaurin. "And don't assume automatically that the person you talk to knows less about it than you know."

The guide provides a way to take the customer back to Rembrandt's time and trace the path his copper plates have taken since his death. "What we're trying to do in the sales and marketing guide is capture people's imagination," explained McLaurin. Drawing them into the story creates an emotional involvement, which is a strong motivator for purchasing art.

The guide is also a means for Intaglio to foster a good reputation for itself and the art industry. McLaurin wants everyone selling the etchings to be armed with more than enough information to be able to answer any question that comes their way. "We can't afford to have a guy out there trying to sell the etchings as something that they're not," he said.

Since Intaglio distributed the guide, many gallery owners have reported increased sales. "Some of our top galleries say they have quadrupled their business," said McLaurin. "And within the last five months, our business has virtually exploded."

"The gallery's client will appreciate the fact that they have just received an invaluable education in art that some of us have spent years in studying and researching," said McLaurin. "Some people say they could not possibly even afford a $1,500 print, but once they understand the significance of the artwork, they want to have this; they love this."

But in order to get such stellar results, consultants must dedicate some time to studying the guide. "The art consultants that have read the sales and marketing guide do extremely well with the project," said McLaurin. "There are sales consultants that will sell eight to 10 pieces of this a week."

The next marketing step for Intaglio is a training video that walks salespeople through a presentation, shows how the etchings were printed and gives them an even dearer picture of the product. Intaglio also has an 800 number that consultants can call if questions come up that they can't answer.

"Many people have told me they've never seen anything like this in the art industry," said McLaurin.

Which means that galleries and publishers may want to consider seeking out background information on their artists if they want to give their consultants a selling advantage. Not every artist has the history of Rembrandt behind him or her, but they do have stories to tell that can help bring the buyer closer to the art.