How to establish relationship(s) with your dealer network… Item Number: 100017 $0.00

DescriptionBy now, each of you (or maybe I should say both of you) who reads my weekly blog has come to realize I REALLY like lists. For some strange reason, lists seem to allow me to better capture and encapsulate my thoughts. Lists allow me to prioritize, organize and summarize. A few years back I had the distinct “pleasure” of flying from Atlanta to Paris (7 hours) with a nice young man sitting next to me. For the entire flight, every minute, regular as clock-work, he would take his hands from his lap, rub them together vigorously for 5 seconds and place them back on his lap. I’m sure he was doing this to help make sure the plane would get us safely to our destination, and I probably should have thanked him upon landing, because we did land with no mishaps… I think we all have a bit of OCD in us, but most of us don’t let it control our lives. I count banana slices in the morning when I am making my cereal. Teresa thinks I’m crazy. It’s not that I do anything with this information, but each morning I will sit there and count how many slices go on my cereal…

My list for this week is on tips for establishing a successful dealer relationship network. Over the past 20 years of handling ancient art (and sitting on both sides of the table), I have had some great relationships… and I have had/seen some awful relationships. There are things we can all do to make this passion fun and enjoyable, and remove the element of conflict from it almost entirely. Here’s my list of do’s and don'ts:

1. Despite popular thinking, dealers are pretty much normal people. We like to know when you’re happy with your purchases, and believe it or not, we want to know if you are disappointed. Once a purchase is completed, give us feedback. It helps us do better next time.

2. Some clients feel intimidated by art dealers - don’t be one of them! Yes, some dealers are in the highest echelon of society and hob-knob with the rich and famous, but they are still here to provider you with a product and a service. If you don’t like ‘what’ you’re getting from one, go somewhere else! If your budget is $x.xx, don’t let the dealer make you feel bad because it isn’t $y.xx. Dealers should be grateful to you for every dollar you entrust with them! Selling to you is an honor and a responsibility, not a chore!

3. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever been given is “believe the piece not the story.” If you are looking at a piece of art, buy it because of the piece, not because of the story you get from your dealer. Not to say that some stories are very interesting and informative, but if your dealer gives you a story to go along with the piece, ask for written documentation to support the story. Stories get lost and forgotten; documents are a bit harder to forget!

4. Don’t bully your dealer – even if you have more money than God. Most dealers have clients whose bank accounts and stock portfolios are things most people can only dream about. And many of these clients are some of the sweetest people around! But then we also get clients who try to use this wealth as a hammer, and may say something like “I will give you $2000 for such and such (on a piece marked $5,000…”). Even if we could really use the $2000, that is just such a wrong approach to take, and our natural reaction is going to be “NO!” We love to negotiate, but no dealer likes to be dictated to or spoken down to.

5. Learn the art of negotiation (see next week’s blog where I will again give away far too many secrets – in list format of course!). I know very few dealers who will not reduce a price if the negotiation is handled properly. Negotiation should be a win-win, and if done fairly, may work for all!

6. Dealers do make mistakes. If a dealer makes a mistake, give us/them a chance to make it right. Good dealers will know how to make you happy. Bad dealers will know how to lose your business forever – because they don’t care!

7. I have mentioned this before, but it is worth saying it over again – ask your dealer(s) for their recommendations! Especially if you are dealing with online galleries where you do not actually see the piece before it arrives, ask us what we might recommend. If we know you well enough, we can often steer you in the right direction on items you may have missed. Even with the major auction houses, ask the director what pieces they especially like – or, what pieces might they consider sleepers.

8. If you’re looking for a specific piece, culture, etc., again, ask your dealer network to help you find it. Most dealers know and interact with numerous other dealers. If we don’t have it, we can usually find it!

9. Most dealers are not experts in everything they sell. We often use a very extensive network of specialists for areas that fall outside our expertise. If we miss something, feel free to point this out to us! (Most of) our egos are not easily bruised and it is more important to us to be right, than to appear to be right.

10. Sometimes we get requests from clients (and often non-clients) asking for help to identify this or authenticate that. If you do not hear back from us immediately, it’s not because we are ignoring you. We sometimes get busy, travel like crazy and have a thousand other things we are trying to juggle – just like you. Send us a gentle reminder if you have not heard form us. We will get back to you – I promise!

A very short list this week, but one that hopefully gives you a tiny bit of insight into the inner-workings of the dealer world. Dealers are normal folks who put on our pants one leg at a time – and now that my back is fixed, I can actually put on my own pants! And in case you are wondering, the number today was 17. Banana slices…

Happy collecting!

Bob