The first act was an amazing spectacle. The performances were outstanding, and the sets and choreography were truly mind-blowing.
When intermission came, I told Carrie that I was sitting next to the father of the star of the show. When the man and his wife returned to their seats, we both let him know how amazing we thought his daughter's performance and voice were. He told us more about his daughter's history, about the production and how the show traveled. Then he told us that he and his wife and some friends would be going backstage after the show, and invit
ed us to join him.
The second act was just as amazing as the first. When the play ended, after a stunning and dramatic finale, we again complimented the man and his wife on their daughter's performance. Despite our protest that we didn't want to intrude or inconvenience them, the couple insisted that we follow them backstage. Once there, we waited a few minutes and talked more, while waiting for the their actress daughter to change out of costume. When she emerged from her dressing room, not only did we get to meet her, she graciously showed us around the set, introduced us to many of the other performers and answered our questions.
When we left after thanking them profusely, Carrie whispered to me "sometimes it really pays that you easily make friends with random people!"
In truth, my success as a gallery owner depends on this ability - backstage visits are just a bonus! I meet hundreds, if not thousands, of people every year, and in order to help them acquire art, I have to be able to quickly establish a relationship and engender trust. Over the years I've learned that this is indeed a skill, not something that just happens naturally, and I've worked hard to cultivate this skill.
As an artist or gallerist, it's important that you too learn how to break the ice and build relationships quickly as you meet new people. Although this topic requires a lot more depth than I could hope to delve into here, I want to share some basic principles I use when meeting new people. These principles are pretty basic, and I'm sure you either already know many of them, or naturally use them without even realizing it. Hopefully I can provide some insight into why these principles are important, and how to use them more effectively.
To read more on Jason's tips on how to "Break the Ice- with potential buyers", continue to the original full article on RedDotBlog ...
