Ever done anything weird and still got the sale?

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JRB

JRB

PFG, Picture Framing God
Founding Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Posts
7,107
Loc
San Diego, CA
Today a lady came in about three this afternoon. She needed a newspaper clipping and a little drawing framed with a multi opening mat and a thin but elegant gold frame. It was about an 8"X14" frame size.

Mary is out with the flu, and I have it as well. I feel like crap but I go ahead and start working up the design when she says she needs it today or tomorrow at the latest. I think, great, I don't have to do it. I tell her I can't do it that fast, hoping she will leave. Nope, she wants to know my price. So I work it up, comes out to $175.00.

She says that's way too much. I'm thinking, great, I don't have to do it for sure. She calls her customer and gets the go ahead. I tell her I'm sick, I don't want to do the job by tomorrow. She leaves it anyway. The mat is cut, glass cleaned, all that's left for me is to put the frame together tomorrow and fit it.

I actually worked at not getting that sale, just because I felt sick and lazy, I got it anyway.

Strange day.

John
 
That's NOT unusual, John! I cringe many times when I see certain customers come in, because I know they'll be a problem. I add many percent to their total and they don't blank, but are HAPPY to give me their $$$!

You can NOT want to do a job, and they still want to throw $$$ at you.

DO the job and don't stress about it.

Wendy
The Art Corner
Salem, MA.
978-745-9524
artcornersalem@verizon.net

Celebrating thirty years in business.
 
I will take any job that anybody does not want to do. Some of my favorites were jobs where the customer told me how they took it to every shop in town and were turned away.
 
Guys, what I'm looking for here is funny or otherwise, actual stories about transactions between you and your customers that had you convinced that a sale would not take place, and yet it did..

I do appreciate Wendy's sage advise and erick's marketing bravado, it is interesting, however, it is not what I was hoping for. I probably just started the thread out wrong.

John
 
A very good former employee who would occassionally get migranes.

Once while working alone in the store she was working with a couple designing framing the migrane got to the point where the employee barfed into a trash can right at the counter in front of the customers. She told them they would have to leave which they did. She locked the door and wnet in back to lay down for a bit.

She recovered from the mgirane and was back at work the next day. The previous customers came back with not only the first item they were getting framed but 2 additional items. They framed them, nicely $$$, and went on their way.
 
My apologies.

Once I was transporting a corner sample from wall to art when it jumped straight out of my hand to land, corner edge down, smack in the middle of the customer's family photo.

I examined the piece and there was no damage, neither scratch nor nick. The customer disagreed, "Look, right there on my husband's head, the color's been scraped off!"

I looked again. The big white glare on her husband's shiny cue ball head was there from the beginning. She disagreed again, so I conceded and apologized and fetched the manager to help me through the reimbursement process.

My manager showed up, examined the piece and asked if the customer had another print. The customer had a smaller, 8x10 print in the car, which she then brought in.

Sure enough, the exact same white glare existed on the smaller print as well. The customer blushed, apologized to me, and placed the order.

I was ever more careful with my corner samples after that one.
 
First day of business, 1977. My paper cut--bled on the customer's Henry Evans flowered print. DIY job. Customer knew it was our first day and was SO nice. She says, oh well, it blends in with the flowers!

Last week: took a load of about 6 posters to the shop from a corporation. Old rickety wood frames. Bowing plex. Figured they wanted it done. We took off the frames to inspect, and my manager says to me, "Do we keep the frames?" "Nah, they are a wreck and this is a rush job." Customer's boss decided that we were only going to do half the job, rest was going back on the wall. Gulp. Fast calculation. Dropped the price in half on the two whose frames we threw away and picked up the phone. Got the whole job, and 42 more pieces coming. Big lesson learned.
 
We had been taking barking spiders off the wall, and had started with the blacks....

The young couple came in with the poster they had gotten at the concert of some head banging, vomit inducing ear shattering hip hop band the week before.

After about 20 minutes of himing and haing about.. she asked if we didn't have a cheap black frame...... ignoring the fact that N11-51 was sitting on the poster.....

Before my boss could point out that the #11 was about as cheap as it gets.. I scooped up the box with the old beat up spiders..... dumped them on the end of the design table saying "I have these beat to **** pieces of cheap black frames.... how cheap did you want it to look?" then just kept staring at her quietly..... her move.

Her boy friend (for about 3 minutes more as it turned out) slapped down his Visa and pointed to the nicer black with red lines frame...... "The seats cost more than that frame, and I'd like it to look nice in my apartment..."

We really love his new girl friend..... she likes nice framing, instead of fancy dinners or wild concerts. He's found out that museums are pretty cool places and cheap too.. :D Did I mention that we really love his new girl friend?
 
I was frustrated.
Had a lady years ago that had 1/2 my samples on the table. "Look am I doing this for exercise or are you going to buy something", I said to her. She said, "well if I get it and my husband doesn't like it can I return it"? "Does it say Sears on my sign?, no returns, this is special order", I said, just wanting her to go away. She became a good customer for many years and bought at least $10G's in framing over the years.

Sometime you need to be brutally honests for pease of mind.

I've also use it a few times selling art.

framer

Better.
I worked for a loose guy in Daytona 30 years ago. One day as I worked with a good female client, I saw the owner get up as the rep from a local framing suppy company entered. I knew he was upset about a problem we had with supplier and words started getting loud. In a flash he turned around, pulled his pants down exposing his backside to the rep and telling him to --- -- -- as it was the only ---- he wanted from them. This was in full view on the framing client. Well the rep left and the owner got himself put back together and the client gave me a nice order as if nothing happened. That owner retired from framing shortly there after. Yes, he got a call from the framing supply's owner about 2 hours later.



See the crap I've been through. Thanks JRB for making me remember this part of my life.:D

If any one thinks this TRUE story is too much for the G I will gladly delete it. Just reply that it needs to go.

framer
 
Bill, no way, this is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to get going. Trying to let people know they can loosen up sometimes and it ain't the end of the world. This is one of those, "Oh yea, you think that was good, wait to you hear this one." kind of threads, I hope.

John
 
UzZx32QU said:
If any one thinks this TRUE story is too much for the G I will gladly delete it. Just reply that it needs to go.

framer
Click to expand...

Bill, if you touch that story, I'd have to quit coming here. Please just slap a silly 6" Poly solid goopy gold frame around it..... that should be posted on every framers back room wall. :D

I need to go change my panties now. :icon9::help::D
 
"That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the G. That it is true makes it even better."

Rick, couldn't you use a less "visual" verb like "read". Ugh!
 
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