FramerDave
PFG, Picture Framing God
Is business so good that we can turn customers away? Here's a true story that happened to me today.
A friend and I were killing some time in a pretty upscale mall here in town. I wanted to stop by a gallery/framing business there because I had always admired their framing and artwork. They sell nothing but original antique prints, engravings, maps, that sort of thing. Almost everything on their walls had hand-wrapped mats and closed-corner frames. Very high-end stuff.
So we start to go in and notice that the lady working there had just locked the door and put a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on the door. They had just opened half an hour before. She let us in and I told her I just wanted to look around a few minutes. She informed that it's "Not really the place to browse" and that most of their art was in drawers. Sorry to be bothering you, lady.
But here's the kicker. While I was there a man came in with two large pieces to be framed. He had purchased something there recently and wanted them to be framed in a similar manner. First she told him that she wasn't sure that they could frame them since they usually only frame their own artwork or things purchased there. "We only sell the best quality art." And she actually told him that it would be an insult to send their framers anything less than the best.
They then went on to have a conversation about the price. She couldn't even give him a price, or didn't want to. Here's a part of their conversation, as best I can recall:
Salesperson: I recall that you weren't willing to spend much on it when you were in before, and we had to really come down on the price. I don't know if we can do that again.
Customer: I don't recall arguing about the price.
Salesperson: Yes, I remember that we had to come down. I can't even give you a price now. We can't match that price again.
Customer: Well I'm not trying to get the same price, I realize it may be different.
Salesperson: You argued over the price the last time. This is not the place to haggle.
Customer: I wasn't trying to haggle, I just had a price range in mind I was trying to work with.
Salesperson: Well we have to sell these for what they're worth, not what you're willing to spend.
I was dying to hang around and see what happened, but I had to leave before I just had to say something. I mean, here was a customer who had spent money with them before, and probably a pretty penny. He had with him two good-sized pieces that looked like good stuff and was wanting to spend more money. And she's telling him that his stuff probably isn't even good enough to waste her time? Would any of you turn away a customer who wanted closed-corner frames, had the money to buy them and was willing to spend their money at your place just because he didn't purchase the art from you?
Sadly, I wasn't surprised to see this. I had been in there a couple different times just looking around and the people there acted like I wasn't worth even grunting at.
A friend and I were killing some time in a pretty upscale mall here in town. I wanted to stop by a gallery/framing business there because I had always admired their framing and artwork. They sell nothing but original antique prints, engravings, maps, that sort of thing. Almost everything on their walls had hand-wrapped mats and closed-corner frames. Very high-end stuff.
So we start to go in and notice that the lady working there had just locked the door and put a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on the door. They had just opened half an hour before. She let us in and I told her I just wanted to look around a few minutes. She informed that it's "Not really the place to browse" and that most of their art was in drawers. Sorry to be bothering you, lady.
But here's the kicker. While I was there a man came in with two large pieces to be framed. He had purchased something there recently and wanted them to be framed in a similar manner. First she told him that she wasn't sure that they could frame them since they usually only frame their own artwork or things purchased there. "We only sell the best quality art." And she actually told him that it would be an insult to send their framers anything less than the best.
They then went on to have a conversation about the price. She couldn't even give him a price, or didn't want to. Here's a part of their conversation, as best I can recall:
Salesperson: I recall that you weren't willing to spend much on it when you were in before, and we had to really come down on the price. I don't know if we can do that again.
Customer: I don't recall arguing about the price.
Salesperson: Yes, I remember that we had to come down. I can't even give you a price now. We can't match that price again.
Customer: Well I'm not trying to get the same price, I realize it may be different.
Salesperson: You argued over the price the last time. This is not the place to haggle.
Customer: I wasn't trying to haggle, I just had a price range in mind I was trying to work with.
Salesperson: Well we have to sell these for what they're worth, not what you're willing to spend.
I was dying to hang around and see what happened, but I had to leave before I just had to say something. I mean, here was a customer who had spent money with them before, and probably a pretty penny. He had with him two good-sized pieces that looked like good stuff and was wanting to spend more money. And she's telling him that his stuff probably isn't even good enough to waste her time? Would any of you turn away a customer who wanted closed-corner frames, had the money to buy them and was willing to spend their money at your place just because he didn't purchase the art from you?
Sadly, I wasn't surprised to see this. I had been in there a couple different times just looking around and the people there acted like I wasn't worth even grunting at.