oh my.....
Well I tend to narrow things down right from the start, Wood or metal? Do you like a rustic look, or more ornate? Which color in this really grabs your attention, or what color do you particularly like?"
I always get them to decide on the mats first, or at least narrow it down to one or two choices, then move to the moldings.
If a customer definatly dosn't like a molding then it goes back on the wall, if they sorta like it or just want to look at other options it stays put! The minute they like something then its--Can I give you a price on this one?
I have no qualms about telling people "I don't think this really enhances your piece, let's see if we can't do better!" or worse yet---Those two shades of white are so close that either one of them would work very well, why don't we use this one!
Yes I like decisive customers, the worst are like you said the ones that just stand there and don't say anything!! The even worse ones say after an hour-I'd like to get my husband, mom, sister, neighbor, and cats opinion on this, I think I'll come back later!---GRRRRRR.
I think it needs to take as long as it takes!
If you think it's only suppose to take (Insert amount of time here) then you start to get impatient and antzy! That comes through to your customer--many, many times customers have said to me "Thank you for your patience" my reply..
"You are spending a lot of money, you are going to be looking at this piece for many many years, I want you to be happy, and proud of it, it's not a problem to spend this much time with you!"
And that makes a very happy customer, that comes back and maybe tells there mom, sister, neighbor and cats what a great place your shop is!!
Elsa