Wizard CutArt Sales

[Dave]

I'm a relative newbie to my Wizard and am just now playing around with cutart designs, decorative corners, etc.

What sales aids do my fellow Grumblers use to sell these features?

I plan on making a number of small 8X10 samples to show various capabilities and printing out the entire cut-out library on decent paper stock and making a three ring binder for my design counter.

I don't have, nor intend to get in the near future, any visualization system. I figure the sample boards I make will help customers to visualize what they would be getting and the binder would present the available options.

Any other suggestions?


Another thing ...as far as pricing goes. I'm on the jr rental program with 1000 corners a month. My plan was to charge 20-25 cents per corner for mat designs on top of the regular mat cost. Unless there is quite a bit of design involved I didn't plan on charging anything additional for mat designing.

Path Trace will be the next thing to tackle.

Any thoughts?

 

[artfolio]

I have had my Wizard for around 9 months and like you I have cut a few 8 x 10 decorative openings and v-grooves as selling aids and incorporated some of these designs into my gallery display. You could also cut and frame some promotional signs to hang around the gallery.

My big plan is to have a separate keyboard and monitor on my front counter so I can show customers various designs and multiple opening layouts without taking them into the workshop. Once you can "drive" the designer software quickly and confidently it makes a great selling tool. One benefit of using the workshop, though, is that seeing that awesome great chunk of machinery is a real eye-popper for most customers and helps show that you are a serious operator.

At the risk of sounding like a luddite, I have yet to open up path trace and have only a vague idea of what it does. Likewise, I have made only limited use of the fancy openings, v-grooves etc. I bought my Wizard primarily to speed up routine work and, so far, have devoted all my efforts to fine-tuning all the settings for the various matboards I use and getting the basics sorted out so I can use the machine quickly and confidently.

For the past few months I reckon my Wizard has more than earned its keep by enabling me to cope with a workload which would have swamped me before I got it. Now that the end of year rush is over I intend to look a bit more deeply into the more advanced features.

 

[j Paul]

Dave, make some samples up, etc.

I am on the jr. rental plan also but still find that I have corners stocked piled from some of the slower months. Having to figure so much a corner gets a little expensive for some of the more complicated mats. I do charge for them but more based on what I think they look like they are worth.

For my regular customers or that special first timer, I tend to do a special mat cut for them at no extra charge, the first time. ( I do let them know what it would cost ) Figure if I can get them hooked into liking these special cuts, they will ask for them next time. ( hooked / free the first time, kinda like a drug pusher isn't it?)

 

[Kirstie]

Dave,

We rely on a lot of framed samples on the walls. I notice we are selling much more 8 ply now that we have so many samples up. We use some sort of Wizard extras on almost every gallery piece that we have for sale. Even some of the fabric pieces on the wall have embossed mats. We also have examples on our web site, but that is a growing project. And we have a binder with 8 x 10 example mats, but that rarely gets brought out except by me.

My problem is getting some of my framers to remember to design using the extras, but I do find that the more examples there are on the walls, the more we sell.

Despite our lack of volume in design additions, we can't live without this machine for day to day mat cutting.

We don't charge a lot for v grooves, cut art, etc. $10. each per line or cut art that is in the software. No corner pricing--that gets really complicated with round corners, elaborate designs, and so on. We keep it simple and almost everything is $10. Customers like that and it encourages them to use the extras again. it's an easy sell if you remember to present it!

No thoughts on rental prices as we bought the machine.

 

[erick]

One benefit of using the workshop, though, is that seeing that awesome great chunk of machinery is a real eye-popper for most customers and helps show that you are a serious operator.

A agree. That's partly why I built my shop open to the sales floor (separated by a pony wall). I've already had a couple of customers walk in while the Wiz was running and it sold them.

Yesterday I did a nice custom mat that the customer had brought in drawing for. It has a sort of open vee, broken up by triangles, with tomahawks in the corners and a bear claw emblem in the bottom. I've got pictures on the work computer that I'll try to remember to bring home and share. I got the job when another local framer referred her to me, knowing I could pull it off.

I'm taking photos of all the funky cut mats I do for the web site to help sell the stuff. That way, when the job is picked up by the customer, I can still use it as a tool to help sell another idea to someone else.

 

[Dave]

I know Jim Cook (GUMBY) has printed out the CutArtMasterList but I forgot to ask him if he uses it strictly "in-house" or as a sales aid.

It would seem that the more samples and/or photos of designs the better, but it is impractical to begin to even think about cutting all the available options. If you are to sell them I would think that you need to either print out the list (almost 300 pages) or have a workstation on your design counter. A work station wouldn't be quite as workable, IMO, because it isn't as conducive to browsing as a printed piece.

I would print the list out on a heavier bond paper today if I had the paper and wasn't on my last cartridge for my printer.

As far as charging by the corner, it is easy to determine the corners for any design from the cut screen. Just click on the license (third button down on the right ...looks like text) and the current number of corners for that mat design will show up at the bottom left of the pop-up screen.

Kirstie ...Does the $ 10.00 flat fee really cover the time involved in doing cut-art? I would think that the design time alone would eat that up on many mats. Not to mention the razor blade tweaking that I've found necessary post mat cutting. In addition there needs to be some charge for the paper or mat board backing up the cutart opening if it is just an additional design element on the mat and not part of the actual image being framed.

 

[mona]

wizard design

Hey Dave,
I say charge more for the designs, I always put in more time than I thought so I add 10-25 dollars depending on design. I have the different cuts displayed six per mat board in a 16 x20 framed up with price and design number. Ofcourse samples sell them mostly. We have a golf one with golfer cut art hole in one letters at bottom a golf t and certificate of the hole in one. Diplomas with university cutout letters below etc. But I find mostly it is when we are designing the muse hits. Just added a ying and yang to a piece, customer loved it and I have never had a person say no when I tell them its 10 - 25 for the added design they are just happy to have something so unique.

 

[Kirstie]

A agree. That's partly why I built my shop open to the sales floor (separated b
I'm taking photos of all the funky cut mats I do for the web site to help sell the stuff. That way, when the job is picked up by the customer, I can still use it as a tool to help sell another idea to someone else.

Just be sure to have them sign a simple permission slip allowing you to use their art on the web.

 

[artfolio]

Yet another thing to consider with the Wizard: I bought mine to speed things up and, while the various fancy corners , cut-art, v-grooves etc are fun, it is too easy to get distracted by them and spend far too long on the front counter.

I treat them the same way I treat specialty matboards - they are kept out of sight unless I have a flash of inspiration then out they come. If a customer gets hold of something like Brian Wolf's "101 Designs" or the Cut-Art or opening selection in "Matt Designer" they could be oooing and aaahing over it for an hour or so when all their job really needs is a simple double matt.