Karen Latorre on fri 7 mar 08
Hi folks,
I've done a few searches in the archives but am not getting=20
the info I'm looking for, so I figured I'd send this to the list.
I'm curious if anyone has suggestions to improve pottery=20
guild sales.=20
We've got an established group, in a high cost city, and we're=20
finding our overall sales falling year over year since 2002 when=20
I started tracking sales figures. We've also got a fair amount of=20
"competition" with other pottery guilds in and around the city.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions,
Karen
www.karenlatorre.com
_________________________________________________________________
John Rodgers on sat 8 mar 08
Karen,
It's a bit difficult to say what to do to increase sales without having
some idea of what your current efforts are. Can you give us some idea?
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Karen Latorre wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I've done a few searches in the archives but am not getting
> the info I'm looking for, so I figured I'd send this to the list.
>
> I'm curious if anyone has suggestions to improve pottery
> guild sales.
>
> We've got an established group, in a high cost city, and we're
> finding our overall sales falling year over year since 2002 when
> I started tracking sales figures. We've also got a fair amount of
> "competition" with other pottery guilds in and around the city.
>
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions,
> Karen
> www.karenlatorre.com
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
>
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>
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>
>
>
lela martens on sat 8 mar 08
Hi Karen,
=20
Our guild sales have been the reverse with sales going up in the last few
years.=20
Members send out a nice colourful e-mail poster to everyone they
can think of locally and ask them to forward, then recipient to foreword. W=
e started that about 3 years ago and think it made a tremendous difference.=
We also place a few small adds in the local paper and leisure guide.
=20
Our sales are in the basement of an old school, our work room, but we try
to make things attractive. Clean, nice matching table coverings, a few flow=
ers..
=20
Friendly, knowledgeable sellers, quiet music in background.
A wide variety of works and prices.
=20
Many of our customers return year after year to our 3 sales, often lining=
up at the door the first morning.
=20
Lela > I'm curious if anyone has suggestions to improve pottery > guild sal=
es.=20
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Karen Latorre on mon 10 mar 08
Well, it looks like neither of the two emails I replied to yesterday made i=
t to the list,=20
so here's a second try with both answers in one.
>It's a bit difficult to say what to do to
increase sales without having
>some idea of what your current efforts
are. Can you give us some idea?
The group rents a location that's outside of the downtown core, with=20
ample parking, and just off one of the main highways in town. We don't=20
have our own studio space, so we're stuck having to rent space for sales. T=
he=20
area is predominantly office buildings, but the building we're currently re=
nting
for the sales is open until 10 pm each day and has its' own set of classes =
etc=20
that run during the daytime and evenings so there's a steady amount of traf=
fic=20
coming through.
We select someone's work for a door prize and via these ballots, collect na=
mes=20
and addresses that we use for mailing out flyers for the next sale. We also=
have=20
a list of email addresses, and email the flyer to that set of people (as we=
ll as a snail=20
mail copy), and followup with an emailed reminder of the sale. The hardcopy=
flyers=20
are mailed out about a month in advance. The flyers are full colour, 1/3 pa=
ge=20
cover style paper with a semi-gloss finish. The same softcopy of the flyer =
is emailed=20
to all participants so that they can send out to their customer base to inc=
rease=20
coverage. We also have hardcopy flyers available to participants to send ou=
t snail=20
mail to their customer base.
We also have a set of advertising outside of the flyers, and place ads in l=
ocal=20
papers, radio stations, etc. During the past 2 or 3 sales we've had someone=
=20
go door to door to the local office buildings and leave flyers with recepti=
onists etc.
We've gone from a Friday, Saturday, Sunday sale to a Thursday, Friday,=20
Saturday sale based on total $ sales and attendance figures collected durin=
g sales.=20
Given the business locale we've got, we seem to make the most sales on Thur=
sdays=20
and Fridays, but have good sales on Saturdays as well. Sundays were less th=
an=20
spectacular, so we've dropped that day.
We've put a lower limit on the price of any piece in the show ($10), and si=
nce the
sale where this restriction came into effect we did see an increase in the =
average price
per pot (not surprising), but the overall sales have not been higher.
We go through a jurying process to ensure the overall quality of work in th=
e sale
is good, but we do not bar those who are starting out from participating, s=
o there is a=20
range of work quality.
During the sale we have some quiet background music going on.
We have two sales per year, spring and fall, and the spring one is consiste=
ntly less
in overall $ and attendance than the fall sale, and doesn't always break ev=
en.
What we do NOT do which other guilds I belong to do:
We do NOT have demos during the sale, and I'm not sure we could get away wi=
th
it given the location we're in now.
We do NOT have a pre-sale reception and show where no sales are conducted, =
but
where prospective buyers can come and browse.
We do NOT have a "coffee and deserts" area like we had in a previous locati=
on, but
are planning one for the spring sale.
In my own experience, having belonged to 3 guilds at the same time (I'm out=
in the=20
countryside and equidistant from the 3 cities), and participated in=20
sales in the three towns during the same time period, this sale has always =
been the slowest
with the least interest and in the past I've attributed it to pottery overl=
oad in this city, but
perhaps there's something else we can do to gain a better percentage of the=
available=20
sales. That's why I posted for suggestions.
--
Lela, thanks for the note.
We also try to make the display area consistent. We have grey=20
tablecloths that we also rent, and a restriction on the colour of=20
additional tablecloths that can go on top (white, green or black),=20
but the grey must be showing in some form. The place we're in=20
is a very nice open space, although a bit dark, so we have various=20
lighting setups at the tables which spotlight the participants' work.
The setup is professional looking with room for customers to move=20
around.
We have what we call "floaters" which are available to customers=20
to answer questions and restock participants' tables. Our=20
participants do not wear a "common costume" of any kind=20
(something that is done at one of the other guilds), but we all=20
have name tags that we wear while on duty.
We too have many returning customers. I tend to work cash and I've=20
seen many familiar faces year after year. I also know we are=20
drawing new customers with each sale from the surrounding=20
businesses as many come in during lunch breaks and comment=20
that they didn't know about this until they saw the flyers at their=20
reception. Some of these folks are people I've seen come back=20
in following sales.
Regarding lining up for the sale to open, this has never happened=20
at this guild (at least in the years I've been there), but it is=20
common at one of the other guilds I'm in.=20
--
Karen
www.karenlatorre.com
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lela martens on tue 11 mar 08
Hi Karen,
=20
A few thoughts and observations. Our guild doesn`t `snail mail` anything.=
Our volunteers have routes through downtown and businesses where we ask t=
hat the manger would display our sales posters in a window, bulletin board,=
or even staff rooms. We are `not for profit`, so they usually will. They a=
re not fancy,with inexpensive paper, one colour ink.
=20
We have customer contact information but nothing has been done about that.=
I will suggest we do at the next meeting.
Our minimum price is 1$, or 2 for 1$, and unless a piece is dangerous, it`=
s allowed...yeah, I know, but 90% of the work is high quality.
=20
The name tags are a good idea.
We don`t have the space for demos, nor have we ever had a reception or pre=
-sale, or served anything. Again, lack of space.=20
We also found Thursdays rather than Sundays to be good days.
=20
We have no competition handmade pottery wise within 150 miles but a very `=
homestead` minded local population. When informed a piece is decorative mos=
t will laugh and put it down.
=20
When a customer comes from Vancouver, Edmonton or east of Manitoba they co=
me up to those of us selling, and say `Are you kidding me? It would be 4 ti=
mes that where I come from!` and they`re right.
...hey, we no longer allow masking tape price labels! :>) I used to cringe =
at our recycled newspaper-grocery bag wrapping, but now it`s fashionable.
=20
It has been tough with our rent and utilities going up high and steadily, =
as grants become less and fewer. Though sales have increased a good amount,=
this year our membership has gone down a lot and that paid most of the ren=
t. The guild gets 15% of sales off the top. We will be having a yard sale i=
n the parking lot in April.
=20
Good luck with your sales. We hope your weather improves soon too.
=20
Best wishes from Lela, on the prairie where it`s been above freezing for ov=
er a week and sunny.>
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