Just the Facts

Author: Tommy Bronsted

  • 4 Sales Skills

    4 Sales Skills

    My dog has sales skills she doesn’t know of but uses them on me every day. Although cute little Guinevere may be oblivious to it, every time she gives me kisses and plays with me, she is engaging in a game of competition for my attention. This is what sales is about — gaining attention and holding it.

    1. Mental Toughness

    Rejection is daunting and unavoidable, and to the extent a salesperson deals with it, its an integral part of the sales job. You don’t expect a car wash to work itself and you don’t make a grocery list to not buy the items on the list. However, at least when you wash your car, you’re gaining the benefit of a nice looking vehicle, and so on. Mental toughness is about having the resilience to keep going when you don’t get results. Below are a few books that touch on keeping your attitude straight through thick and thin.

    • Deep Work by Cal Newport
    • Grit by Angela Duckworth
    • Clear Thinking by Shane Parish

    2. Relationships of Trust

    You wouldn’t give your main argument to the lawyer on the other side, and you wouldn’t help a competing business win the favor of your client. Competition and advantage are the enemy of friendship and trust. So, when push comes to shove, how does somebody avoid getting burned? They are likely to choose their friends carefully and trust sparingly. Find out how to manifest situations that are nurturing and gentle.

    • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
    • Influence by Robert Cialdini
    • Attached by Dr. Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

    3. Knowledge of the Product

    Competent salespersons are confident in their understanding of what they’re selling and what solution that offers to their buyers. Someone knowledgeable in problems with supply chain or manufacturing is better suited to confront a potential client who has needs to be met than a person that hasn’t thought of those needs.

    • 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
    • Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

    4. Handling Objections

    There is a finesse in encouraging people to take a leap of faith. I could have cold feet if my money or reputation was on the line and it may take a solid case to convince me the risk is worth it. I’m most likely to risk those things is for guaranteed results. If I’m afraid, then its likely because the salesperson can’t convince me that my objections are covered.

    • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
    • What They Don’t Teach You in Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack

    Conclusion

    There are many ways to develop these skills and getting creative is necessary to train up to advance your career or get your foot in the door. Stay motivated!

  • Art Advisors Help Collectors with the Legwork of Price Ranges

    Art Prices and Art Quality: Collecting The Right Piece

    Image Credit: artprice.com; by Pierre Malbeck

    Fine art collecting is risky business. Crooked, biased art dealers, forgeries and bad quality art threaten to water down what you get for your money. And personal failures to do diligent research and select only pieces worth buying can be dissatisfying. Although not everything is a threat, and many people will help you along your way, it pays off to keep something in mind: Alan Bamberger writes there are two axiomatic principles to art collecting: People want (1) good quality art, for (2) fair prices.

    One measure of the quality of a piece of art is how it is priced relative to similar pieces. Presumably, the cheapest art in the range of prices won’t be the best quality or by the best artist. Consider simple, colorful abstract art within the last 10 years. Pierre Malbeck’s paintings range from the $7,000 to $12,000 range. Zin Helena Song’s paintings range from $3,000 to $7,500. Knöckel Reinöhl and Nancy Talero have art for $2,00 and $3,000. When choosing art between two and fourteen thousand dollars, its important not to lowball. The relative quality of the paintings, aside from subjective opinion, is clear from the price.

    Collectors use this technique to identify and value various pieces. Some may buy only at the top of the range, others will purchase mid-level priced paintings. One this is for sure: staying in the lowest range of price guarantees you’re purchasing the lowest quality painting within the category. 

    Art advising is a relatively new profession designed to help collectors select art for purchase. In cases where art advisors are involved, many more metrics are used to select which artworks are worth a client’s money.

    Image Credit: Singulart; By Knöckel Reinöhl

    The Covid-19 pandemic has caused art openings and fairs to go online, art websites to spring up and social media facilitation of artist’s marketing. This push toward accessibility to art has caused more art to become available to view and purchase online. With more options, collectors can become aware of a wider range of sources from which to make selections of art.

    Before the online revolution, most collectors were confined to the choices their local galleries offered. A particularly interesting story involves two art collectors, Herb and Dorothy Vogel, who amassed a multi-million dollar collection buying directly from New York artists. Though their modest income limited their choices, they made smart selections and the art they collected gained acclaim. They build their world-famous collection by engaging mostly artists of a single locale.

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    Since digitization, the art market has become broader; with so much information available, there’s no excuse for ignoring signs of buying cheap art. 
    The moral of the story is: You get what you pay for. Higher quality art from acclaimed artists will not be junk. And avoiding junk is a core tenet of collecting art.