UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, Revised and Updated

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Putting It into Practice

AFTER SPEAKING AT the framing gallery conference, the owner and manager of a small store hired me to consult with them on what they could be doing differently to increase their sales and engage their market. It was a stand-alone storefront in Toronto that carried beautiful pieces of art along with incredible framing services. Great store, beautiful products and services, but still they were frustrated and so I let them vent.

“People come into the gallery and most of them say they’re just looking when I ask if I can help them! Now I have to stand around while they browse and they end up leaving. Or they come into the gallery looking for bargains instead of wanting to buy the high-priced original pieces! What can we do to change that?”

The first thing I asked them to change was their mindset. They viewed most people coming into their store as interruptions, instead of someone raising a hand, expressing potential interest. Next I pointed out the LARGE NEON SIGNS in the window advertising “50% OFF!!!” as to the reason why the bargain hunters showed up.¹³⁶

We sat down and categorized people who came into the gallery who were “just looking,” then we set up a system to try to “pull and stay” with each group.

People who liked a specific artist’s style. This specific gallery had a few artists who had exclusive pieces at their gallery. They were magnificent. Some of the pieces I would be interested in purchasing myself. They were the main draw that people could ...