No, you aren’t ‘just’ selling a creative product. You are selling so much more.

When I started to study marketing in the 1990s the marketing world was clear:

You could either market products OR services.

The biggest difference between the two is that the latter was more intangible, and therefore you had to work harder to explain the differences between you and your competitors and the benefits for your clients.

Fast forward to now and the marketing world isn’t that black and white anymore.

The distinction between a product and a service has ALMOST disappeared …

Let me explain:

I create and sell online courses for creative professionals.

Is that a product? You can print off slides and worksheets.

Or is it a service?  You learn new skills and get more confidence.

You create personalised wedding rings.

What’s more important to the bride and bridegroom?

The wedding rings themselves or the personal service they will get? The care that they get from you to make it a really special purchase.

Are you offering a product or a service?

Here’s another example…

My husband went to a specialist shop in Oxford Street to purchase some trainers. He had been running on his old tennis shoes for over a year but was starting to get pains in his back and knees.

When he entered the shop and had a look around he saw a couple of pairs he liked. However, a shop assistant approached him and asked him what he was looking for. My husband explained, and the shop assistant invited him to run on a treadmill for 30sec while videoing his running feet.

When they watched the video together, the sales assistant pointed out to my husband how his feet turned slightly in (bear with me!) and suggested three pairs of shoes that would support his feet and knees better. My husband tried each of them on, ran again while being filmed, noticed the difference on the video, and selected the best pair for him to purchase.

What did my husband buy that day?

Yes, he bought trainers (a product), but he bought so much more too!

He bought into the expertise of the assistant and the brand he was buying from and his knee and back problems have disappeared.

He didn’t just buy into the product and service he received, but also into the experience.

And he told loads of people about it! In person and on social media.

Welcome to the 21st century!

we are no longer ‘just’ selling products & services, ‘the experience’ has become a main selling point.

One year at New Designers a new furniture designer maker approached me. “Patricia,” he said, “I have a marketing problem. Since graduating last year I have been working on this wooden table. But nobody wants to buy it. What should I do?”

He showed me a picture of the most beautifully crafted table, about 5 metres long, in oak.

I asked him how long he had been working on it. He told me that it had been a 6-month project. He had had no other jobs on and kept doing what he knew best: making.

I suggested that for a unique table like that, with the time he had spent on it, and also to cover his rent and materials, he would need to charge around £15k.

He seemed shocked and obviously hadn’t really considered the price up to that point. He admitted that he probably had ‘overworked’ it a bit, and probably could have made a table like that in 8 weeks.

I asked him who he thought would be interested in a table of say £10 – £12k. He wasn’t really sure.

I explained to him that obviously one can buy large extended dining tables for far far less on the High Street. But that that’s not who you should be competing with as a designer maker.

He wasn’t JUST selling a table.

Back to the question about who his client could be.

People who are most likely to commission tables at that level obviously have money to be able to buy the table with that price tag, but they also have a big house with a large dining room to put it in!

With this in mind, please also remember that it’s not only rich people who buy high-quality craft products!

The table was large but rather minimal, so they would need to be quietly sophisticated in their design choice too.

They would very likely commission a table like that when moving house or extending their kitchen.

It’s likely that they like to cook and entertain.

It’s likely they have a large extended family, very likely empty-nesters or new grandparents who have the space, but also dream of family dinners and Christmasses to come, spending precious time on this table with loved ones or quiet Sunday mornings reading the papers.

He wasn’t JUST selling a table.

He was selling a dream of happy family occasions for many years to come.

An heirloom.

This table would become part of a family for a very long time.

Lovingly created, lovingly carved with scratches from decades of use.

Putting it in that context, this table wasn’t expensive.

It was a good investment.

I actually told him to forget about trying to sell this table!

I suggested that he needed some great pictures of this table in a suitable environment. In a minimal penthouse in London, adding a bit of warmth to a very white environment. Or in a barn-conversion in the Cotswolds. You get the picture!

I suggested that he should present this table in different homes, where his dream clients might live.

The images should really show the sheer size of this beautiful beast. But also his eye for detail. The grains in the wood.

I told him to sell the dream instead.

I suggested that he should start digging deeper to get to understand his potential audience and clients better:

Who they are.

And more importantly: Who they want to be.

When they buy.

Where they buy or commission.

Who they would ask for advice.

What magazines they would read, the press cuttings they would keep (for years, dreaming about that future kitchen extension and commission.)

To think about a broader group, not just his specific clients, but also high-end interior designers, specific luxury kitchen installers, the magazines that feature artisan products and houses in the Cotswolds, and potentially boutique hotels and B&Bs.

To think about other products he could create to add to his collection: family dining tables, but also tables for the library, hallway, or garden patio.

To think how he could increase his profile, credibility, and trust with each of these groups.

To create beautiful promotional material with stunning images.

To show his creative process and experience, his sketches, and inspirations, with testimonials from his clients.

To put something beautiful in the post, with a personalised letter.

Marketing isn’t a quick fix. It needs to focus on building long term relationships.

He would need to be able to really listen to potential customers’ specific needs and wants, to observe them in their space, while cooking and entertaining.

And to ask of questions before designing and creating anything.

 

Because … commissioning a family table like that is quite a big deal.

It’s exciting.

For a designer maker.

But also for the client!

In fact, his dream client doesn’t ONLY want a finished table.

They want to get involved.

To get exactly what they want.

For the next 50 odd years.

To decide on the thickness and the colour of the wood.

The curves in the legs.

The finish on the top.

If I would have the opportunity to commission a designer-maker for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to commission my table, for my family, I would want it to be exactly right.

I would want to witness the whole creative process.

Be really involved with it. Talk about it. Muse about it.

The uncovering of my table needs to be an event.

As a furniture maker, you sell so much more than a product.

You need to sell your creative and drawing skills.

You need to sell your people, listening, project management,and hand-holding-skills.

You need to sell elegance and style.

You will need to make people feel creative, sophisticated, and indeed ‘rich’.

Because let’s be honest: That’s what artists and crafts people have been doing for thousands of years. How can you feel ‘rich’ if you have got everything in the world? Commissioning an artist to make something just for you is a great way.

 

 

But what about lower-end craft products or designs?

Maybe you don’t make very expensive and high-quality craft. Maybe your designs and crafts are at a lower price level.

You face exactly the same challenge.

You aren’t selling just a creative product either!

Imagine …

Your silver bangles are purchased by a proud dad to celebrate his daughter’s 18th birthday.

You necklace is bought by a new dad who gives it to his wife to celebrate the birth of their first child.

Your lovely handmade notebooks are bought by a newly divorced woman to start writing her personal diary once again.

Your personalised, colourful prints or papercut is a present from a best friend as a housewarming gift.

If you are a creative business you are selling so much more than ‘just’ a product.

More than a service even.

You are selling an experience.

A memory.

Love and friendship.

Most craft and design products are bought as a gift*. For oneself, or for somebody else.

Get into action:

If you are struggling to market and sell your creative products and services, start thinking about…

• What are you really selling? Think about the features (facts or what the customer can actually see) and also about the benefits for the client and user. How do your creative products make them feel? How will your design service help them?
• Who are your clients? Go beyond their gender, age, and income level. Where do they live? What kind of house or style have they got? What magazines and blogs do they read?
• Why and when do your customers buy? What’s the reason or occasion? How do your products or services make them feel? Why would they buy from a designer maker rather than on the High Street? Why would they choose to buy from you? What do you offer in terms of expertise, profile, experience, and customer service?

Write down your answers to these questions and start to make changes in how you market yourself and who you approach. Acknowledging that you are selling so much more than ‘just a product’ will help you increase the perceived value of what you do, making it more likely that you will attract your dream clients too!

* See the Crafts Council’s Market for Craft Report. The number one reason people purchase craft is as a unique gift.

D you want to get to know your dream clients in more detail? So that they come alive? So that you can create products that people really love to buy and approach them in a way that really works? Check out our blog post ‘Get to Know Your Ideal Clients’ to identify your dream customers, get to know them more, approach them confidently, and start working with them.

Did you find this blog post ‘you aren’t ‘just’ selling a creative product, you are selling so much more’ useful? What did you learn? We would love to hear from you in the comments box below or feel free to share it with other creatives who you think might find this useful too.