The more people stare at a work, the less likely they are to buy it.

When standing in a gallery, some people stop for a long time in front of a work.
They look at it up close, look at it from a distance, read the caption, and come back to it again.
In the past, when I saw people like that, I used to think, 'This might actually lead to a sale.'

However, having done this job for a long time, I know that is rarely the case.
In fact, it is almost always the case that the people who look the most do not buy.

Conversely, there are times when someone who hasn't looked for very long quietly asks for the price and decides right then and there.
In the beginning, I didn't really understand this difference.
You would think the people who are properly looking at the work would be the ones to buy, but in reality, that's not the case.
So, what is the difference?

Today, I would like to write about that.

Looking for a long time does not equal wanting it.

When you are out on the floor, you realize this faster than you might think.

There are many types of people who look at a work for a long time.
People who are looking purely for appreciation.
People who create art themselves and are interested in the technique or composition.
People who are looking at it for educational purposes.
People who want to take home the experience of having seen something good.

These people are reacting properly.
They are reacting, but that reaction is not necessarily 'I want to buy it.'
If you misunderstand this, customer service easily goes off track.

On the other hand, as for the people who do buy, surprisingly, the time they spend looking can be short.
Of course, it's not that they are looking at it carelessly.
It's just that the points they are looking at are different.

Whether they like the work or not is decided surprisingly quickly.
What they are looking at beyond that point is something else entirely.
How it will look if they put it in their home.
Whether they feel comfortable owning it right now.
Whether they will feel good after buying it.
They are confirming these things.

In other words, it's not that people who look for a long time don't have passion for the work.
It's just that the passion for appreciation and the decision to purchase are completely different things.

If you lump these together, you will likely misread the situation on the floor.

The atmosphere is easily ruined by the first word.

I truly believe this.
Even if the work is good, if the atmosphere turns bad, people won't buy.

When a customer is standing in front of a work, I naturally want to speak to them.
It's my job, so that's natural, and it's not like I should just stand there in silence.
However, the way you 'approach' them changes what happens afterward significantly.

If you start explaining too much while the person hasn't yet gauged their distance from the work.
Then, in an instant, the other person is turned from a 'viewer' into someone 'being sold to'.
This switch happens faster than the person themselves realizes.

Especially in a place like a gallery, there is inherently a bit of tension.
Price tags aren't attached like they are in a supermarket.
It feels somewhat expensive, and you're not quite sure if you should be there.
In such a place, if you are given customer service with a lot of information from the start, you will put your guard up.

This happens even if the service isn't unpleasant.
In fact, polite explanations can sometimes even become a form of pressure.

People tend to think that those who are good at explaining are the ones who sell, but in reality, it's not that simple.
People who sell well don't just explain well; they don't break the time when the other person doesn't yet want an explanation.
That feeling is closer to the truth.

I think this is where experience shows.

There is a surprisingly deep gap beyond 'I like it'.

Many people say 'I like it' when looking at a work.
Really, many.
But there is more distance than you'd think between that 'like' and 'I'll buy it'.

It's easy to dismiss this distance as a lack of power in the work, but on the floor, that's not the case.
The work is good enough.
The customer likes it, too.
Yet, they don't decide.
There are countless situations like that.

The reason isn't just the price.

They really want it.
But they don't know if it's okay for them to buy it.
They can't yet imagine it in their home.
They are unsure how to decide with their spouse.
Since it's their first time, they don't even know how to make the judgment.
They feel somewhat sorry if they don't buy it after looking.
Conversely, they worry that if they decide on the spot, they might look like a frivolous person.

Even when people are in front of a work, they are actually thinking quite a lot about things other than the work.
Moreover, most of that doesn't come out in words.

That's why even if we only talk about the work, it sometimes doesn't reach them.
The place where the other person is stuck is not in understanding the work, but in not being able to become the kind of person who can buy it.

If you misjudge this, you end up thinking, 'They were so interested, why didn't they buy it?'
But in reality, it's not that they weren't interested.
It's often just that their feelings didn't reach the point of buying.

People who buy aren't just looking at the work.

This might sound like a cold way of putting it, but I believe it's a fact.

People who buy aren't just looking at the color, composition, or the artist's background.
They are looking much more broadly.
Is it okay to buy from this shop?
Can I trust what this person is saying?
Will this be an embarrassing purchase later?
Does my judgment make sense?

Especially as the price gets higher, that becomes stronger.
You can't push through with just 'like'.
In fact, because they like it, they become cautious.

It often looks like people who buy art buy on impulse, but in reality, they are quite rational.
They are drawn in by their senses and then organize it with their reason.
Many people follow this order.

That's why just having a good work isn't enough, and just having strong sales tactics isn't enough.
Unless the reason to buy and the conviction that it's okay to buy align within them, they won't move.

I think this is probably hard to see if you aren't on the floor.

So, are the people who look and the people who buy different from the start?

I don't think they are completely different.

There are people who come intending to buy from the start.
Those people are easy to understand.
But there are also times when someone who just came to look at first changes to the buying side at a certain moment.

As for what that turning point is, it's not the moment they are pressured.
It's not the moment they get a discount, either.
I think it's probably the moment they no longer feel a sense of discomfort in the image of themselves owning it.

In that sense, the role of customer service is closer to helping organize the thoughts inside the other person without roughly stimulating the hang-ups they have, rather than pushing for a sale.
Of course, it's not a job that can be done with just such idealistic talk.
There are sales targets, and results are required.
However, in the long run, cases where you force a sale leave a bad aftertaste.
It's also hard to maintain a relationship.

I've been in this world for a long time now, but in the end, customers who make a good purchase are the ones who continue to come back.
I've come to feel more and more that that is far more important than a one-time sale.

Finally.

When doing this job, you tend to want to guess quickly 'who is the buyer'.
I think it's like an occupational disease.
The way they stop, their gaze, how they ask about the price, their conversation with their companion.
While watching those things, I'm always reading them somewhere in the back of my mind.

But what's really important isn't guessing.
I think it's not to roughly make assumptions about where that person is right now.

Are they someone who just wants to keep looking?
Are they someone who likes it but has a lot of anxiety?
Are they someone who is leaning quite a bit toward buying but wants one final bit of conviction?

If you get that wrong, the conversation ends in a place unrelated to the power of the work.
Conversely, when that aligns, it can be decided smoothly.

People who look at art and people who buy it.
These two things seem similar but are different.
But they aren't completely separate, either.

Between them, more than price, more than knowledge,
'Whether they can think it's okay for them to own it'
there is a quiet wall.

What I see almost every day on the floor is probably that wall.
And I've recently come to think that the job of selling is not about pushing the work, but about watching how people struggle in front of that wall.

From the gallery floor, I am writing little by little about the reasons why works sell and why they don't.
If you want to work in art, want to sell works, or want to know the psychology of the buying side, please follow and read.