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Education

What salespeople can learn from painters

When painting a landscape, start with the farthest point

Depth in a painting draws the eyes forward. It makes a two-
dimensional painting appear to be three dimensional. It's
important to paint this depth first, even if you ultimately
paint most of it over as you move forward.

In sales, we must do the same thing. Signing a merchant
is good, but the ultimate goal is a long-term relationship.
This can be obtained over time, but that timeline can
be shortened by first drawing the merchant into the
opportunity. You must paint the background so that you
develop rapport and nurture the early stages of forming
a bond with the merchant. Even if the background
gets lost as the conversation moves forward, the initial
benefit remains. The key benefit to this approach is that
it will make cost the last component of the sale, not the
component.
By Jeff Fortney
TouchSuite LLC A painting is best viewed from four feet away
When standing inches from a canvas, the perception that
ven as a young child I had an appreciation of the tree exists and is complete is hard to grasp. You see
art. I enjoyed going to museums and was par- brush strokes, but not the tree. As a result you are never
ticularly drawn to the way landscapes could satisfied. Step back often to avoid over painting, as well as
E pull you into a scene in a fashion not possible to identify anything that may be missing. By doing this,
with photographs. This appreciation did not come from you see the tree, and can realize when it truly is finished.
my ability to draw or paint. When it came to the arts, my
only ability was in the music arena. In visual art, I was a In addition, if you step away and look at the whole painting,
pure stick figure person. Or so I thought. you can identify gaps in the picture. You may see that a
shrub is needed or a space is too symmetrical (nature is not
In 2015, my wife felt I needed an avocation and (knowing symmetrical). This gives you the opportunity to address
how I enjoy paintings) suggested I take a painting course. areas that would draw the viewer to missing elements, not
She had found classes that were once a month on Saturday the complete picture.
and required no long-term commitment. I thought trying
one class would be a convenient way to prove to all I was In business, as you proceed through a sale, rather than
not destined to paint. push it forward, step back. Pause your conversation by
asking the merchant, "What questions do you have?" This
At the end of that class, I walked away with a snowy will enable you to step back and listen to the questions,
landscape that wasn't too bad. Even people who weren't which will help you determine if the "tree" is actually
related to me said it was pretty good. I returned the next done.
month. Flash forward five years, and I have beach scenes,
mountain groves, lakes and even florals. I still can't paint If a prospect has no questions, this indicates there is a gap
faces, but I found they aren't necessary for a painting to you need to address. Ask open-ended questions. Look for
look good. comments or answers that indicate the individual either
doesn't grasp a concept or may have misunderstood
During this learning curve, I started to recognize how something you said. Take time to fill in that gap, and
I've been using these same techniques in my vocation. correct any misunderstandings.
I've always said that the sales process is more artistic
than analytical, but I had no way to convey that belief. Good paintings elicit positive emotions
Those painting lessons provided the proof and gave me
techniques to use to win sales. I'll discuss three of them in It is a fact that colors can generate emotions. It's also a fact
the sections that follow. that a painting can evoke memories. With landscapes,

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