The holiday craft fair season is officially closed. I don’t do a ton of craft fairs, but I do pay a lot of attention to things that potential customers say. I have run my observations by some of my friends who work the craft fair circuit more heavily than I, and they seem to agree with them. So, without further ado, I give to you: Things Customers Say and What They Really Mean (A Fair and Unbiased Assessment of Customer Response).
“We want to check out everything before we buy.” Pretty much the most honest thing you’ll hear at a craft fair – nonetheless, the unspoken part is that the customer reserves the right to buy things that they absolutely fall in love with on their first pass through.
“We’ll be back.” We won’t be back.
“How much is this?” I can see the price, I do not, however, want to pay the price.
“Do you have a business card?” I collect business cards.
“Do you have a web site?” I am very old.
And here is a list of common adjectives customers use to describe your work, and what they really mean (Note: Adjectives not on this list usually can be taken literally).
“Beautiful” – Alone: “Beautiful”. With somebody: “Come back and buy this for me when I’m not looking”.
“Charming” – I wouldn’t mind receiving this as a gift, but I’m not going to buy it for myself.
“Cute” – Depending on the age/gender of the customer, this can be mean either “cute”, or “unprofessional”.
“Funky” – I have no idea how to respond to your stuff, and now I’m going to back away slowly…
But, bar none, the most poisonous word that a crafter can hear is “Clever”, which translates as “That’s a good idea that I can do myself instead of buying your product”. If a customer calls your work clever, you should pretty much smile and focus your attention on the next person, because you will not be making a sale.
