Topic 

The art of selling art

Main body 

Main idea

To share the experiences of selling paintings, the mistakes i made, and the knowledge i learned, and how i improved myself to become a better salesperson by observing the customers and the way others sell paintings.

Topic sentence 1

    I used to think that as long as i work hard, everything would go as i planned. But the first year of my selling experience totally proved it to be a huge mistake.

Supporting ideas

   * I am not a really hard working person. So when i tend to put effort into something, i expect to have incredible results.

   * It was my first time selling art pieces so i wanted to do a good job. I poured all of my energy and effort non-stop into persuading people and customers.

   * I was really exhausted and spent but i was happy cause i did my best.I was absolutely positive that i would sell a lot of paintings.

   * But then i was shocked and devastated about the horrifying results. I was so dumbstruck and upset that i cried, blaming everything for the unacceptable results. I was totally helpless.

Topic sentence 2

     I knew there must be some severe mistakes in my selling technique last year; therefore i observed others and changed my way of selling.

Supporting ideas

  * I learned that a salesperson is very much different from a guide, our goal is to make the deal, instead of telling everyone how amazing and important the painting is.

  * I began to select my customers: I only talk to the ones that i think are likely to purchase the artwork. 

  * By doing so, i began to check out people's clothing and their handbags and so on.

  * I improved a lot this year but i was still too hasty about talking people into buying art pieces.

  * The results were much better, but it still didn't meet my expectations.

Topic sentence 3

      Due to my experience of the last two years, i was more familiar with the way how business sales work.

Supporting ideas

  * I got even better at selecting customers. I not only looked at their clothing, but also at their accessories like their watches, jewelry or their glasses.

  * Most of all, i learned the art of talking. I used to be too hasty and talked too much to customers, hoping that the more information they get, the higher the chance of them buying the painting is. But now i learned to talk them into buying art at a slower pace, so that they could admire and think. When the time is right, i'd say a few words to enhance their determination of purchasing.

  * I even contacted outwardly towards customers, reminding them about the art works that they liked.