LEARNING THE TRADE
Like his father Jim Callahan, Bernard expected things to come easily. Unlike with his father, they actually did. Plus, Bernard would make it known he was nobody’s fool. He was a natural salesman and had made sure he understood his product, art. He was put on a very short leash at first. Brit didn’t trust the young hotshot. Brit was still miffed by Bernard’s juggling antics that landed him a job, one that wasn’t even available, but his talent on the show floor was undeniable. The first day he was allowed to sell, Bernard put down two $10K Warhols: a Red Marilyn and a Yellow Marilyn. Brit changed his tune about his recent hire. It looked like a smart move with $20K in the bank, half of which was the gallery’s and the other half, Andy’s.
Within two months, Bernard was second only to Brit himself in total sales. If Bernard had been allowed to interact with the big clients, he would have easily been at the top. Bernard had to make his sales by pure salesmanship, talking people into more painting than they had ever imagined they would purchase. For Bernard, it was much easier then selling fruit on a cold New York City street corner. The street was mainly filled with people who had little money and didn’t like letting go of it under any circumstances.
Rich people only needed to be reassured that what they were purchasing had value and maybe would even go up over time. Bernard sold art by emphasizing the fact that artworks were investment-grade commodities that would be worth a lot more in the future. After all, artists die and then almost always the artwork instantaneously becomes more valuable. You simply had to outlive the artists. Bernard coined this very successful selling technique with his colleagues as “Paint by Numbers.” The “Paint” represented those works by now-deceased artists and the “Numbers” the hefty increase in their value that occurs directly after their death. Every potential client was always reminded about the artist’s age and how they could only produce so much more work in their life. It was a powerful sales tool.