Sales and Artist Assistant for a major commercial gallery, based in London

 Our client is on the hunt for a Sales and Artist Assistant to support their Sales team in fulfilling sales, ensuring excellent post-sale client service; updating Salesforce with meaningful business intelligence about their clientele; and, updating the entire team on recent efforts by the Sales team vis artist management. The successful candidate will be able to start ASAP and assist the team with the upcoming Art Basel.

Job Responsibilities

The Sales and Artist Assistant understands the goals that are specific to marketing and sales.  They execute the plan by working closely with members of the Sales team and liaising with other departments.  The Sales Assistant is responsible for:

Sales Strategy:

• Understand the digital marketing and ecommerce strategy for the year;
• Identify works that should be marketed and sold online;
• Fully understand the costs, discount policies and target margins for works;
• Balance outstanding client service with the needs of the gallery;
• Implement consistent engagement strategies with walk-in visitors, phone and email inquiries;
• Generate sales invoices and facilitate post-sale service to clients (i.e. deliveries, storage and/or installation);
• Update Salesforce with works on reserve, NFS and sales;
• Provide remote support to sales staff who are traveling;
• Provide client service on-site when sales staff are traveling or out of the gallery;
• Reconcile expense reports for sales staff;
• Develop richer client profiles including interests, engagement and sales;
• Mine business intelligence in Salesforce to focus client outreach and improve the results of every campaign;
• Review auctions to determine comparable values and selling opportunities;
• Work with Head of Client Development to segment prospects and clients and undertake research to offer relevant works and tailored content to prospects and clients;
• Cultivate new types of collectors
• Manage a pipeline of prospects and clients and input conversion efforts and sales in SF
• Serve as a brand ambassador at gallery and museum exhibitions.

Artist Management:

• Work with Director(s) on the market development strategy for designated artists;
• Manage artist relationships pro-actively to seize on media, museum, promotional and sales opportunities;
• Maintain up-to-date and accurate artist biographies and related content for the website;
• Facilitate commissions and the fabrication of works with the Operations team;
• Collaborate with artists on the concept, design and installation of gallery exhibitions;
• Update the team regularly on the status of inventory, exhibitions, special projects and other issues related to the artists with whom they work.

General:

• Attend all sales meetings and compile weekly re-caps;
• Staff gallery events as needed;
• Assist with gallery maintenance to ensure an exceptional client and visitor experience;
• Orient and train new hires as needed;
• Ensure effective internal communication so that colleagues have sufficient and timely information to achieve their goals;
• Use information systems to improve efficiency.
• Saturday sales cover, 1 in 4 weeks during exhibition openings
• Ability to travel

Requirements:

• BA and/or MA in Art History
• Previous experience as an assistant or sales assistant
• Experience working in a commercial gallery
• Team player
• Eager to learn about the art world and gallery operations
• Detail-oriented; capable of prioritizing and executing multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
• Clear oral and written communication
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Creative problem solving
• Consistency and reliability
• Models a professional way of working
• Able to manage a busy workload and stay calm under pressure
• Computer skills: MS Office Suite and Salesforce

Salary: £34k-£37.5k

Start date: ASAP, in time for Art Basel (June)

Work Pattern: Monday-Friday, onsite, with one Saturday a month