Managing Contacts and Commission Inquiries
5 min read
If you're managing clients in Instagram DMs, tracking commission details in a notes app, and losing track of who asked for what — you're not alone. Most artists piece together their client relationships from scattered messages and mental notes until something falls through the cracks.
Fine Art Form's Contacts gives you a single, organized home for every person in your professional network: buyers, galleries, curators, commission clients, and press contacts. This guide shows you how to use it.
Why a Contact System Matters for Artists
Your network is one of your most valuable professional assets. But it only works if you can actually use it when you need it.
Without a contact system, artists typically:
- Lose track of inquiry details between first message and delivery
- Forget the source or context of a relationship ("where did we meet again?")
- Miss follow-up opportunities after shows or exhibitions
- Struggle to reconstruct sales history for tax or provenance purposes
- Have no organized way to reach out when new work is available
Fine Art Form's Contacts solves all of these — and ties directly into your invoicing, so your full client relationship is in one place.
Your Contacts Dashboard
Go to Contacts in the main navigation. You'll see:
- Total Contacts — everyone in your network
- Buyers — contacts marked as collectors or buyers
- A searchable, filterable list of all contacts
From here you can search by name or email, filter by contact type, and add new contacts. Your tags show up as filter options once you create them.
Adding a Contact
When someone reaches out — via your portfolio contact form, at a show, through Instagram — add them immediately. The longer you wait, the more context you lose.
To add a contact:
- Click + New Contact from the Contacts page
- Fill in what you know:
Basic Information
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| First / Last Name | Required |
| Primary contact method | |
| Phone | Useful for commission clients and gallery relationships |
| Collector | Check this to flag them as a buyer — they'll appear in your Buyers count |
Professional Information
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Role | Contact, Collector, Gallery, Curator, Press/Media, Institution, or Other |
| Organization | Gallery name, museum, company |
| Job Title | Director, Curator, Collector, etc. |
| Their handle — useful for artists who use Instagram professionally | |
| Website | Portfolio or gallery site |
| Source | How you met — "art fair," "studio visit," "portfolio website," "referral from Jane" |
The Source field is underrated. Three years from now, you won't remember how you connected — but it matters when you're deciding whether to follow up and how warm the relationship is.
Address
Shipping address for artwork delivery, needed for invoicing and provenance documentation.
- Click Save Contact
Tip: Add contacts even when you only have partial info. A name and email is enough to get started — you can fill in the rest later.
Organizing with Tags
Tags let you group contacts any way that makes sense for your practice. Unlike roles (which are a fixed list), tags are completely custom.
Common tag strategies:
| Tag | What it tracks |
|---|---|
VIP Collector |
Your most active buyers — prioritize these for studio visits and first previews |
Commission Client |
Anyone with an active or past commission |
Gallery |
Your gallery relationships separate from commercial contacts |
Show Invite |
People to notify for openings and events |
Follow Up |
Someone who expressed interest but didn't buy — needs a check-in |
On Mailing List |
Recipients for your studio newsletter |
To create a tag:
- Go to Contacts → 🏷️ Manage Tags
- Enter a tag name and pick a color
- Click + Create Tag
To assign tags to a contact: Edit the contact and select tags from the tag section of the form.
Strategy: Create tags proactively before a show or exhibition. Tag everyone you meet that day, and you'll have an organized list ready for follow-up while the connection is still warm.
Logging Interactions
This is the feature that turns a contact list into a real relationship management tool.
Every time you have a meaningful interaction with a contact — an inquiry, a studio visit, a sale discussion, a commission conversation — log it. This creates a timestamped record of your entire relationship history.
To log an interaction:
- Open a contact
- Go to the Interactions tab
- Click + Add Interaction
- Choose a type (Meeting, Call, Email, Note, Sale, Commission)
- Add a subject and notes
- Click Save
What to log and why:
| Interaction | What to record |
|---|---|
| First inquiry | What they asked about, what they were looking for, budget range if mentioned |
| Commission discussion | Subject matter, size, timeline, price agreed, deposit amount |
| Studio visit | What they were drawn to, what they expressed interest in |
| Sale | What sold, for how much, any discount or payment plan discussed |
| Follow-up call | What was said, what the next step is |
| Delivery | When work was received, any notes about the exchange |
For commissions: Log every meaningful conversation. "We agreed on 24×36, oils, coastal subject, $1,800 with 50% deposit by March 1" in an interaction note is worth its weight in gold if there's ever any ambiguity later.
Managing Commission Inquiries
Commissions come in through multiple channels — your portfolio contact form, Instagram DMs, email, in-person at shows. Here's how to handle them consistently in Fine Art Form.
Step 1: Create the contact record immediately
The moment a commission inquiry comes in, add the person to Contacts if they're not already there. Use the Commission Client tag so you can find all active commissions quickly.
Step 2: Log the inquiry as your first interaction
Add an interaction note with everything from the first message:
- What they want (subject, size, medium)
- Their timeline
- Their budget or what they're expecting to pay
- Any reference images or notes they shared
- Source (your portfolio form, Instagram, referral)
This is your paper trail from day one.
Step 3: Log the commission agreement
Once you've agreed on the details, add a second interaction: Commission confirmed. Include:
- Final dimensions and medium
- Subject and any reference materials agreed upon
- Total price
- Deposit amount and due date
- Delivery date or estimated timeline
- Any revision terms you discussed
Step 4: Create an invoice when the deposit is due
Link the invoice to the contact record:
- Go to Sales → New Invoice (or from the artwork once it's in your catalog)
- In the Link to Contact field, select the commission client
- Set up the invoice for the deposit amount (not the full amount)
- Send it
The invoice is now connected to the contact, and you can see the full financial picture in one place.
Step 5: Log milestones as you work
Commission work takes time. Log check-ins:
- "Sent progress photo — client approved direction"
- "Revised sketch, awaiting feedback"
- "Completed underpainting, on track for delivery date"
This creates a defensible record if anything is disputed and shows you operated professionally at every stage.
Step 6: Invoice the balance on delivery
When the work is ready:
- Create the second invoice for the remaining balance
- Link it to the same contact
- Include care instructions and any provenance notes in the invoice
- Send it, then mark it paid when you receive the funds
- Log a final interaction: "Delivered and paid in full"
Filtering and Finding Contacts
As your network grows, findability matters.
Search: Type any part of a name or email address — the list updates as you type.
Filter by role: Use the filter dropdown to show only Collectors, Galleries, Press contacts, etc.
Filter by tag: Your custom tags appear as filter options — click "Commission Client" to see only active commission relationships.
Sort: Contacts sort by most recently added by default. Use the sort options to find alphabetically or by role.
When Someone Fills Out Your Portfolio Contact Form
When a visitor submits your portfolio's contact form, their inquiry arrives in your Contacts as a new record (or gets matched to an existing contact if their email is already in your list).
You'll get an email notification with the message content. From there:
- Open the contact in Fine Art Form
- Log their inquiry as an interaction — this starts the paper trail
- Tag them if appropriate (
Follow Up,Commission Client, etc.) - Respond however you prefer (email, phone — Fine Art Form doesn't send your reply)
Turn inquiries into opportunities: Most artists respond to portfolio inquiries and then lose track of them. By logging every inquiry in Contacts, you build a follow-up list automatically. A "Follow Up" tag plus a periodic review of tagged contacts can meaningfully improve your conversion rate.
Connecting Contacts to Invoices
Every invoice you create can be linked to a contact. This is the bridge between your relationship history and your financial records.
To link an invoice to a contact: When creating or editing an invoice, select the contact from the Link to Contact dropdown.
Once linked, you can see all invoices for a collector in one place — useful for:
- Checking payment history before extending payment terms
- Preparing for a studio visit ("let me see what they've bought and for how much")
- Year-end reporting by collector relationship
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fine Art Form send emails to my contacts? No — Fine Art Form stores your contact records and interaction history, but it doesn't send communications on your behalf (except invoices, which you explicitly send). All communication happens through your own email or phone.
What's the difference between the "Collector" checkbox and the "Collector" role? The checkbox flags the contact for your Buyers count on the dashboard — a quick metric of how many buyers are in your network. The Role dropdown is for filtering and categorization. You can check both, or use them independently.
Can I import existing contacts? If you have an existing list in a spreadsheet, you can add contacts in bulk — check Settings → Import for the CSV import option. Match columns to Fine Art Form's format and you can bring in hundreds of records at once.
Can I share a Viewing Room directly with a contact? Yes — copy the Viewing Room share link and send it to any contact via email. Fine Art Form doesn't send the link for you, but the Viewing Room is designed to be shareable without requiring the recipient to log in. See Setting Up Viewing Rooms for Collectors →.
How do I handle a commission that falls apart?
Log it as an interaction: "Commission cancelled — [reason]." Remove the Commission Client tag and add a new one if appropriate (Past Interest, etc.). Keep the record — a cancelled commission today may come back as a sale in a year.
Should I add everyone I've ever sold to? Yes. Past buyers are your warmest leads for future purchases. Add them, mark them as Collectors, and make sure you have their shipping address and email. They're the first people to notify when new work is available.
What's Next?
With your contacts organized and your commission workflow documented:
- Invoice commission deposits and balances — Tracking Sales and Sending Invoices →
- Share work privately with collectors — Setting Up Viewing Rooms for Collectors →
- Generate professional catalogs for galleries — Creating Artwork Reports and Catalogs →
Need more help? Browse all guides or contact our team.