- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
-
Just wanting to hear how u would go about speaking with a customer who may not fully trust your judgment. Like issues with a deeper skin tone and them hoping for really bright colors, or how a design will lay out on the skin, or issues with white ink, ect…. how would u hanndle it to insure comfort and trust, and of course still trying to give them the best of what they want within the realms of possibility.
-
This has become more of a problem since the airing of Miami Ink and all those other shows. Some clients now think that because they’ve seen a few episodes that they know more than we do about something we eat, live and breathe (and study and all that happy stuff).
I’m not sure exactly what situation your question pertains to.
Is it a matter of them wanting a tattoo you don’t want to do?
Is it a cover up that won’t cover?
Is it a significant other’s name or portrait?All I can say is that it’s not up to us to decide for the client what they get tattooed although there are tattoos I refuse to do, specifically gang stuff and swastikas. They have their own ‘artists’ for that shit. I honestly don’t care if they get those tattoos or not… I just don’t want to be in such close proximity to that kind of ignorance for any period of time.
Aside from that…
Most of us can point to our portfolio and body of work to back up what we’re saying and our experience gives us the confidence to appear absolutely sure that we know what will and will not work as a tattoo or cover up.
The ‘phrase’ “The customer is always right.” Does not apply here, at least as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t. But it’s hard when they’re dead set on a yellow tweetie bird to cover that hack-ass kanji they got in college. With some of them you can explain that yellow pigment will not cover black pigment because a ‘cover’ doesn’t actually cover the old tattoo, you’re only adding ink to it.
The same goes with people who have dark skin. While melanin is not a tattoo pigment it does contribute directly to the color of one’s skin. I’ve been called outright racist by some folks for refusing to do tweetie bird (literally) on them, in color, because after healing it would be a mess. I’ve also had people-of-color come back after healing complaining that the colors in their tattoo disappeared… which is exactly what I warned them would happen.
Some clients you just can’t help.
Again I’m not sure what you’re scenario is so here are a few:
Customer wants a tattoo that would be a great tattoo but they want it too small. You sit and stencil it small losing detail only to find out that they want all the detail, but they also want it to fit on a quarter. (roughly 1 inch diameter). Now you have to determine why this is an issue:
Are they concerned about the price of a bigger tattoo? Well, if you really want to do the tattoo you can work with them on the price and make the customer happy by doing the tattoo just big enough to make the detail work and meet the price point. Although, some shop owners are dead set on ‘minimum’ rates and all that happy horse shit… so you have that to take into consideration as well.
Are the concerned that someone might see the tattoo? This is common with first timers. They want the tattoo for whatever their reason is, but they don’t want, mom or dad or significant other to see it (where the hell do you put a tattoo so that someone who sees you naked can’t see it???). Again, there’s wiggle room here. See if they want to move the tattoo into a ‘bikini’ area… or someplace no one else wants to look (assuming, of course, that you’re willing to tattoo those spots).
Are they just an obstinate fuck? In this case you have two options… refuse the tattoo (again, some owners have problems with this) or warn them of the consequences and perform the tattoo anyway.Customer wants text/script but it’s spelled incorrectly: Simple answer… show them the proper spelling. If they still want the tattoo you can refuse… or do the tattoo.
Customer wants to cover a tattoo, or worse… ‘fix’ (usually means they want the same tattoo done again on top of the fuck up they already have… and they expect what it should have been in the first place) the tattoo they have. This issues here can be similar to the first example in that their concern could be about cost, or the size of the tattoo. You can address those issues the same way as the first examples.
The other issue is ignorance… they don’t know how covers or ‘fixes’ work… and… it’s up to you to use your extensive knowledge to educate them.
Assuming you’ve educated them, tried to work with them and been confident and pleasant in your delivery… and they still refuse to cooperate and want the tattoo nightmare they’re forcing you to consider you have (once again) two options. Either tell them to kick rocks (fuck off, beat it, see ya) or do the tattoo.
Here’s the hook. You can do a great tattoo and they’ll tell a friend or two, but if you do what they consider to be a bad tattoo… they’ll tell everyone. This is why word-of-mouth can be bad or good… and bad opinions travel faster. Consider this before you decide to do the tattoo unless you’re able to refuse it. If you do the tattoo they want, the one they’ve been arguing for… and they don’t like it, they’ll blame it on you.
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Recent Comments