They say inspiration comes from the strangest places, and you never know when it will hit. Well, I happened to spend a few hours last weekend in a tattoo shop, and re-learned a few key marketing communications strategy principles. (Some of which I have covered here before!)
- Be available. I had to look around for a new shop after learning that it would be almost a year to get in to see my regular guy (after sitting on the design for a year already, I wasn’t interested in waiting that much longer). After checking the available places in my city and checking out portfolios and reviews, I reached out to a few to get an idea of their timeline for booking. Out of the six I contacted, one got back to me within a few hours, one got back to me the next day, and I have yet to hear from the other four.So, I went with the one who got back to me within a few hours, right? Sadly, no. After calling and getting hung up on (“put on hold”), and then emailing a response, I didn’t hear back from them again. But the shop that got back to me the next day both returned my call and responded to email.
PHOTO: Tattoomachineequipment.com - Know your business. This is not my first tattoo. Nor is it my second. However, I still appreciate receiving the basic education that comes with each. Both the person on the counter and the artist herself were capable of discussing the process and what was expected of me, in-depth, and in an understandable way.
- (closely related) Know your customer. I wasn’t nervous (again, I’ve done this before several times), but the gentleman who was at the station next to me was getting his first tattoo. Between joking, learning more about him, and talking to him through those key first few minutes, his artist had him calm and laughing through what he had been sweating over only minutes before. She’d never met him before, had never spoken to him except a half hour or so earlier when she started work on his stencil, but she was able to soothe his nerves and make his first experience under the gun at least not unpleasant. He was still smiling when I left.
- Know your options. The original placement plan for this most recent tattoo is not where it wound up being placed. Why? The person on the counter had gotten ink there, and shared with me the story of how slow it is to heal, how uncomfortable, and how she wouldn’t have done it again. With her counsel and that of the artist, I was able to make the decision to slightly change the placement to speed healing and ensure that I was happy with the final product. As it is already healed and good to go, I can tell you that I am one happy customer! Moreover, given the type of tattoo I was given, the choices in artists available allowed me to make an informed decision as to whose style was best for the design. The artists allowed me to make that decision without any pressure and with input only as needed to show additional portfolio works.
- Don’t be afraid to advise! I have a relative who will be turning 18 shortly, and I promised him we’d get him a tattoo for his birthday. The only caveat is that I hold veto over any design he chooses. I was discussing this with the artist as she worked on my design, and told her a few of the items my relative was thinking of. To the one that I am least enamoured of, her response was: “Can you talk him out of that one?” As the person providing a service and being paid for it, she could have just nodded and not provided any personal input. Just taken the money and let him regret the design as he gets older. However, sometimes the happiest repeat customers are the ones that you cater to the least and are most honest with.
- Bonus – Know where your responsibility ends. As witnessed by any number of websites from all over the world, there are a lot of misspelled tattoos and phrases missing whole words. In some cases, that’s the responsibility of the artist. But more often than not, they’re copying the text direct from artwork provided by the customer. And as it is on the customers body for something approximating forever, the final responsibility lies with them to ensure that the text is accurate.
A huge thank you to Amanda at The Art House for such a fantastic experience.
(Melissa Zoller, MHz Consulting)
Communic8 in Ink 