This time I want to start by telling you that I’ve recently been watching the Latest Season of Black Mirror. That got me thinking about the shows near-future dystopias and themes of technology and media and how it uses both to comment on contemporary social issues. It also inspired me to ask this question and suggest a (not too) ridiculous answer.
In reality, the laborer belongs to capital before he has sold himself to capital. His economic bondage is both brought about and concealed by the periodic sale of himself, by his change of masters, and by the oscillation in the market price of labor power. – ― Karl Marx, Das Kapital
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I have a long held belief that Tattooing is NOT a service. We sell art for money. But many of you would strongly disagree. In fact there is currently a petition in Washington state to get Tattooing legally classified as a service and not retail. The petition argues; “We, tattoo artists, sell our time as a service to produce a finish product on skin and or to create a design, not for consumption, nor resale, and is not by definition a retail product.”
The Florida Tattoo Academy, who’s mission statement is; “To prepare the next generation of creative professionals for a future in the art of tattooing.” says this about working with clients – “The best tattoo artists know how to work with any client. Like with any profession, tattoo artist personalities will vary widely between each individual, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
However, each of them must learn to adapt to all the varying personalities they encounter in their clients. It can be a challenge at certain times, but if you want to know how to be a great tattoo artist, it starts with never turning away clients.”
Cast in this ‘customer service’ light, we as tattooists are expected to adapt and deliver exceptional customer service to every client regardless of their request and or behaviour towards us. Because the customer is always right, right?
“The customer is always right”.
The phrase which gave Joe Public license to complain about everything and forced workers to accept the inevitability of being emotionally trampled on 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. We cannot argue, refuse or suggest anything to our ‘always right’ clients for fear of negative comments about us online, the inevitable Google revenge review or the snatching back of money paid via paypal.
Paypal almost always sides with the customer and issues a refund of a clearly stated non-refundable deposit regardless of what you say to the contrary.
Say ‘no’ in any way and you can expect to be dragged thru the mud, hauled into the spotlight and have all your inadequacies displayed and examined. You become this weeks punchline for the world to laugh at. All with no right to reply.
Say ‘no’ and you can expect to be treated with all of the contempt afforded to a barista who accidentally served full and not half fat milk in ‘always rights’ morning latte. It’s having a negative affect on all of us. Especially those coming to the industry during these ultra competitive times.
If we’re a service industry, then we could change the way we do business.
Building and keeping customer loyalty is important for our businesses. Our reputation both on and offline is vital to our survival and anything that jeopardises it is a cause of enormous stress. But the ‘playing field’ isn’t level. We have to protect our reputations at all costs and find ourselves – essentially – slaves to every whim and mad request made of us by our clients. The fear of saying ‘no’ and getting ‘flamed’ online is simply to great.
All the time our clients have no such fears. Keyboard warriors can slink back into the shadows after spouting all kinds of vile, untrue shit about us without any fear of repercussions. Our clients are always right and they know it. They have all the power and we are merely servers. Tasked with making every minute detail of their lives into art. And God help us if we get it wrong!
Leveling the playing field.
But their could be hope. Some relatively young companies — Uber, Airbnb, and OpenTable — understand that reputation can cuts both ways and have stirred up controversy by rating customers, as the Harvard Business Review noted.
Any time you get a ride from an Uber driver, stay at the place of someone affiliated with Airbnb, or get a meal with a reservation through OpenTable, you’re future as a customer is in the hands of those who serve you. The idea is that a level playing field, where consistently bad customers receive low ratings and therefore potentially risk not being able to use the service – changes the ‘customer is always right, now serve me even though I’m being a dick’ dynamic. And it works.
For instance, one Uber driver with 7000 rides won’t pick up cutomers with a below a 4.5 rating. He had this to say;
“Anything under 4.5 tells me you’re a problem. I don’t get paid enough to deal with problems. Learn to be respectful to drivers. We are human beings. Not your personal slaves. Speak to us the way you wish to be spoken to”.
If we provide a service then it’s not that dissimilar to Uber. With Uber you get into someones private car, their space, and your behaviour during the ride is very important to them and future Uber drivers to know. We spend hours providing a personal service to our clients in our space – our studios and if we are a service industry then I think we should have similar protections to Uber drivers.
Imagine for a second a world where ALL tattoo clients worldwide had to register on an App to even get a tattoo. Once registered they would be given an initial rating. That rating would then go up and down based on their reviews by the tattooists who tattoo them.
“Stunk, shook all day like a shitting dog and did nothing but complain” 1 Star
“Changed the artwork at the last minute and didn’t mention the cover up” 1 Star
“Turned up with the entire family and had a ‘domestic’ right in the middle of the shop” 1 Star
If clients had a rating that tattooists could request and check prior to booking? Just like the aforementioned Uber driver, we could set a low limit ‘no tattoo client with a rating of below 4.5’ as a barrier to entry. This would ensure better clients and keep everyone honest and courteous if everyone was suddenly held to the same standard and risked their reputation and access to the service in future if they misbehave. I rate you, you rate me. Seems fair.
In that Black Mirror version of a tattoo future rating customers makes a lot of sense, and it’s not exactly new. For years leading companies have ranked customers in a number of ways, whether by lifetime value, net promoter score, or some other metric. And there are many benefits to your business and, by extension, your mental health.
Understand customer value
Customer relationships are important. Bringing in and keeping business is important. But so is profitability. There are people who will be a burden on your company because of the amount of attention they demand in relation to what they spend. Servicing them could cost you a lot more time, unnecessary stress, and subsequently more wasted money than what you could earn.
Discover developing problems
The information you can gather through rating customers can help you discover unexpected problems, such as processes that fall short or the engendering of unreasonable expectations.
Find trends to improve
Discovering problems is important, but so is finding what works well. While you act to discourage the former, you want to encourage the latter.
Know which to let go
Not all customers are people you want to do business with. For example, if they cause you to spend far more in addressing their concerns than they return in purchases and don’t offer some additional significant benefit.
A rating system for clients would allow us all to see them in the way they see us. If we are to be reduced to merely servants then I think it’s perfectly to reduce them to a simple Burden vs. Profitability equation. Are you worth me serving? Do you pay well? Do you have a 5 star rating?
Of course, just like Black Mirror, none of this will ever happen (right?) . But it does raise some important questions about who we’re telling our clients we are. And what we are not is servants. The entire point of becoming a tattooist for almost all of us was a desire for freedom. Customer service slavery is NOT freedom. It’s imperative to understand and deliver customer expectations and at the same time sticking to your guns, doing business your way and not being slaves to them.
Back in the Real World.
Doing good Business is core to us all, but not at the cost of being a slave. Customers must also understand, it’s a two-way road. Saying ‘NO’ is the most difficult act in any aspect of life. But it is indispensable for success and growth.
Building a stature for your company in a manner that customers understand that you have the right to say ‘NO’ is imperitive to your business and your mental health, long term. Customers being told ‘NO’ and remaining happy, loyal customers is not a myth. Believe me. Its all about communication and marketing yourself as a productand not a service provider. F
Maintaining a good relationship with your customers is all it takes for a successful business to run. But the relationship has to based on a mutual respect and understanding for each other.
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