6 types of tattoo studio clients: how to approach them?

Each one of us is made up of many different habits, character traits, and psychological traits.
By understanding this fact, you easily say that each of your clients is a world of its own.
The longer you work with them, the better you understand their expectations and needs. But how should you interact with new clients and learn not to make any mistakes in communication?

Completely different people will apply for your services, but as in every business you need to find a common language and approach to each of them. For example, you can divide your customers into specific types whose behavior patterns often overlap. Understanding the traits of this type can simplify the work of many tattoo studios in a significant way.
Not only can you avoid communication mistakes, but also offer your customers what they will love and encourage them to come back to you.

The most common way of dividing your customer base is to split them into psychological types based on the perception of information (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc.) You can read about this useful knowledge in dedicated psychological literature. However, in your work, you will most often come across "mixed types". Not only are their patterns of behaviors based on human nature, but also on the characteristics of social skills.

To help you comprehend what it looks like in real life, we have chosen the 6 most common types of tattoo studio clients to show you how to work with them in an appropriate matter.Reading this article will help you recognize a given type of customer, properly serve them, offer exactly what they are looking for and turn them into loyal and regular customers.

6 types of tattoo studio clients: how to approach them?

1."The Latecomer"

A customer who always can't make the appointment in time.
For this type of client, being late, even a few minutes, is almost a matter of honor. Their reasons for being late are always different: they cannot find a parking space, have been stuck at work, or simply forgot about the session. Of course, most of them don't do it out of spite; they are most likely to be too preoccupied, e.g. due to high employment. Unfortunately, the result of one client being late quite often is the reason for overlapping bookings, which are uncomfortable for the tattoo artist, client, and studio altogether.

You can avoid losses by overlapping bookings by implementing such solutions as:

eliminate the reasons for delays that may be dependent on you, e.g. if it's difficult to park next to the studio, think about how to make this task easier for customers
remind the client about the visit, e.g. call him in the morning to jog his memory about today's session. You can use an even simpler, automated version: set up an automatic notification system for your tattoo sessions. This way, each client that is registered in your studio will receive an automated SMS notification in advance of the planned visit. This method helps reduce late arrivals and no-shows by up to 50%.

2. "Hurry up, I got things to do..." - the impatient one

Some people want everything right here and right now: their time is very precious to them and they don't take into account the circumstances of others. If their visit has to be postponed, or even worse - rescheduled due to the other client being late, you can expect a scandal. However, with this type of clientele, tattoo studios must learn to work with ease and not take their rigor personally.
It's quite possible for them to be happy and relaxed by:

first, try to minimize the delay caused by customers, but also changes made by the studio; you can also save time by switching to a modern accounting and studio management system to avoid the frustration of waiting
second, prepare your studio for their visit, by making your waiting room nice and cozy

3."The scaredy-cat"

This kind of client is concerned and asks a lot of questions. It's very important for him that you give him a guarantee that he will receive a high-quality service with a flawless result. Most of them are beginner tattoo enthusiasts who come in for their first tattoo. It's important to understand that a client who's scared and asks a lot of questions, doesn't do that because he doesn't trust your studio, he does it because of his inner anxiety. There's no need for getting nervous, but it's important to reassure them and pass on the information they find crucial.
To save your time, do the following steps:

send detailed information, e.g. how to prepare for a tattoo session, and after the visit, provide all information regarding the aftercare, etc. Make sure that this information is within the reach of the client's hand
print out informational leaflets that explain your advice in detail. The client will be able to learn about the issues that concern him while making a tattoo appointment or while waiting.
set up a system of automatic notifications, so that the customer receives a reminder a day before his session. By doing so, the customer will know that you care for him and the whole service is professional.

4."The whiner" - permanently dissatisfied client

Sometimes it happens that the tattoo studio is visited by a client who tends towards being a non-stop complainer. During the visit, you may hear that it was either too cold in the room, or the music seemed too loud, and worst of all, he doesn't like the design of the prepared tattoo and wants it to be changed. Sooner or later, this type of clientele will show up in every studio, but rather than being afraid of them, try to understand where they're coming from and use their feedback to your advantage. Picky customers can be annoying, but they can also motivate you to improve the quality of your services. Moreover, these types of people can be really happy if you show that you have listened and taken their wishes into account. And if you can make even such a customer happy, then nothing will surprise you!
This client may surprise you with questions and mini-complaints, but try to use the following measures to avoid such situations:

find out in advance about allergies, contraindications, medical recommendations, and other characteristics of the client, and write this information down in your calendar
add even the most irrelevant observations to the customer's profile, such as what annoys him the most, e.g. too "chemical" smell of the product, high temperature in the room, etc. Before his visit, both the manager and tattoo artists should get acquainted with this information to make the clients time spent with them is most comfortable
set up an automated request for feedback to allow these types of customers the chance to speak

6. "Connoisseur" - the one that's fond of beauty

This type of client while visiting a tattoo studio always pays attention to details and can come back again and again if he likes the atmosphere and surroundings.
So how should you take care of this type of customer?

keep an eye on the atmosphere in the studio: remember about freshwater, offer tea or coffee, turn on pleasant music and ask if it suits him
skillfully approach designing the main areas where the client spends the most time: waiting rooms, reception areas, tattoo artists' workplaces - all of them should be visually pleasing and, above all - comfortable

6."Dream Customer ”- perfect in every way

The perfect client. He will always prefer your studio to others, tell his friends about you, and entrust you with a tattoo of any complexity. You feel comfortable with him and it is convenient for him to come to you. What's important to remember is that you can turn every client from the list above into the dream client!

No matter what type of customer you encounter, the most important thing you have to do is show understanding and respect their needs. Everyone loves high-quality service and a professional approach to their visit. Building trust and loyalty is a long road, but you have to go through it to remain afloat. Of course, it is impossible to take into account all the nuances by hand and remember them, but you don't have to do it alone!

You can put your trust in INKbusiness CRM to take care of the automation and control of the main processes. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. INKbusiness CRM will liberate your time to solve global problems and entirely automate the fulfillment of business goals to build long and happy relationships with customers. This program will help you increase customer loyalty and simplify important business processes:

gathering, storing, and analyzing customer information,
managing the studio's schedule
sending notifications and reminders to clients
planning future sessions
supervising the employees' work schedule and much more.

Thanks to our mobile application your employees will have a 24/7 insight into their calendar and you can rest assured and don't worry about any disruptions in your work. All customer data is always just a click away and the risk of being late and missing an appointment is significantly reduced thanks to automatic reminders. By having such a reliable assistant you can turn any customer into the dream customer in no time. Remember to always pay close attention to the needs of each client who visits your studio. Don't be afraid of even the most challenging people at first glance - thanks to an intelligent business approach you can turn them into loyal customers. Take into account the specifics of different types of clients that show up in tattoo studios described in this article, use modern tools for managing business processes, and, of course, love your clients - you won't have to wait long for the results!