Getting your client to sign here, here, here, here, and here on their consent form doesn’t protect you like it should.
The first place an angry (or even mildly disappointed) client will target you is on your business pages and Google Reviews.
Unfairly, there is nothing you can do to take their one-sided opinion down or reverse their negative star rating.
Sure, you can comment to defend yourself but the damage is already done and your rating has gone down.
You could be the best cosmetic tattoo artist this side of Tweed Heads but there will still be challenges that result in your client not-getting the result they wanted, or as you intended.
Matters beyond your control can effect the healed outcome of your work, and there will always be that one client where ink won’t hold, or the shape takes on a mind of it’s own.
These problems are likely to be caused by underlying factors going on within the client’s skin, health or lifestyle.
But blaming your client really doesn’t solve anything, does it?
The only way to stop unfortunate circumstances from reaching the eager eyes of the prospective clients scrolling your Google page for bad reviews, is to prevent the bad review from ever happening.
If your work is genuinely substandard, or if you are a microblader (causing damage), then you should prioritise upskilling before anything else. This article is not intended to help bandaid ‘mistakes’. Reach out to us at Academy of Future Aestheticà if you need help with improving, that’s what we are here for.
So here is how to stop bad reviews from happening to great artists….
1. Manage your client’s expectations
Our consultation is a finely-tuned powerhouse process designed to:
- Break down their deep-seeded fears; Clients think we are magic because we already know their fears without them telling us.
- Breaking down fears builds trust!
- Advise the risks. With our careful, proven tattooing processes, the worst thing that can happen is the results may heal too light (but this will be perfected in the touch-up).
- Prepare your client for the worst; their new tattoo will be too dark for 1-2 weeks.
- Discuss their goals and make them feel heard.
- Recommend a technique option that will achieve their goals, and custom colour blend.
- Explain the process and why the client is safe; “First we draw, shape and precisely measure, you have to love it before we proceed”. “Colour is custom blended to suit your natural tones”
A prime example:
My client has little tadpole eyebrows with no natural hair on their tail, but they want to restore the tails and fill out their brow shape to a more modern, fuller, fluffy look.
I map up and draw in the desired shape. My next step is crucial..
I place a mirror in my client’s hand and show them the blank spaces within the new shape, I say
“Your natural hair is above the skin, it is three dimensional. The tattooing will heal under the skin, which is one dimensional.
At first, while the skin is still open and healing, the colour will blend with your natural hair (although will be too dark during this healing phase). However, once healed, there is nothing we can do to change the contrasting placement of hair above and tattoo under the skin.
There is likely to be a disconnection in colour as a result of this, it will never harmoniously blend as we would like it to, and you will need to whip over your brows with some product (pencil, powder or pomade) to make it blend.
The great news is that your life is going to be so much easier because the shape will already be there for you to use as a template to easily follow with product”.
Pauses for effect…
“Are you still happy to proceed?”
These are the game-changing words that will ensure your client has a realistic expectation of how their brows will heal.
It is not the client’s fault if at first they have unrealistic expectations about what the tattooing can achieve, and it’s not unusual for a client to incorrectly assume that tattooing their eyebrows means;
- They will never need pencil or tint again
- Feathering will fill in the gaps (feathering IS gaps, silly)
- A tattoo on the face is like a tattoo on the body and should last forever
- Microblading is not a tattoo
- All cosmetic tattooing is called microblading
- Where there is no natural hair, the tattooing will look like real hair
- Tattooing can be 3D
- The face is a perfectly symmetrical, flat piece of paper
- Naturally black eyebrows means that they should be tattooed black
- Ombrè eyebrows will look too dark and unnatural
- We want to give them Kim Kardashian eyebrows
I’m sure you’ve heard clients express a few of these exact misconceptions.
Here is an example of the exact consultation we deliver consistently, every time.
2. Have a complaints process in place
Whether you are a team or a solo artist, it is essential to have a process in place on how to deal with negative or constructive feedback.
Our process is a set of clear steps that any member of our team must follow ‘to the T’ when a complaint is received.
The process does not include a magical solution to the actual problem itself, however, the carefully constructed system ensures the client feels heard and provides them with assurance that action is being taken and solutions will be offered.
3. Provide a written or visual flyer of the healing process included with their aftercare instructions
And never forget to include the ‘disappearing ink’ disclaimer that explains why their stunning new cosmetic tattoos suddenly fade to almost-nothing after the scabs come off.
There are some excellent, explainer memes with happy, scared, smily and angry faces that perfectly depict the expected emotional roller coaster that inevitably follows when one has their face tattooed.
In conclusion….
Integrate these three essential steps, along with actually providing great service, and of course doing your dilligence with ensuring skin suitability, and you will never receive a bad Google review.
There are unfortunate exceptions to this rule, such as melicious slander, or maybe someone being disappointed by appointment scheduling or your deposits and refunds policy. But this kind of issue falls under disputing the ‘Terms of Service’, which we will deep dive into next time.
P.S. if you need any help with fine tuning your processes, please reach out to us at Future Aestheticà, we are here for you.
With love,
Talina Johnson
Founder & Head Educator, Future Aestheticà | Director, My Rejuvenate
