A tattoo is a cherished piece of art that resides on customers’ bodies for the rest of their lives. As such, mistakes are highly abhorred and can result in a lost customer, reduced revenues, and in the worst-case scenario, a lawsuit.

However, if you are an experienced artist with a clean studio and follow the best work ethics, there is nothing to worry about. There are common tattoo mistakes artists make that you may want to familiarize yourself with. Let’s discuss a few.

Common mistakes tattoo artists and piercing studios make

Here is a rundown of costly mistakes tattoo shop owners make:

• Little to no proper communication

In the world of tattoos, communication is the key to avoiding permanent flubs. Artists need to engage their clients from all angles possible to ensure they understand the nature of their tattoos. Those that demand to be inked in sensitive areas should be forewarned about the pain they will experience.

There are also incidents where customers ask for a tattoo that represents them now but not later in the future. While you can’t override their opinions if they insist on going ahead with the chosen design, it’s sensible to remind them that time-bound tats will be irrelevant in the future.

• Failing to research the meaning behind a tattoo

It’s common for customers to request tattoo symbols and designs from foreign languages. Sadly, many don’t know what the tattoo quote, symbol, or design stands for. Some don’t even get the spelling right, and in the end, they blame the artist.

Therefore, while you may not have all the time in the world to unearth the meaning behind every tattoo, it’s highly recommended that you try to do so. An artist who is dedicated to finding; if a quote is spelled right or helping customers understand the meaning behind certain tattoos can save both themselves and clients nasty experiences.

• Failing to ask for help and direction

Tattoo professionals in areas with many shops can feel immense pressure to outshine their competitors. The problem is such stiff competition can come with pride-one that blinds an artist from seeking help from their fellows. The result? Costly mistakes that dig into their revenues.

The truth is, everyone makes mistakes sometimes-including the pros, and we can’t possibly know everything. So, if you cannot do a certain design better, ask someone else to take over as they walk you through every step of the way.

• Stealing tattoo designs

Have you ever seen two unrelated people with the same tattoo design? It’s uncommon, right? There are too many tattoo designs artists can resort to for inspiration. However, blatantly stealing other people’s designs and using them on your customers is tantamount to copyright infringement. A lawsuit against your shop will damage its reputation.

• Offensive inking

Did you know that some of your customers can knowingly or unknowingly request offensive tattoos? Anything that clashes with cultures promotes hate and bears symbols from extremist societies, political warfare, or slavery are considered offensive.

Tattoos designs that are sacred to a particular religion or display graphic sexual content can be deemed awfully wrong. So any tattoo artist promoting illegal body art is likely to get themselves in hot soup. If not, their shops will be painted in a bad light, which puts potential clients off.

• Not following up with your customer’s recovery or next visit

Business needs both existing and new customers to future-proof itself against uncertainties. Unfortunately, some tattoo artists would completely forget their customers when they are out of the shop. They don’t even request email or contact details for retargeting campaigns.

It’s important to get into the habit of reaching out to your clients to inquire about their healing progress. You can offer additional tattoo aftercare tips where necessary. Doing this makes customers feel cared for and could easily come back for another session.

• Not getting enough training

Some people are born naturally artistic. Well, lucky for them. Some settle for the basics and ignore the vast pool of tattoo training resources online. There are new tattoo trends, designs, and styles that keep cropping up. Missing out on them puts your shop at a huge disadvantage-especially if your competitors are always learning and growing.

• Not using the latest equipment

A fast-growing tattoo business franchise can bring with it new, unexpected management woes. Quite strangely, some tattoo artists work their butts off believing that they are working hard and progressing towards a better future.

Here’s what you don’t know; it’s easier to get lost in the daily mundane tasks like client booking, customer management, reviews gathering, staff performance, and daily profit analysis. You will spread yourself thin and become ineffective if you have to handle all that. It’s also imperative to have a set of tattoo consent forms hosted digitally or offline, to protect your business in case of disputes or any other tattoo-related concerns of clients.

To streamline daily manual transactions and free up more time on your schedule, use a  powerful cloud tattoo software. They will automate some tasks to attend to the things that move the needle.

Wrap up

While making mistakes is part of running every business, some can be costly, and it’s important to avoid them as much as possible. As a professional, if you find yourself in the wrong, be responsible and make things right. This could include compensating the client by fixing up a bad tattoo, covering it, or removing it entirely.

Striving to make customers happy even after a mistake will considerably reduce your business’s number of negative reviews. And as such, your online ratings will ultimately attract more clients to your shop.

Just one more thing; make sure to politely reply to all the negative feedback and where possible, reschedule them for a free or massively discounted package. Happy inking sessions.

Author Bio: Ashley Johnson drives content strategy at TattooPro.io, a cutting-edge cloud-based software solution for tattoo studios. She’s inspired by the hustle of the artists to create more.