The customer is always right."
Unfortunately, this golden rule of retailing sometimes gets lost in the everyday hustle and bustle of the busy airbrush T-shirt shop, especially at this time of year when the shop is often at its busiest and patience is at its shortest. The long hours standing at the easel; the seemingly mindless questions we're asked—how can we cope?

It's sometimes hard to know that we are doing everything we can to ensure that a customer's visit to our shop will be a positive one. But the bottom line is, we must!

Every shop is dependent to some degree on repeat customers. Hometown shops are more dependent than shops in resorts or setups at fairs and festivals, but any customer who returns to make a second purchase—no matter how rare that may be—is an asset that we cannot afford to lose.

I have been writing for Airbrush Action for nearly seven years, and for the past three I've had an article in just about every issue. I get a lot of feedback from T-shirt airbrushers who read these columns, and I recognize that this is one of the most important subjects to deal with if we are going to improve our bottom line and our skills as business operators.

I mention this because I'm going to preach a little on the subject of the T-shirt airbrush artist's attitude and how it relates to the customer. This is a touchy subject, but I ask that you indulge me for a few minutes and read on.

I'll start out by saying that I am, like you, a T-shirt airbrush artist, and I have felt like jumping over my front counter and strangling more than one customer in my 20 years of painting T-shirts. Lucky, I never acted on that impulse!

I am also a T-shirt airbrush artist who, in the early stages of my career, had an ego so big that you could drive a semi truck through it. I thought I was Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo all rolled into one. Sound familiar?

Except for the few exceptions, I'm sure we've all been there to some degree. The problem is that some of us are still there.

It's hard as artists not to have egos, and it's hard not to be sensitive about the artwork that we create. But we need a little reality check sometimes. After all, we paint T-shirts—not the Sistine Chapel!

It's often necessary to try and under- stand how our customers perceive what we do. That is our ultimate reality. Some of our customers look to us to create a dream vision on a garment. Others want a business logo painted on 15 shirts. Still others want us to paint a quickie shirt as a nuisance gift they feel they have to buy for a neighbor kid's birthday.

Some customers are very interested in the process and will stay and watch, telling you it looks like magic and how great an artist you are; others walk away, seemingly disinterested in the entire affair while complaining about how long it takes to get a shirt painted.

We must never lose sight of the fact that our customers are buying shirts from us for many different reasons, and we can't expect all—or even any—of our customers to put us on a pedestal simply because of the talent we possess.

But sometimes we do, and this is where our ego gets in the way. We must exert great effort to keep our ego at bay and have the satisfaction of knowing that in the end, all of our customers are paying for our talent, and as commercial artists, that's all that should really matter to us.

The attitude that we convey to our customer is probably the first impression they will have of us outside of the design display. It's important that we establish the proper rapport with our customers from our very first minute with them.

Generally, the artist has the upper hand. But you must realize that ultimately, the customers must feel that they are in control.

An elementary example might work like this. A customer is inspecting your display. Never start out by saying, "Can I help you?" because the customer's response to that overused phrase is generally, "No!" Instead, greet your customer by saying, "Hello. Are there any questions I can answer about airbrushing for you?"

Once that engaging first contact is made, questions can be asked and answered. If your display is done right, there shouldn't be many questions or much confusion about price. I've always believed that all airbrush shops should be required to display prices. Establishing a definite price for a particular design will go a long way toward giving the customer some idea of how much the finished product should cost.

At West Coast Airbrush shops, our basic $3 to $15 standard designs will not vary in price, but the others are somewhat negotiable.

Be flexible with your prices for custom work. Try to understand that the customer will very rarely see the value in a piece of custom T-shirt artwork. This is another reality that we all deal with.

When your customer balks about something being too expensive, rather than getting upset and copping an attitude, simply say, "You understand that this custom design is done in a way that is very time-consuming and to the highest standards, but if you would like some- thing like it for less. I'm sure we can work something out." The bottom line is, don't start an argument about why something costs what it costs. The customer who balks at a price will never understand anyway.

Another example is a customer who, after ordering a shirt, returns to pick it up. After inspecting the shirt the customer might say, "Hmph—it doesn't look like the one on display" or perhaps "That doesn't look like a J on Judy!"

As airbrushers, we cringe when a customer says something like that. Still, we can't lose our cool or let our feelings be hurt. The trick at this point is to not take anything personally.

I can hear myself now in my early days trying to explain why I used a different color blue than was on the display or saying something like, "Well, I painted that display two years ago, and I don't make my J's like that anymore. I'm sorry! What do you want me to do about it?"

Nothing works short of painting the shirt over again, this time paying close attention to the display and getting it to match. If it's a custom job, do it over and try your best to address what the customer was complaining about.

Is doing it over tough? You bet it is! But hardly anything else you might do to fix the situation will come as close to satisfying your customer.

At West Coast Airbrush, our policy is that if a customer is dissatisfied with a shirt for any reason, we will offer either to refund the customer's money or to repaint the shirt once. We explain to the customer that all of the artwork is individually painted by hand, not produced by machine, and we will do our best, but sometimes our best will never be good enough.

If the customer decides to have us redo the shirt rather than take a refund, when we redo the shirt, that's it. If the person still doesn't like it the second time, there is no refund, nor will we paint it a third time. Make sure it's perfectly clear to your customer that you will try very hard to meet the customer's wishes, but the second attempt will be the final attempt.

Whether the person decides to accept a refund or have you do the shirt over, in the end the person should stroll away satisfied. Your job as an artist is simply to forget about the entire affair and go about your business.

This is the time when some artists start to dwell on customer criticisms. They start getting really upset about customers and their seemingly total lack of understanding about all of the artist's problems, concerns, or limitations. After a few situations like this, some artists become overly sensitive and begin taking every complaint much too personally and end up mad at everyone.

That is why the T-shirt airbrush artist must simply forget about any and all confrontations with customers. If you don't, it will affect other customers and ultimately your overall business.

"The customer is always right." Keep this foremost in your mind. Swallow your pride, ego, and attitude. Treat your customers the way you would want to be treated. And if for some reason someone gets upset with you, counter this with a smile and total agreement with the person's viewpoint. That way, you will defuse any confrontation, and your customer will have nothing to complain about. And if you offer to make things right, the customer will go off to tell friends and neighbors what a great person you are to deal with. Your business will increase, and you will ultimately win out in the end.

If all T-shirt airbrush artists would adopt the philosophy of keeping their pride, ego, and attitudes at bay, our entire profession will benefit as customers, mall managers, show promoters, business partners, and the general public see us in a whole new light. Ultimately, we all win.

It really works!

OK, the sermon's over. Now, let us spray! WCA