3 principles for customer care from a ‘Top 100 Local Business’
Can getting a tattoo be like going to the spa? Black Serum Tattoo has cultivated such a calming, comfortable environment that several customers have made the comparison. “I really like to go there. It’s like going to the spa,” said Yelp reviewer Jamie M.
One of Yelp’s Top 100 Local Businesses in 2024, the renowned San Francisco tattoo shop maintains a perfect 5-star rating with more than 400 reviews. Nearly 100 mention how “comfortable” the experience is, while others note how easy the artists are to talk to and work with. Everything is set up to accommodate the client’s needs, from nervous first-timers to heavily tattooed regulars.
“The studio is gorgeous… and the artists are always so wonderful, welcoming, and interested,” Jamie said. “Every time I go in, [owner Brücius Zylander is] looking after everyone and making sure that it’s a really good vibe and good environment.”
A renowned tattoo artist himself, Brücius works hard to maintain this environment and requires the shop’s 23 artists to treat their clients with respect and empathy. “There’s a lot of thought put into pieces that come out of Black Serum,” he said. “My studio and I draw a certain kind of client to the space, and I make sure that my artists are tuned into that. [This] combination culminates in the piece that they always wanted, were shy about getting, and didn’t find the artist to do it until they researched [and found us].”
Tattooing is an intimate art form—it’s permanently etched on your skin—but even outside of the industry, Brücius’s three principles for customer care can help you build relationships based on comfort, empathy, and mutual respect.
1. Take your customers seriously
Tattoo studios can be intimidating. Many people worry about being judged for their choice of design or lack of tattoos, but Black Serum is committed to putting these fears to rest. “I treat the client the way I wish to be treated,” Brücius said. “Typically my clients don’t have many tattoos—some don’t have any—and I feel honored that they come to me for the first one or their only one.”
Brücius encourages his team to empathize with their clients in order to put them at ease. It might be the artist’s hundredth tattoo that week, but it could be a client’s first. “Some come to get a tattoo that is so significant—maybe it’s a memorial tattoo, maybe it’s a broken heart, or just a turn on events in their life—so we have a responsibility. It is a serious matter,” he said.
This goes for businesses outside the artistic field, as well. Respect, trust, and comfort should be at the heart of every customer interaction, whether you’re guiding them through the pest control process or filing their taxes.
Guest artist Anita Rossi exemplified this mindset while working out of Black Serum. “Every client, every person is different: their body shape, their persona, their energy. The artist needs to take into account these elements,” Brücius said, translating from Anita’s native Italian. “The artist needs to respect the subject matter, the art that [a client] wishes to get tattooed.”
2. If you can’t do a good job, refer them
Black Serum operates by a principle that would startle many business owners: Don’t be afraid to send customers away. Although Brücius is a renowned tattoo artist, he’s the first to say he can’t tattoo everything well—and he’d rather refer a client out than give them an unsatisfactory design.
“[There are some things] I just don’t know how to do,” he said. “People will come in and say, ‘I really want this wolf.’ And I’m like, it’s not going to happen. We have our limits. We have our boundaries. And there’s some things we just are not able to do.”
The same goes for Anita. Especially as a guest artist, she’s cognizant that she’s representing the greater Black Serum brand and will only tattoo designs she’s confident in. “She doesn’t own the client. [They’re] not a possession. She’s not like, this is ‘my client’ and only I can tattoo them, because they approached me,” Brücius translated. “If it doesn’t align, she will suggest [someone else].”
Losing business—let alone referring customers to competitors—might seem like a reckless financial move, but it can actually help build your brand. Yelp user Jamie M. witnessed one of these interactions while getting tattooed by Brücius and said it made her trust him and the business more. “He’s very much like: ‘If you look things up, it will direct you to me, but I may not be the right person for the tattoo you want. And I will show you to the right person.’ I thought that was impressive.”
3. Get your team on board
Brücius lives by the transparent, empathetic customer service practices outlined above. With 23 artists on the team and countless guest artists coming in and out, he works hard to maintain a unified front. He’s very careful about who he chooses to work with and said he looks for people who are in it for the art and the desire to make clients happy.
“I have five stars because I really make sure that I make sure that everybody is on the same page. It’s really hard. I have many artists and sometimes artists come from nowhere and I’m like, ‘Whoa, that’s a variant. How do I manage somebody that doesn’t understand our ways?’”
Black Serum has a perfect 5-star rating for a reason, and mistakes don’t happen often. But if they do, Brücius is quick to take action with both the artist and client. He said reading Yelp reviews helps him keep tabs on the customer experience across the artist roster.
“Sometimes here and there, I’ll get a review of a client saying, ‘This guest artist did this and I’m not happy’,” he said. “I would call the client and have them explain exactly what happened, and then I would address the issue. I would have a sit down with that artist and sometimes I would have to let them go. I’ll take care of the client. I’ll find somebody to adjust the tattoo, and it can be outside the studio.”
These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear from Brücius, Anita, and Jamie, or visit the show homepage to learn about the show and find more episodes.