Face Painting and Body Art Association (FPBAA) - facepainting, bodyart, henna, airbrush art

Great customer service and happy clients are what keeps your business growing.

People see you. They see your work. They want what you are offering, either for themselves or their child. They want you to do a spectacular artistic creation and make them (or their child) feel special – like the centre of the universe. And, they want it all in an instant. What they don’t want is to stand in line and wait. They don’t want to see time wasted making them wait even longer. They may get angry, or belligerent, or silently fuming and frustrated by the wait time in line.

This does not help to create an overall positive experience or happy memories to cherish.

How can you help to resolve the situation? I came up with a few solutions.  I started by listening to the line while I was painting. What were they saying? Then I started to look at ways I could speed up the process without compromising the art itself. What was I doing over and over again that someone else could do? I took all these ideas and formulated several solutions to make the wait time shorter, and give the clients information.

Waiting Time

Firstly, even before clients get into line, I inform them just how long they can expect to wait in line. I give them the formula so they can make an informed decision.

I borrowed a great idea from my friend, Pat Newton. Pat is a transplanted Canadian now living in Englewood, Florida. She has a sign on her display that says:

WAITING TIME

Face paint art is a fun experience.

I enjoy spending time with my ‘canvas.’

Since each creation can take

4-6 minutes,

please judge your waiting time accordingly.

Thank you!

Now, each person who reads the sign knows that they can count the number of people ahead of them in line, “5, 10, 15, 20, 25” minutes to wait.

They can choose to wait or not. But at least they know how long they will be in line before they get into it.

Policies

This is very important to me and to the clients. It lets them know, before they get into the line what’s what. My policies sign says:

POLICIES

You must be at least two years old and willing to be painted

We paint only on clean, unbroken skin

We use only paints designed for use on the skin

(Paints remove easily with warm soapy water and/or moistened wipes)

This saves me a lot of repeating myself. It also educates the public on what they should be aware of with other face painters. And it saves them standing in line, if conditions are not favourable for face painting. (Like a rash, or the child is crying and unwilling or not old enough) Please note that all of my signs are worded in a positive tone.

Making the Line Move Faster

I didn’t want to make the line move faster by taking away from the art and creativity of the face painting experience. I didn’t want to give lesser quality just for the sake of speed.

I became ultra conscious of what was actually happening with the process and where time could be saved.

I decided to share the responsibility of the speed of the lineup with the people in it. I gave the clients some control over how fast it could move.

Once they get into line, there are things they can do to help make the line move faster. And it does nothing to detract from the artistic efforts on my part.

I have another sign that says:

THE LINE WILL MOVE FASTER:

*When you have exact change ready*

*When models arrive in the chair with clean hands and faces*

*When models have hair pulled back from their faces*

*When young models are helped up and down from the chair*

*When models know the design they want when they sit in the chair*

Thank you!

Your cooperation helps everyone

These are simple things that parents can mostly take care of before they reach the front of the line.

 How to move them out of the chair quickly

When you’ve done the ‘big reveal’, showing the finished artwork to the model, they are sometimes mesmerized and engaged with their image in the mirror. While I love this moment (it’s my big payoff), I have to keep in mind that there are people in line waiting to get to this moment too.

I have a second unbreakable mirror located away from my chair, so if they need a ‘second’ look at themselves, they can jump out of the chair and have a lovely long lingering look at themselves. This helps free up the chair quickly for the next model.

Clean up Station

It’s not always enough to tell people that they need to have clean hands and faces to be painted. In a fair or festival or party setting, soap and water are probably some distance away.

I solved this problem by providing a clean up station. It takes on different looks depending on my setup and location.

A clean up station should include:

• Clean up Station sign
• A large unbreakable mirror (also good for a second look)
• Good quality, non-perfumed, no alcohol, moistened wipes (I recommend putting a little note on them that says ‘one per person, please.’)
• A small bag for used wipes (This discourages people from putting in loads of heavy garbage, pop cans, food wrappers, etc., but keeps your area tidy)
• Plain dollar-store hair pins, so hair can be pulled back off the face if necessary
• A copy of my sign – “the line will move faster”
• Extra business cards, brochures, etc.

Having a clean up station saves my chair and equipment from getting sticky fingers all over it. It saves me the time and trouble of wiping off ketchup and mustard and candy apples and cotton candy from around the mouth. Parents get to wipe up any green ooze emanating from the nostrils. (Thank you very much.)

I came up with this idea after being stationed next to a ‘gourmet lollypop stand’ at a craft fair.

One More Sign

One more little sign that I have in several places says simply: “Good Manner Zone”. It has a little stick figure with a halo over its head. Kids accept this as fact. I’ve seen a remarkable difference in the way children behave since adding this sign. They tend to maintain their position in line, and remember their please and thank you’s. On the odd occasion when I have had to stop painting and deal with behaviour in line, I just have to point to the sign and say: “This means being kind and respectful in line. Only mannerly children will be painted.”

By making the face paint experience a pleasant one from lineup to the last look in the mirror, you’ll be creating great customer service, and loyal customers.

 For these and other great Smart Marketing ideas, contact Katie Hunt Katie@KatieTheGreat.com to order her lecture notes, now available on CD.