I've been mounting deer for a couple of years now. I started mounting deer for customers last year and I've completed 50 mounts to date.
I took Joe Meder's class early this year and it has made a HUGE difference in the quality of my work.
There is one particular mount that I completed about a month ago and the customer finally came to pick it up. The entire time that I had it in my shop, there was something about it that I just didn't like.
The antlers were an odd shape and I wasn't able to position the ears like I normally do...the cape had an odd color to it...and the face on the form was VERY skinny in my opinion. McKenzie 8600 series
Anyway, I was very nervous about what the customer would think...and when he picked it up today, it was obvious to me that he wasn't 100% satisfied.
I gave him every opportunity in the world to tell me what he didn't like about it...but he just kept saying it is fine. I told him that I would refund some or all of the money if he wasn't happy. He said it was fine. I reminded him that I was still fairly new at taxidermy and would completely understand if he wasn't happy. He said it was fine.
I even offered to redo it if he wasn't happy. He said it was fine.
Although he kept saying it was fine, his body language said something else.
It's been a couple of hours since he left, but I still can't get over the fact that he probably isn't happy.
The only thing I feel I could have done better on the mount is to have used a different form.
Does this "paranoia" ever happen to any of you...and what do you do about it? I'm guessing I just need to mark it down as a learning experience and hope the guy doesn't bash my work. I'd rather give him a full refund or redo it.
I guess he has every right to bash my work if he doesn't like it...I just wish he would tell me that he doesn't like it.
...or...
maybe I am just reading his body language wrong.
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as a customer once, and as a taxidermist. The first deer I had mounted by a other taxi,,oops,,, hackxidermist, I hated it as soon as I saw it, I was so shocked that I couldn't find the words to say that it sucked. I thought that it would at least look like a deer. His wife knew I did not like it, She wanted to know what was wrong, and I was speechless,, there was something wrong and I couldn't tell what it was, the mount didn't look right, but I didn't know what the problem was and why, I just hated it. I just wanted it back so I paid the balance and left. ( I remounted the rack and got a third in the Pro div)
Now I am on the other side of the fence, I had a customer that was semi- happy about the ear position, I offered to fix it several times, but he said that it would grow on him. I was not easy when he left, but I cannot dwell on what I cannot control. I think that the customer waits so long to get it back wither it is 3 months or a year, they have a hyped or over expectation just to pick it up and get it back, and you never know what they will think when they see it for the first time. I had some customer's smile, grin and shine when others just flop the money down, say thanks, grab and go. I think not if, but when it happens again, I will leave it on the wall set them down, and ask them to be brutal and tell me what they really think of the mount, then fix it the next day it possible. If it is a size thing, they are taking it home with them. I think that they just want the mount back, and are being polite. I would call them in a week to see if they would open up and talk by then.
Everytime I have a customer come by I worry. Don't know why, but I do. I guess with all the time I put in one I wonder how it will be viewed by others. Maybe too many drugs when I was younger? Maybe just paranoid. At least I'm not the only one that has those fears.
I took a lovely black squirrel to have it set up and when I picked it up, my heart sank. The taxidermist had stapled the skin on the belly instead of sewing it; (staples showing)he had the eyes bugged out like it had been squeezed to death and the feet! Oh, the feet! One wasn't even positioned on the bark log. It kinda curled over like it had arthritis or something.
Naturally, I said to myself, "Hell, I can do better than that!" So I did.
Since then I've mounted a few "losers" myself, so I guess it happens to us all. Try Ben Mears' forms. They all look great!
I worry everytime a client comes to pick up a mount. It drives my husband nuts!
Yesterday a man left with what we down here call a 'york boar'.
They are the ugliest things i have to work on and i am never personally satisfied with them.
He said 'oh thats great, i like the pose you did. I am going hunting next week and will be bringing in another'. But i still lack the confidence to say - yeah, ok, he was really happy with that.
I guess that goes with time but i cant help myself.
Then i mount something for myself when i have time and i have a totally relaxed attitude, slap it together and no stress - go figure!
so I quit trying. Many are excited about the mount, while others are complacent. Most of the time when I have had a dis-satisfied customer it's because I did not take a second look at the work order and did a left turn rather than a right (I corrected one of them once, so I pay more attention to that) A couple of years ago I did a catfish repro for a guy, and it came back twice before he was happy with the paint. I followed the Breakthrough painting process(1989) to a T and I thought it looked great. Oh well, the customer rules and I do my best to satisfy them. One other thing...I have a couple of woodducks that I mounted for a guy, he paid in full in advance, and he won't come pick them up. I've called him twice and I'm not calling again. Go figure on that one!
I keep telling you guys and you never listen. Richard Christoforo gave me an article a few years back where taxidermists were grouped with all artists and several major medical facilities and psychiatric "experts" found that we are bipolar. They concluded that all artists have periods of high productivity will equal amounts of working doldrums. That explains why some days we can't wait until we get into the shop and attack our work. Other days, we'd just as soon have a hemmorrhoid flareup. That bipolar. The same situations address our anxiety when we turn our "artwork" over to a customer. We dread their reaction to our talent. That's why I call the better taxidermists Prima Donna's. They don't like it, but they are even worse than us run of the mill guys. Just get around a "world champion" and see how long it takes for him or her to remind others of what he/she has done.
Hey, I didn't make this up and I didn't make the diagnosis. Pretty tough to refute, however.
I've had probably a 99% satisfaction rate with customers. But I have had a couple that (as you say, by body language) didn't seem happy. I have tried in the past to extract from them what it was that they weren't happy with, but seems most folks just wont speak up. Sometimes I think it's not that there is anything wrong per say with the mount, but it's just that they might have had a pre-concieved vision of what the mount might look like and when it isn't as they visioned, they are dissappointed. IF I feel I did a good job (and I'm my worst critic) then I let it go. Funny thing is the ones that haven't been happy are ones that I never expected that to happen with. The ones where I saw something in the mount that was a noticable flaw in my eyes, the customer never noticed and were very happy. I know a "Haxidermist" here that advertises "Satisfaction Guaranteed" on his business cards. And he has had tons of folks very dissatisfied to say the least. I'm still wondering what he offers in this guarantee. I've never heard of anyone that has tried to take advantage of this guarantee. I'd NEVER offer a satisfaction guarantee. This type of work is much too subjective to make such an offer.
You know I call em as I see em...Basically what we have here, as I read it, is a case of a mount not going together to suit YOU as a professional taxidermist. Furthermore, you were willing to sit tight and try to pass this mount off to the customer as acceptable, while you yourself had your own reservations...reservations that YOU went and OPENLY offered this customer by repeatedly asking if it was ok, could you refund some money (I never quite understood this logic, but whatever!) and then again asked of it was ok while offering to remount it. Maybe hes the one whose wondering whats up! Here comes the good part...then you wonder, as do some of the others here...WHATS UP WITH OUR CUSTOMERS?
Hahaha, hey, its ok to question your ability, or just a particular mount. We all do. Just go ahead and listen to your own answer to your assessment. Rework it, or do what needs to be done before calling the customer. Then be confident, and offer the mount as the good work it is. No offers of discounts, no questions. Offer only praise of the mount, as a trophy, and usually the customer is pleased.
You haven't had a customer that gave off bad vibes with tight lips before?
I think pride has a lot to do with it. Those of us who are dedicated to the quality of work we do have a lot of "soul"/ time invested in a piece. If we don't think the customer is happy it puts a damper on the day. I believe alot of us in the same catergory agonize over the smallest imperfection in our work and we are sure that our customer sees it to. I would bet a $100 bill that the customer can't pick out those tiny imperfections without a judge pointing them out. Maybe what is even more disheartening is when you know you have a awesome looking piece and the customer is happy, but not as happy as you are! Then they ask while leaving the shop if you think they could just set it in the back of the pickup for the ride home!
I did have one deer that I remounted for a customer. I could tell the day after I mounted it the first time that something wasn't quite right. The ear position in conjunction with the antler shape just made things look wrong. It was a painful experience to remount a deer and eat the costs, but it was a learning experience.
Chris
If they were tight lipped, I sure wasnt going to put words (or ideas) in their mouth (or head). That was my point, along with suggesting to Wolfe that confidence rules.
Still laughing about the gal who called to complain about the poor paint job on her king salmon. When she returned the fish to be repainted she was kind enough to bring a sample of the fabric from her living room so we could pick a color that would match her decor. She wanted it painted tan. TAN! So if you see a tan king salmon hanging on a wall with a very happy owner, you don't know me and my name is not on the back of the mount.
I agree with Bill on this one. Sounds like you already knew their was a problem with his deer and where trying to appoligize for it. Nothing leaves my shop unless I am happy with it. I never consider the customer not liking the mount job. If I get bad vibes from the customer I figure he is thinking the neck is not as big as he envisoned it would be. We all know how big that is! Do a good job and be confident.
McKenzie forms do have very narrow heads, you wont notice this on younger deer but if you mount a mature buck on one you can really see it then. If you havent tried Joe Meder forms you dont know what your're missing. I also agree with with that article George was talking about, we all are bipolar. Some days I cant wait to get in my shop and work all day long but then others I just drag along through the whole day. On some days like that is when I go hunting or fishing or something besides work. If I offer to refund the customers money and he doesnt say anything, well thats his misfortune.
The Meder forms in my opinion are the nicest looking on the market. I have a McKenzie semi-upright hanging amidst a half dozen Meder form mounts, and the McKenzie sticks out like a sore thumb. The narrow nose bridge looks goofy. All my customers notice it an not a single client has requested the McKenzie forms.
First off...I've already decided that it will only be Meder forms for me next year!
As far as this particular mount goes...my biggest problem with it was the narrow face. The second biggest problem was trying to decide if it was just me being toooo picky or if the skinny face would stand out to the customer. (I showed the mount to several friends and they all said it looked fine)
I would never let it go out the door if I thought I screwed something up. I just didn't like the skinny face. Maybe the customer's body language meant that he didn't like it either.
I've only been doing this for a few years so I am still learning what forms to use and which ones to stay away from...so I have inexperience working against me.
Also, I totally agree that if I act unhappy...the customer is surely gonna' pick up on that even if they like the mount.
Sounds like I just need more experience and more confidence in my ablilities. Both will come in time.