As experienced hunter though new to the guiding profession, I rack my brains continuously to improve on my offerings. I try to think on behalf of the client and view my services critically through his eyes. I grab every opportunity to use my ex-clients as soundboards, or tap into the wealth of knowledge on AR board. In this pursuit of improvement I have found that there are certain issues that seem insignificant on the surface, but should actually be rated as critical success factors for maximising client satisfaction. One of these is what I dubbed "controlling the level of the playing field" , somewhat philosophical but actually quite real.

Let me explain:
All hunters want to hunt hard, yet all hunters want to see results in the end. A paradox really, almost like "military intelligence" It is only the degree of these opposing needs that varies between hunters.
We read in the books and hunting reports about this hunter who walked for days and struggled for weeks without results. Then, suddenly, in the dusk hour of the last day luck strikes and, viola, he shoots his record trophy! Unfortunately real life works differently.
Some clients accept the fate of bad weather, skittish animals, unexpected dense bush and other uncontrollable circumstances undermining hunting success, but others are less tolerant. Let's assume everything is OK regarding price, accommodation, food, equipment, attitudes, competencies, availability of quality animals, the lot. There is still one ingredient left though, for that perfect safari, namely the effort required to make the kill. It is almost like a young man dating: it has to be a challenge, yet without results the mission will be considered incomplete I have had clients constructively expressing their disappointment when taking the prize animal with an hour into the hunt. "It was too easy". I personally empathise with that. I would rather have spent more time myself to get to that same result. Then I had a client saying it was OK not getting an opportunity (after several days) at that trophy he wanted so badly. Of course it would have been much sweeter had he bagged it.

So how do we overcome this problem? These are my ideas, but I need critique please:

� First of all I think we need to establish as accurately as possible where on the scale of expected "effort to make the kill" the specific client lies. This can be done through casual correspondence about his hunting experiences. The answer to a direct question will probably lean more towards the "more challenging" side than it really is (?)

� Secondly I think the outfitter could try to list all those aspects (relating to probability of kill results) over which he has control. These could include choice of concession, size of camps, time of year, duration of hunt, animal access to drinking holes, more open terrain, backup ranches, driven game in ambush, the use of fodder and salt-licks, choice of weaponry, methods of hunting (from walk-and-stalk hunting all the way to night culling from the vehicle, but we won't go there in this thread please!)

� We now start off hunting with the playing field tilted heavily in favour of the animal. We hunt hard with no guarantee of results. If we succeed, it will be sweet success. If we are not successful, we start to tilt the field ....

� As the days go by and that elusive animal keeps out-smarting us, we bring into play our powers to control the pitch of the field. To which extent we eventually tilt the field in favour of the hunter, will be a personal issue, determined by the ethics and personal choices of the client and his outfitter. The principle still applies though.

This is not about canned hunting, high fences, ethics and similar depleted topics. It is about the principle of controlling the level of the playing field. Of course it is already intuitively done most of the times, but does it deserve more focus? Should the outfitter not perhaps formally address this issue as part of his upfront planning exercise? If "yes", by which methods mainly. If "no", how sure can the outfitter be that the unsuccessful client will not be deep-down disappointed (even though he doesn't say so).

What says the expert?
Lochi.

I think you need to step back and look at exactly what the product is that you are selling. Ultimately it is the entire experience of being in Africa, for most, living out childhood dreams fostered by tomes about deepest darkest Africa, and the creatures that live there.

The hunting to an extent is accedemic. All guides are pretty much on the same level of knowing more or less where the game is, getting the client on the game, and in a position to shoot.

The exceptional guide is the one that makes the entire African safari experience wonderful for the client. Whether he takes his animal in 30 minutes, or after two weeks. He should be made to enjoy the whole trip.

Lochi,

You think too much. Relax, gear up, and hunt hard. You will have some good clients and some bad. Do your best and have a drink at the end of the day.

Keith

Lochi:
An old guy once told me, "There are some people who you don't want as customers." There's no way you can please everyone. Just try to please most of them and to hell with the rest.

Keith

I agree with you totally ..

Lochi, hunting is meant to be a fun experience for both the PH/Outfiiter and the client ... I think you are making life extremely difficult, a bit like setting up all the products perfectly on a super market shelf so that a shopper has a perfect shopping experience and gets exactly what he wants and what he read in the marketing brochure..

Not to say we dont want the hunter to have a good experience, as perfect as possible, BUT hell man hunting is hunting with tooooooo many variables to be like a supermarket shopping spree, you have to chill out a bit and let it unfold, shit happins at times ..... WE dont want to be nervious wrecks thinking about all the things you mention

Peter

Lochi,

Many yeasr ago, when I first started working for ERVS, a very wise and well known booking agent (who has since departed) told me that no matter what we do, there will always be around 20% of the clients who would not be satisfied. Just do your best and you will owe no apologies.
Rich Elliott

Hi Lochi,
I think many PHs give the client a chance to 'tilt th field' if it looks like he came halfway around the world not to fire a shot. After 3 days of unsuccessful kudu hunting, I was asked if I wanted to shoot from the car, a couple days later, if I fancied hunting at night with a light. Both times I said no and ended up empty handed. But the opportunity was there. It is up to the client what form of hunting to undertake, should the PH allow it.

Amazing advice. Almost blasphemously flying in the in the face of customer care ideologies, yet packed with common sense.
I do say on my web site that I can afford to choose my clients (since I can take only few clients every year and I do it for fun). So far I have managed to end up with great clients only, enjoying the experience as much as they did. Yet, in my self-critique at the end of every safari I wished certain things to have been better.
Certainly makes sense to say you do your best, relax and accept it when not everything goes perfect by customer perception.
Peter, you expressed that well!
Thanx,
Lochi.

I know I am new to the forum but heres my 2 cents. One thing also left out of the equation that you have no control over is the client no matter how much you screen them. I do not know how much it happens in Africa but in the states and Canada the know it all client can easily ruin what would be an excellent hunt. The ones that insist that this is the way they do it back home and it works so they are going to do it here. They will not listen to the PH who has mounds of experience in the environment they are in. Than it is the PH's fault because they do not connect. Just another part to don't worry about it, do the best job you can, let the chips fall where they may and enjoy yourself.>John

Lochi

I dissagree some with the other posts here and I feel I know what you are saying/asking.Perhaps I just see it from a different prospective.IN ANY CASE i ADMIRE YOU FOR ASKING THE QUESTION AS i SEE IT AS A SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR HUNTERS.

I think that in order to provide your client with his own personal perfect hunt and thus set the playing feild at the correct level you need to be very good at reading people.You will need to be able to determine what it is they want.This is not always what they say they want either ,as you previously stated.You may be able to get some clues from pre-hunt correspondence.Example;
1)How many prev.African hunts and what animals taken?
2)how many days hunting and how many animals would be taken on a perfect trip?
3)How do you prefer to hunt?Blinds,walk and stalk,etc.

These kind of questions can give you a rough idea of what to expect but to be truly good you have to be able to read the clients attitude and if possible adjust on the fly.For instance ,client has said he likes to hunt walk and stalk but when he arrives is seriously obese and asthmatic.Can't walk 100 meters without huffing and wheezing and needing a break.My suggestion would be to try to give him exactly what he asked for in spite of the fact that it seems futile to do so.If the end of the day he is totally exhausted,happy as a bug in the rug,and talking of the beauty and wonder of it all, then plug away at it again the second day.If however there is subtle grumbling about not hanging something on the meatpole,or a lack of game spotted,then an adjustment of technique may be a welcome suggestion.

I know these are probably obvious examples but the difference in my mind between a great PH/businessman and one that is so-so ,is his ability to read people.It is ussually easy to give them what they want if you have the ability to figure out what it is that they want.I think this art is a gift, but with work it can possibly be an honed skill.In either case I applaud you for your effort to become better at it....eyedoc

eyedoc,


......."For instance ,client has said he likes to hunt walk and stalk but when he arrives is seriously obese and asthmatic.Can't walk 100 meters without huffing and wheezing and needing a break."......

Perfect description. Happens at least once a year. In the mountains we have horses to fall back on but in the hills above the Omo Plains where we hunt lesser and greater kudu, it can be a real problem. I try to tactfully warn people ahead of time but people tend to over rate their abilities to climb in a hot, dry environment.

Rich Elliott

I would guess that over-rating their abilities and stamina are probably the most common problem PH's have to deal with.Second is the guy who says"i would be perfectly happy to enjoy a good hunting experience and to hunt my favorite way even if I go home empty handed" and then two days into the hunt starts grumbling because he has not got that shot at a gold medal somebok or other.

I deal with people every day and there are all kinds out there.And quite a few will tell you what you want to hear,some will tell you what they think they want,and a great many will flat out tell you fabrication.If you can sort through all that and find out what they really want you are ussually way ahead in the game.

I'm heartened by your efforts to improve your clients' African experience and I applaud you. I would first say not to get too 'wrapped around the axle' about it all; as others have noted, a small but measurable percentage of your clients will complain no matter what. Earlier this year I was hunting in South Africa doing hard core walk-n-stalk. The breezes were atrocious! First east, then west, then the other two directions, and every critter around knew we were there. Shots were few and far between, and we never even _saw_ our main animals. We (my wife and I) loved every frustrating minute of it, even though the hunting conditions were the worst I've experienced on safari.

Why did we have such a fantastic time? Attitude. The PH and the tracker didn't give up, and they were able to chuckle with us at our poor luck. When the breezes blew a stalk for us on the 37th time, we still had fun. We looked at, not just looked, but really saw, the plants and how they grew. We _saw_ how the rocks in one area differed from those in another. We had the tracker try and pass on a smidgen of his considerable knowledge. Hunting, even in game rich areas, is always a big Maybe. Maybe the wind will cooperate, maybe the animals have been to this waterhole, maybe if we go around the kopje counterclockwise instead of clockwise, and on and on.

It isn't the luxury of the lodge, or the excellence of the wines, or even the number of the kills. It is all an experience, and the question is, Does it all make a harmonious whole, and is that experience different enough from what we could get in North America to have made it worth the trip.

My $0.02, but there's a difference between hunting and killing.

Lochi, I've studied your website and I think I have some idea of how you approach hunting as a business. Please take my comments in that context.

I once read that there are three types of hunters. One hunts for meat; I doubt you see many of them. The second hunts to see something die. Given your business, I doubt you attract many of them, either. The third type hunts not to view or experience nature, but to participate in it. We can get into deep (and hot) philosophical water talking about that guy, but I think most of the AR crew is this sort. These guys understand that you win a few and lose a few, but they still want to take something home.

You offer hunts, not kills, and a hunt really takes place in the hunter's mind. The struggle you describe is, at its core, the essential struggle of the hunt, which is beyond human control. That is as it should be.

Your website makes your approch perfectly clear, and I think those who choose to hunt with you understand that. Concentrate on delivering to the best of our ability, and the rest will take care of itself.

Hope this helps, Okie John.

Incredible site this AR forum - members who are there to support, in the language of one hunter to another hunter. Sincere, open, constructive, genuine,.....
Thanx again guys.
Lochi.