How to Reduce Status Calls at Your Taxidermy Shop

By MountChief Editorial Team|Updated Mar 2026

Eight to twelve status calls per day during deer season. Each one takes 5 to 10 minutes. That's up to two hours of daily production time spent answering the same question: "Where is my mount?"

This isn't a customer service problem. It's a systems problem. When customers have no way to check status themselves, they call. When you give them a way to check, they don't need to.

Here's exactly how to reduce taxidermy status calls by 90%.

TL;DR

Their $800 elk shoulder mount is somewhere and they have no idea where.
"Your deer cape shipped to [tannery] today, expected back in 8 to 10 weeks."
During a 60-day deer season, that's the difference between 600 calls (100 hours) and 60 calls (10 hours).
You recover 90 hours of production time in a single season.
At even modest production rates, 90 recovered hours over a deer season is significant, it's the difference between finishing your season's backlog in March or in June.
In MountChief, the tracking link generates automatically at intake and can be sent via SMS in under 30 seconds.

Step 1: Understand Why Customers Call

Before you can stop the calls, understand what's driving them.

Customers call because:

They have no other option. Nobody told them there was a portal. Nobody sent them updates. The only way they can check is by calling.
A milestone passed without communication. They expected to hear something by now and haven't. Calling is a natural response to information absence.
They're anxious about a high-value trophy. Their $800 elk shoulder mount is somewhere and they have no idea where. Anxiety fills the information void.

The fix for all three is the same: give customers a self-serve option and keep the information current.

Step 2: Give Every Customer a Tracking Link at Intake

At the end of every intake, before the customer leaves, send them a tracking link. This is a direct URL that shows the real-time status of their specific mount.

"Here's a link so you can check your deer's status anytime, it'll update as it moves through the process. You don't need to call us."

That sentence, said confidently, changes the customer's expectation. They leave with a way to check. Most of them will check the link instead of calling.

In MountChief, the tracking link generates automatically at intake and can be sent via SMS in under 30 seconds.

Step 3: Send Proactive Updates at Key Milestones

The calls you can't stop with a portal are the calls triggered by milestone anxiety: "It's been 3 months, is everything okay?" If you send a message when the milestone happens, the customer gets reassurance before they get anxious enough to call.

The key milestones that trigger status calls if not communicated:

Intake confirmation: Send within 24 hours. "We've got your deer and it's in our system."
Shipped to tannery: Send the day it ships. "Your deer cape shipped to [tannery] today, expected back in 8 to 10 weeks."
Back from tannery: Send the day it returns. "Great news, your hide came back from the tannery."
Production started: "Your mount is on the bench."
Ready for pickup: Send immediately with address and hours.

MountChief triggers these automatically when you update job stages. You don't have to remember to send them.

Step 4: Train Customers Not to Call

When customers ask for your phone number at intake, give it to them, but also give them the portal link and tell them explicitly: "The link is the fastest way to check. If you can't find what you need there, then call me."

You're not refusing calls. You're creating a preference hierarchy. Most customers will use the faster, easier option, the portal.

Step 5: Handle the Remaining Calls Better

Even with a portal and proactive updates, some calls still come in. These are usually:

Customers who don't use smartphones
Customers with specific questions the portal doesn't answer
Customers experiencing actual problems

For these calls, your digital records let you answer instantly: "Let me pull up your job... okay, your hide came back from the tannery on February 12th and it's currently being mounted. We're looking at completion by mid-April."

That answer takes 20 seconds because your records are current and accessible. Without a system, the same call takes 5 minutes while you dig through binders.

What "90% Reduction" Actually Means

If you're getting 10 status calls per day and reduce that by 90%, you're getting 1 per day. During a 60-day deer season, that's the difference between 600 calls (100 hours) and 60 calls (10 hours). You recover 90 hours of production time in a single season.

At even modest production rates, 90 recovered hours over a deer season is significant, it's the difference between finishing your season's backlog in March or in June.

FAQ

How do I stop customers from calling about their mounts?

Give them a self-serve option and keep it current. A customer portal with real-time status, combined with proactive milestone updates at key production stages, eliminates the majority of status calls. Customers only call when they have no other option, give them an option and most will use it.

Does a customer portal really reduce taxidermy status calls?

Yes, by 90% in shops that implement it properly. The key is deployment at intake (every customer gets the link before they leave) and keeping status current (so the portal always shows accurate information). A portal that's never updated doesn't eliminate calls because customers stop trusting it.

What should I tell customers instead of giving them my phone number?

Give them the tracking link first and frame it as the fastest option: "Here's the link where you can check your mount's status anytime, it updates as your mount moves through the process." If you give a phone number, add: "If you can't find what you need there, feel free to call." Most customers prefer the link because it's instant and available at any hour.

How does this apply to solo taxidermy shops?

The principles in this guide apply to solo shops just as they do to larger operations, though the scale differs. A single-person shop may have lower absolute volume but faces the same documentation, compliance, and customer communication requirements. The practical advice here scales down to any shop size.

What is the most common mistake taxidermists make with how to reduce taxidermy status calls?

The most common mistake is treating how to reduce taxidermy status calls as an afterthought rather than building it into the standard workflow from the start. Shops that encounter problems in this area typically did not establish clear processes before season, which means every situation becomes a one-off decision rather than a standard response.

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Sources

National Taxidermists Association (NTA)
US Fish & Wildlife Service
Small Business Administration (SBA)

Get Started with MountChief

The results in this article are achievable in any shop that applies the same operational approach. MountChief provides the intake speed, tannery tracking, and customer communication tools that make this kind of improvement possible. Try MountChief to see what better systems do for your operation.