Cleaning Shop, Tracking Materials and Other Sign Business Advice

“We can’t solve today’s problems with the mentality that created them.” — ALBERT EINSTEIN

ORGANIZATION Clean Up and Keep Up

1 Larry Mitchell of SignChef (El Dorado Hills, CA) recommends designating one area in the shop to clean each week. “Throw out old stock, scrap pieces of substrate or any other hoardables in that area that have been consuming space, creating hazards, or require inordinate amounts of time spent searching through and measuring,” he explains. Chris Lerback, CL Sign & Lighting/Big C Signs (Rapid City, SD), recently updated their employee manual to detail direct expectations for each department and vacation allowances based on years of service.

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

PROJECTS Time Savers

2 Terry Elvis, Elvis Signs Graphics Studio (Myrtle Beach, SC), recommends using a material tracker on large-format printers, which has saved him the hassle of running a job without enough material on the roll. Thomas Nance, Signarama Louisville Downtown (Louisville, KY), stresses the importance of a file-maintenance system for job folders and accumulated files. “The more time that passes by, the harder it is to get a handle on,” he says.

DESIGN Sampling Price

3 Signarama Brighton (Brighton, CO) is now charging for sign samples, says owner Dawn Homa. “Architects have gotten completely crazy with wanting full-size samples. And then when they see what they specified, [they] want a ton of changes to their design, adding more time for project coordination,” she says. The company asks for photos if the project is located far away. The request can eliminate wasted trips to job sites, Homa adds.

OUTREACH Meta Sign-verse

4 “I’ve found that connecting with other sign companies through large Facebook groups devoted to the sign industry has brought to light additional resources and inspiration that were not on my radar previously,” says Holly Friedman, Nagle Signs Inc. (Waterloo, IA). These groups provide novel recommendations on suppliers, materials and techniques. “It’s a great way to network and stay current on the ever-evolving industry,” she adds.

MARKETING Small Things Work

5 Carey Gray, CAT Graphics (Great Falls, MT), is constantly telling her sales team to inform customers of all of their product offerings: business cards, magnetics, awnings, neon, tablecloths and more.“People appreciate knowing and working with their same salesperson if they need something else!” she says. Bernardo Giarraputo of L.S. Sign Co. (Ridgewood, NY) sends his clients small digitally printed decals of their logos alongside a picture printed with his company’s logo and information.

MARKETING CHANGE YOUR SHOES

6 Do you unconsciously assume that your customer has the same financial limitations as you? Do you secretly believe that they should do what you would do? If so, these are likely the reasons you struggle as a salesperson, writes Roy H. Williams in The Monday Morning Memo newsletter. “You believe you are being empathetic, but you are not. You aren’t putting yourself into their shoes; you’re putting them into yours.” And that’s limiting what you can achieve selling signs.

Tip Briefs

• I started using an HLV painter to paint wooden posts. This cut my time in half. I typically would apply two to three coats with a roller. — Earl Walker, Image360 Tucker, Tucker, GA
• Time blocking: Set aside a block of time each day to work on larger projects (not jobs). — Mike Williams, The H&H Group, Lancaster, PA
• Having issues? Measure more data to find out: 1) Is the problem even what you think it is? 2) Does the data illuminate a specific area of remedy? — Dave Hostios, Trav-Ad Signs, Huntsville, AL
• Get the right people in the right seats. The rest will fall into place. Eliminate toxicity and everything can turn around. — Sara Geiger, Fox Cities Sign, Appleton, WI
• We have implemented a late fee if a project hasn’t been picked up within five business days. — Kelly Bookheimer, The Mad Signtist, Myrtle Beach, SC