“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” — Albert Camus
PRODUCTIVITY Sound Body,Sound Mind
1 Keep some weights nearby or under your table, advises Louise DiGiacomo from Signs of Art Graphic Design (Philadelphia). “When you’ve need to rally your mind and body, do some exercises for a few minutes,” she adds.
SUBCONTRACTING Learn to Let Go
2 After taking nearly all of February off for kidney transplant surgery, Ian McLellan of Hill House Graphics (Bristol, RI) realized that he should loosen the reins on installation. He has subcontracted more and started letting his son oversee installations and subcontractors. “This has allowed me to be more productive and nearly double my March sales from last year,” McLellan says.
EMPLOYEES Gifts for Good Deeds
3 Implement a modest reward system to incentivize positive behaviors, such as keeping installation vehicle tools and supplies organized and clean, suggests Thomas Nance of Signarama Downtown (Louisville, KY).
CUSTOMERS Leads from Installers
4 Installers for 3V Signs & Graphics (Torrance, CA) get a commission on any lead they bring in and turn into a customer, says Pat Dacy. “They retain that customer as theirs and get a commission on all sales to that customer going forward.”
TECHNOLOGY Tools of the Trade
5 “Our Mimaki flatbed printers paired with the Trotec lasers have increased our diversity and have increased sales exponentially,” comments Geoff Orlick, Quality Designs Ltd (Campbell River, BC, Canada). Dennis Schaub of FastTrack Signs (Bellefontaine, OH) swears by the new hand tools from Yellotools, while Jeremy Vanderkraats of Signs by Van (Salinas, CA) recommends the Dodge Ram ProMaster van for installing and delivering signs to locations safely.
TRAIN YOUR WILL Reflecting on Values
6 It’s never been easier to track the hours you work, the days you go to the gym, even the beers you consume. But is it a bad thing to look backward rather than remain focused on your goals and the road ahead? Nope.
Success at prospective goal-setting and retrospective monitoring actually turn out to be closely connected, says time-management expert Cal Newport, who notes, “Once you’re making consistent and disciplined progress on small things that reflect your larger values, your identity evolves. You begin to see yourself as someone with discipline, someone willing and able to do hard things in the moment to obtain meaningful rewards in the future. It’s on this foundation that you will find yourself better able to stick with grander, forward-looking goals.”
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Tip Briefs
- Block out time for prospecting every day, even if it is only for 30 minutes or an hour. — Mike McClure, Ad Art, San Francisco
- Kaizen processes are huge! We try to always get better with our systems and processes one degree at a time! — Derek Atchley, Atchley Graphics, Columbus, OH
- Step back, breathe, see the big picture. — John Miller, Signs by Autografix, Branford, CT
- Measure. Measure everything. Study the data and make the necessary changes to be a better organization. — Matt Robinson, Eastern Sign Tech, Burlington, NJ
- Research how well a chatbot would work on your website. — Tim Ward, Sign Solutions, Frederick, MD
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