Sign Pro Redoubles Vow to Reject Outside Projects

SO, 12 MONTHS AGO, a solid year ago I wrote a column in this very magazine (see ST, February 2024, page 41) announcing that we were going to stop taking on new projects. (Well, that’s not actually what we did.) But we did stop taking on “new client” projects. (Well, that’s not necessarily true either…)

You see, it all stemmed from realizing that we were not making as much money on “new” clients. Instead, we make the majority of our money on our existing, loyal clients. Face it, everyone is in business to make a profit. Everyone. From the tire store on the corner to Elon Musk. Otherwise, we’d be surfing in Maui everyday. Or jumping out of airplanes. (See my partner Rick Ream.)

We have to make the $$$ so eventually we can do just those things. (I’m visualizing those waves right now…) But the crucial insight initiated last year was that we were spending a serious chunk of our time and energy on trying to please new clients, while not necessarily taking ultimate care of our people who had been with us literally for decades.

The glamour of new, ego-driven projects… I mean, who wouldn’t want to handle the branding for the new NBA San Antonio Spurs’ Victory Capital Performance Center? But that ego blinded us to the reality of the need to maintain the war trenches we had built for our steadfast, decades-long clients.

Make no mistake, you (and the businesses you have built) are a key component to the success of the clients you serve. As sign companies, we have this crazy responsibility to make all these other companies look amazing! Do you understand that some of us are 100% responsible for making entire companies (some national) look good?

It’s an amazing, respectable, fulfilling purpose we have in this industry. But we have to maintain profitably as well or next year we won’t be here. And it is your responsibility to decide how many toes you’re willing to dip into this pool. It’s a huge undertaking.

Account for clients who love you, and appreciate all you do for them, because they are doing the exact same thing you are doing. I don’t care how big they are. They’re all trying to create and maintain a successful business so they can provide the best life for themselves and their families — just like us.

Maintaining this attitude will make you a much better salesperson. You are not just selling them signs. You are helping them grow their business — you feel me? It’s seriously that important.

So, last year we revamped the type of new projects we would go after. This didn’t mean we weren’t accepting new projects, of course. But we didn’t stress out chasing one-off, time-stealing, custom builds. Instead we concentrated on our Top 10 clients: The ones who hand us money every single month, year after year. We spent more time and attention on assuring we are taking care of them. The result has been phenomenal. Our relationship with each of them has strengthened dramatically. They are reenergized with our efforts and very happy to continue working with us for years to come.

We didn’t quite do the overall numbers we achieved in previous years… but our net profit was on point, and all of us had a much more relaxed, non-stressful, equally profitable year — without the headaches.

We even let some of those clients read that column, and they have championed our renewed WOTY: “No.”

In 2025 we’re gonna continue saying no to projects that don’t align with our core principles and I know Rick and I are gonna be spending all that extra cash on a month-long vacay in Italy. 2025, y’all… this year ain’t gonna happen again.

Let’s rock it!