July 4-10
WORK-LIFE BALANCE With Sunday being Independence Day and Monday the observed holiday, why not take most or all of the rest of the week for vacation? If not now, make sure you — and your employees — take time to recharge, no matter how busy you are.
BRANDING When was the last time you took a hard look at your own business branding? Invest time in finding places where you can differentiate your business. Does your website include a favicon (the logo for a website tab)? What does your voicemail message sound like? Do you have decals at the ready to stick on things? Think of the power of 1,000 points of differentiation. Then get busy.
July 11-17
TRAINING/MAINTENANCE For some sign companies, summer months can be slower than others. If so, develop and enact training programs, shop organization and/or maintenance.
SERVICE/INSTALLATION For other sign companies, the nice summer months mean updating their communication with customers regarding scheduling of installs and service-work.
July 18-24
ONLINE To stay relevant, you should refresh your website every two years and fine-tune it every six months. Those six months are up. Customers will visit your shop only if they like your website and think it looks modern. Does your site have simple lines, motion, huge photos and at least a hint of prices? If not, get on it.
MARKETING Any sign company — but wrap shops, in particular — should redesign and rewrap their shop vehicles every two or three years. You can freshen up the look and show off any new vinyl products or techniques you’ve picked up since the previous wrap.
July 25-31
EDUCATION Pick a nice day to take your company’s designers, fabricators — or simply every employee — on a road trip to an interesting nearby town or city. Walk around, check out the signs, take pictures and talk about them over lunch, then head back to the shop.
MATERIALS Whether it’s wood, vinyl, aluminum or otherwise, request samples of a new type of material you already work with. Run these substrates through some tests and if they hold up, make that material a new item for your customers.