Workflow Automation, Budget Discussion and More Signshop Tips

ABOVE PHOTO: GABE GRIFFIN, CLEAR SIGN & DESIGN

“Don’t put yourself on a pedestal. Because it’s very easy for someone to knock you off.” — Rob Halford

AUTOMATION Work the System

1 Automate your admin-workflow processing, suggests Adam Brown, Sign Effectz (Milwaukee). “Your highest-paid admins should not be filing papers or digging for files in an old-school server,” he says. D10 Signs + Graphics (Kirkland, WA) has automated their bid follow-up system through Monday.com and Make.com, according to Tricia Samuel: Every general contractor RFP is logged in a tracking board, which auto-triggers follow-ups seven, 14 and 30 days post-submission. GC responses are then captured, scored and tied back to awarding firms.

QUOTING Be Responsive

2 “By making follow-up a standard part of the sales process, we improved our close rate, uncovered objections earlier and turned more quotes into actual work,” says Derek Atchley, Derek Atchley Creative (Columbus, OH), regarding his company’s structured follow-up system for open quotes. An hour from there, FastTrack Signs (Bellefontaine, OH) has started simplifying their quoting process and responding faster, often within the same day. “Many customers aren’t shopping endlessly; they go with the first shop that feels responsive and easy to work with,” says owner Dennis Schaub.

INSTALLATION Size and Precision

3 Belmeade Signs (Granby, CT) has recently purchased a 7 x 12-ft. trailer specifically for installation, which enables them to fabricate and deliver much larger signs with a higher level of organization. “Previously we have been using a 4Runner with everything in the back,” says owner Art Roti. Far to the southwest, Kendall Robinson of Prince Signs (Houston) suggests making sure installers treat every site survey like a pre-install visit, not just a measurement check: “Exact power location, mounting conditions, obstructions, access, etc. Any and all information brought up during a survey is to make the fabrication and install easier.”

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

CUSTOMERS Drill for Detail

4 “Asking for someone’s signage budget can often seem difficult for them to answer. They have no idea or baseline knowledge,” says Joe Allen of So Easy Signs (Middletown, OH). “If you drill down a little and help them get to an agreeable figure, it will ensure the project gets started on the correct path and saves valuable time.”

MANAGEMENT Fresh Insights

5 Wharton professor Adam Grant says your best ideas aren’t coming from your veterans — they’re coming from the newbie who started last month, because fresh eyes spot what experience has made invisible. After their first week, try asking new hires, “What looks broken to you?” Then shut up and listen, or add an anonymous suggestion box for everyone.

HOLD YOUR PEACE Your opinion is your most powerful leadership tool. Use it last.

6 Most managers run meetings backwards. They outline the problem, say what they think, then ask for input. But by then, says author Simon Sinek, the direction is already set — and pretty much nobody’s going to contradict the boss. So, sit back instead and let everyone else share their opinions first. “One, it gives everyone else the feeling that they have been heard,” Sinek says. “And two, you get the benefit of hearing what everybody thinks before you render your opinion.” Of course, you can ask questions. But otherwise? Present your problem and just take your team’s solutions in. The room will tell you things it never would have otherwise.