A HOBBY OR SKILL becomes a profession when it results in formal agreements, contracts and food on the table. A hobbyist or practitioner likewise becomes a professional after devoting weeks, months or years of time and toil to their trade. Very particular experience and deep understanding of a field comprise the telltale marks of professionalism — for those in the sign industry, those marks can be something more, something specific to their chosen niches and a badge of pride. Here are some of the foremost marks of a sign pro, according to our Brain Squad.

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KNOWLEDGE

• You speak in cast and calendar, in IJ180, 480, 35, in 3M, Avery and ORACAL, in Foamcore, Acrylic, Gatorboard. We know the differences and the uses. — Steve Linville, Linville Design Studio, Farmington Hills, MI
• You understand every step of the process to get the project completed on time, within budget and code compliant with a result of a happy client and profit for the company. — Greg Abbott, Abbott Image Solutions, Wilmington, OH
• You have the ability to train your crew to perform their jobs with competence. You have the ability to assist your customers in achieving superior results by providing expert advice. — Michael Snow, Innovative Sign Systems, Vista, CA
• You are able to tell the difference in sign lighting that has had LEDs replaced. — Matt Robinson, Eastern Sign Tech, Burlington, NJ

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Experience

• You know when to turn down a potential order or turn away a potential client. — Dominic Tancredi, Woodshed Stage Art, Cleveland, OH
• …you’ve felt the power of a 60Ma transformer and lived to talk about it!
• …you’ve felt the comfort of an undersized body harness and can’t put your arms over your head and you know the value of kitty litter when a truck blows a hydraulic line. — Adam Brown, Sign Effectz, Milwaukee
• You, too, have your vehicles wrapped. The same would go if you sell electric or EMC signs. — Paul Havenaar, Sign Impressions, Kalamazoo, MI
• You know you’re a sign pro when you are always trying to learn and develop all of your skills and realize other like-minded individuals can teach you a thing or two. — Rob Tafflock, Tafflock Signs & Graphics, East Northport, NY
• You have nothing else to learn. — Brett Jeltema, Fresh Coast Signs and Graphics, Spring Lake, MI

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WORK

• You have a good backlog of work. Not because you’re the cheapest but because you deliver an exceptional product, on time and on budget. — Louis Pascuzzi, Economy Sign Co., Danbury, CT
• You can take the impossible situation and make it work. — Ben Phillips, Phillips Signs Inc., Seaford, DE
• You don’t design a great-looking sign that is impractical to fabricate.
• You don’t throw quotes from the hip or guesstimate quote prices.
• You don’t badmouth other sign companies; you just outshine them. — John Miller, Signs by Autografix, Branford, CT
• You start your morning with plenty of pep in your step, by lunch you have solved three deadline issues… two unexpected employee quirks… one supplier missed delivery… and a flat tire on your service truck….. and close out the day with an unexpected sale you quoted six months ago. — Bob Chapa, Signarama Troy | Metro Detroit, Troy, MI
• You say “NO” more often than “YES” to unusual projects. — David Gonzalez, Toronto Channel Letters, Toronto
• You can estimate any project possible within scale of project. — Gary Wildner, GW Sign & Paint Co., Cape Coral, FL
• You don’t budge on a price you’ve given. — Peter Poanessa, Keene Signworx, Swanzey, NH
• You are proud of the work you are putting out. — Louise Fischer, Trimline Signs & Graphics, Rocky Mountain House, AB, Canada
• Your installation trucks are out all day with work and your team is dedicated to finish before coming back! — Shaun Ensign, Legacy Sign Group, Westville, IN
• You make it look like the design. — Joe Gibson, Ramsay Signs, Portland, OR
• …you arrive at the job site that hasn’t been surveyed correctly and succeed with the task at hand regardless.
• …wear a Brain Squad T-shirt under your winter business shirts.
• …can read the comments on Facebook’s “Those Damn Sign Guys” and not resort to 6th grade communication skills but instead try and understand the a****** posting the dumb as f*** comment or question. — Edward DeZuzio, Butler Sign Co., Wayne, NJ
• …you’d rather tell them to check the breaker box instead of charging for a service call.
• …you tell your client the sign is still in permitting to buy yourself an extra week for fabrication.
• …your kid’s softball team wins first place in the banner contest. — Russell Toynes, Studio Dzo, Austin, TX
• You know how much time is needed to fabricate and install per project.
• You’re driving at night with your family and your little guy says, “Hey dad, they need an LED retrofit on their sign.” — David de Los Santos, D-signs & Awnings, Allentown, PA

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OFF-WORK OBSESSION

• You can’t drive anywhere without obsessing about every sign you drive by. — Jeremy VanderKraats, Signs by Van, Salinas, CA
• You know you’re a sign pro when you have more photos of signs on your phone than pets or family members. — Matt Brasel, Indigo Signworks, Brasel, ND
• …you have RTA vinyl stuck to your clothes and hair at the end of the day.
• …you go to a new exhibit or attraction and you’re trying to see/figure out how they made the signs.
• …you get geeked about white ink and varnish. — Karrie Brock, Fastsigns of Toledo, Toledo, OH
• You stop in a parking lot to check the quality of a wrap installation on a car you’re walking by on your way into the store. Or you step over to get a close-up look at how the interior dimensional sign is made before sitting down in the waiting room at your dentist’s office. — Kelley Campbell, Specialty Graphic Solutions, Vancouver, WA
• That sign that has needed service for the last two years just drives you crazy even though it’s not your client. — Bob Burke, Burke Enterprise, Oakdale, CT
• When you break down a font to your wife on vacation.
• When you point out all the cool signs to your wife on vacation.
• When your wife leaves you at the pool because you won’t stop complaining about the lack of and unclear safety message of the pool signs. — Chad Lawson, Sign Pro of Skagit Valley, Mount Vernon, WA
• … you recognize bad kerning from the first half-second.
• When you do not read signs but feel them to see how they are constructed or mounted. — Andrew Akers, Image360 DC-Silver Spring, Kensington, MD
• Your family pulls you away from looking at methods of attachment while shopping. — Keith Davis, KRD Design, Chester Springs, PA
• …you are driving down the street and keep saying, “We did that, we did that, we did that…”
• …when you see a vehicle with graphics on it pass by and say, “That’s installed crooked.” — Ted DeWitt, Signarama Covina, Covina, CA
• …you can deconstruct a sign mentally faster than it takes to pass the sign while driving.
• …you can’t follow a movie or TV show because you’re constantly looking at signage. — Kevin Obregón, Brown Graphics, Dallas

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PUBLICITY & CUSTOMER RELATIONS

• When your client gets featured in various forms of media and receives accolades due to the branding and/or imagery you’ve helped establish, however large or small. — Derek Atchley, Atchley Graphics, Columbus, OH
• People that I don’t know refer me to jobs. — Jeffrey Cross, Cross Signs, Seminole, FL
• A prospective customer shares that they’ve spoken with several other sign companies and you are the only one that wanted to schedule an on-site discovery survey. — Joe Allen, So Easy Signs, Middletown, OH
• A client sends a card that says that they appreciate that I take notice to detail for specific sign projects. That’s what we do! — Cindy Gillihan, Gilly’s Super Signs, Placerville, CA
• …your customer base views you as the go-to first choice for service/support. — Don Budde, CalComp Graphic Solutions, Cypress, CA
• You do not let the customer dictate everything. — Harold Pedley, Sign Engineering, San Juan, PR
• Other sign professionals come to you for input and advice. — Ian McLellan, Hill House Graphics, Bristol, RI
• More work comes from repeat and referral than advertising, you do not advertise at all, and your business is still growing. — Larry Mitchell, SignChef, El Dorado Hills, CA

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FINAL THOUGHTS

• Your hairdresser tells you your hair always smells like ink. — Sabrina Davis, Port City Signs & Graphics, Wilmington, NC
• You have more trips to the dumpster with liners than trips back home. — Marco Milliotti, Image360 South Orlando, Orlando, FL
• You are constantly pulling studs and screws out of the dryer! — Bobby Jordan, Fastsigns of White Marsh-Joppa, Joppa, MD
• You work long hours, put up with good and bad customers, deal with employees, pay more taxes than you would like, think you’re making a lot of money till all the bills come in, have days that are like a dream and some days that are nightmares. I can go on and on! — Cody McElroy, Commercial Signs, Houma, LA
• You start running out of large equipment purchases on your dream list. — James Cota, JC Signs & Graphics, Clear Lake, MN

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