Customer Types

[Fred Weiss]

I've been thinking about writing a piece on customer types and have a number of them in mind, like:

The guy that's going to bring you lots of business in the future but needs a deal today.

Or the guy that can't describe his business or what to say about it and wants you to play advertising agency for him.

Get the drift?

So let's compile a list of both good and not so good types of clients and prospects we've encountered. Be descriptive and even humorous.
:signs101:

[giantsfan1951]

1) How about the customer who wants a Taj Mahal sign at a camping tent price.

2) "You cut the letters for me, but i want to save money by installing them myself" ... and of course the corralary... "I messed up some of the letters trying to install them... you'll replace them free right?

[onemansignshop]

"My daughter did this layout for me. Really professional lookin', don't cha think? But she always was a wiz in art. You might have to adjust it just a bit, but the main work is already done for you. That much?? Whew!! I mean, come on, you're just stickin' letters on a board. Don'cha have anything cheaper? It's only gonna be up til the house is sold. Can you just sell me the letters & I'll put 'em on? I mean, how much work can it be? That much??? Just for the letters?? You got to be kiddin'!!! I can get the whole sign at Hohum Design fer that price! Well, I'll let ya know...."

[Rick]

The guy who has this big dream, say they have unlimited funds coming, want to "partner with you.....then jumps in a rusty Toyota never to be seen again, then a few months later you see him working at Ace Hardware........

[MAB SIGNS]

This sounds like those You might be a redneck jokes! I used to go in to the local bike shop on Monday after destroying my racing bike the day before and ask the shop manager If I could....and before I said another word he interupted with...get a cheeseburger today that I'll gladly pay for Tuesday. He was good to the racers especially me. This doesn't apply these days! So what type is the customer who wants a quality sign now but wants to pay when his loan goes through or when his partner sees the sign to approve or says he'll give you alot more business if you'll help him out on this one? Why is it that when a new business is opening they want everything plush for their biz until they get to signs then they think your the Discount King or Queen. A sign shop owner I once met told me he regreted having the word Budget in his company name because that was a draw for the worst customer type. Thank God there are good customer types!

Mark

[Sunny]

I have a couple of great customers!
One month, they come in wanting vehicle lettering, business cards, yard signs, t-shirts. Name of the business, Bob's discount Construction.

Out of business by the end of the month.

Next month, they come in wanting vehicle lettering, business cards, yard signs, t-shirts. Name of business, Bob's discount Auto Repair.

Out of business by the end of the month.

Next month they come in wanting vehicle lettering, business cards, yard signs, t-shirts. Name of business, Bob's Discount Auto Detailing.

Out of business by the end of the month.

I just know next month, they'll have Bob's Discount Lawn Care.

[Rick]

Hey Sunny,
As long as they don't come in wanting to be Bob's Discount Signs and Graphics you will have to charge them a little extra..... ;)

[bigbly]

my most favorite of them all:
they want their job finished in 4 hours
take 2 days to pick it up
then you don't get paid for 3 months

[tamaith]

Ok, the customer that sends you a 50 pixel wide gif and asks instead of having it printed on a t if I can just make some of those iron-ons.

[Jillbeans]

:glasses:
the customer who wants his sign yesterday but wishes to pay for it tomorrow...
My all-time fav "customer was a skanky broad up the street who bought herself a used sign cutter at a carnival and lost her program while installing a fax machine on the thing.
She had the balls to come to me and asked to "borrow" my $1000 start-up CD!!!!
As if! GRRRRR
Love- JILL

[THATgirl]

The customers that bug me more than anything are the ones that change their minds constantly. Like after you have already cut the vinyl.

And of course the ones who take forever to pay.

[Sunny]

On the positive side, I do have a loyal customer that's in Real Estate. He keep bringing me dated signage that need to have the dates changed ever other week or so.
We give him a good deal since this will be ongoing work. It's really simple stuff, so we usually get it done within a day or two.

He ALWAYS pays us more than what we charge him and ever time he leaves the shop, he says, "I love your work!"

[Mike Paul]

I have a customer who comes in about every 2-3 months to replace 1 of his magnetic signs he lost. This guy has the dirtiest van in New Jersey.
I explain to him every time he comes through the door that the signs need to be removed and cleaned, along with the van! .

oh well, good for my bottom line.

Mike

Don't forget about "Nephew art" or "I need to run it by my wife, She makes the final decisions".

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Or the customer who wants a ball park price now, but doesn't yet know what they want- size, substrate or wording.

[rcmtnet]

My favorite customer was a guy who sells cellular phones, he wanted a pair of magnetic signs for his truck and wanted something that will last. He gave me an envelope with the image he wanted, imagine that!. I scanned, cleaned and designed a two color sign at his request because the original one was one color and he wanted to add some spice to it.


Well I brought the magnets to him he was impressed, I told him it would be a 100 bucks which I thought was cheap, I told him the artwork fee was $30 and the magnets $70.00. At that point he proceeded to tell me he could have purchased them cheaper on the internet, so I told him show me. He took me to a site that he had been looking at, here look at this $45.00 a pair see. I said yup your right now page down, 2 colors add $20.00 now I said click on the link for setup charge he did. $65.00 now I said add it up. $130.00 wow I guess I am getting a good deal. Don't forget to add the shipping I said.

Here is the deal this guy places a huge ad in the paper every week that cost him at least $100 and he is giving me grief for something that will last for years.

Well the best part of this whole story, he has called me three times to do more work for him and my reply as always, sorry too busy its going to be at least two or three weeks before I get to you!!


I love it!:thumb:
Matt

[Dave Drane]

And the customers who tell you what they have already been quoted as if you'll drop your price to get the job.

[THATgirl]

I LOVE customers who lost your new phone number and searched the internet to find you. Had it happen this week. They didn't just call the quicky sign shop right around the corner.... made my day!

[Shovelhead]

Gotta love that one!
What is the hourly rate for copywriting anyway???

:thumb:

[Steve C.]

A person who takes several years to learn hand lettering and then does it every day can make it look very smooth and easy. On a few occasions I've had a customer say something like, " Hey, where'd you get those brushes? I think I could do that if I had some of those brushes."

And I remember the first customer who told me he was going to make me rich. I belived him.

Steve C.

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

I had a customer phone uptoday for a quote on six identical vinylon white metal signs. I gave himaprice, and he said "Than's no good, you're Waay cheaper than the other two quotes I just got, I want you to rethink the price, don't sell yourself short, and give me a new (higher) price" (and he was sincere, I added $60 and still got the job)
If only there were more of him...!

[THATgirl]

Ian, years ago when I only handlettered signs, that would happen to me. People were always telling me to charge more. I remember charging the amount of what bill was due back then. It was pretty funny. If my power bill was 49.34......that's what I would charge for the sign.

[Steve C.]

And the customers who tell you what they have already been quoted as if you'll drop your price to get the job.

Yeah Dave, I like to tell them "That's a real good price, I think I'll start gettin' my signs from them."

Steve C.

[supchaka]

I did a design for a girl that was going to be $30. I wasnt going to charge a setup or anything since she was a friend of my brother. She thought I was too high. She went to a mall an hour away and paid $25 just for the text. I guess she showed me!

[dccas]

a few years ago a guy wanted some signs duplicated, I gave a price of around 100 bucks each, he said "why, I had these made for just 40 dollars", I said that was a real good price and suggested he go back to the same shop.
He couldn't, they went out of business!

[nodrenim]

Fred, My friend, after 44 yrs. in this biz, I could go all nite on this one. How about the guy with the 4'x8' menu boards for his drive in joint and wants a better price because of all the "practice" you'll be getting? Or the one who needs a certain size letter on his truck so he can get through Canadian Customs easier, then goes to your competitor and gets half the size for half the price? Nuff for now, maybe I'll be back later. nodrenim

[Fred Weiss]

I was kind of amused by one I already posted about ..... under Outsourcing for Fun and Profit.


The guy that takes care of the vehicles for Atlantis Police had been going to an old friend of mine in the business for his graphics and installs but it's about 25 miles up the road and he hates the trip ..... on top of which the artwork he needed was never produced digitally and no one had a copy of it because the screen printer the other sign guy used went out of business and disappeared.

So the customer goes to my best friend, also in the sign business, who tells him it will be $150 to $200 to recreate the artwork, not counting the actual production charges for the decals he needs (which he would have outsourced to me).

Next The Atlantis Police guy calls me up and then comes in. I tell him the setup will be $150 to $200 also but while he's there I take a picture of the mounted decal on his car and write up the order. A couple of days later he picks them up.

I assume he is applying them himself. Tonight we played canasta with our friends who tell us that he brought the decals over to them and they installed them ..... for a fee of course.:rolleyes:

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

somehow, someone, somewhere thinks what happened was efficient, Fred- you can only grin!
Isn't it somewhat nice when the jobs & money get shared a bit though!

[Ladypainter]

I hate trying to explain the difference between vector art and bitmaps. People think that whatever they grab off the internet can be reproduced instantly.

LP

[Fred Weiss]

I hate trying to explain the difference between vector art and bitmaps. People think that whatever they grab off the internet can be reproduced instantly.

LP
You mean it can't? :rolleyes:

[Dale Horn]

That's a good one, Fred :thumb:

Usually what happens here is the customer applies it and screws one up. So we end up selling another one - and then it comes out " Hmm, there is a bit of a technique to applying it heh ? "

[jimdes]

My favorite was a tow truck I did for a repo company:

"I want my logo as big as you can make it on the side of the truck"

So just in case, I printed a layout for them . . .

"That big? I did tell you we were in the repo business didn't I?"

So, I resized it down to just the door, gave him the option of premium or reflectorized, got the job and picked up the whole fleet of five trucks. Premium.

The next month he comes back in and wants a quote to have it all done over in reflectorized. The quote amounted to about quadruple the original job. (Stripping the original job, cutter blades, special order vinyl and add conspicuity stripes)

"Holy (expletive deleted), you gotta be kidding me. Don't you just glass bead the stuff that's on there?"

Explained the details, benefits (again), process and got the job . . . again.

Sometimes I love it when a customer isn't happy (with their choices)