jkdbjj
New Member
Some of you, have crossed this bridge already in your sign career. Not that it only pertains to sign companies, but it shall for this thread.
It isn't long into a new sign companies adventure, where it seems amazing to be getting calls, emails, referrals, and the orders seem to be coming from everywhere. Let's face it, it's exciting!
It must stand to reason, along with this, is the pain of not being able to handle the volume, or perhaps you feel you just aren't making the money that matches your effort. That is what this thread is about.
The bridge is being able to say to a new potential customer that you are two, three, even four weeks out. There are dozens, if not hundreds of companies that fear doing this, only because they don't know any better. The reality is they have been so busy keeping up and getting it done, they lose sight that they might be abusing themselves, becoming a slave so to speak.
With that said, you can't just walk across that bridge haphazardly and think all will be well, and just start telling anyone who contacts you, sorry I am 3 weeks out. You'll definitely lose some customers.
My advice is to spend more attention on due dates, asking customers when they "really" need it. Also, don't be afraid of rush charges, but you better be willing to stay late to get it done, or pay someone to stay late, hence the extra rush fee. It needs to be an honest fee, because if you can really knock it out in the normal business day, then the customer is just going to be lucky.
Now, I know some of you reading this, will say, "it just doesn't work that way in my town". Customers always need it right now!
This is just fear talking, and yes there are always customers that are like that.
What I am saying, is in the mix of all these orders, focus on the better customers, you should be charging a good premium with them, and they will most likely be better planned and have more time for their projects.
These are the customers you want to schedule first, and then fit all the "have to have now people" as you can, and if they stay great, if they don't, that's OK too. It just opens up some room to really focus on your quality customers. This also allows you time to look closer at your quality customers, to see if there is more work there, or perhaps similar companies that you can market too.
To sum it up, you may be a company that says yes to everybody right now, but believe me that can quickly get old, and really not make you the kind of money you might imagine. By stepping back, and really focusing in on your goals, you can have a more manageable work day and still be profitable, if not more profitable than trying to please everyone.
It isn't long into a new sign companies adventure, where it seems amazing to be getting calls, emails, referrals, and the orders seem to be coming from everywhere. Let's face it, it's exciting!
It must stand to reason, along with this, is the pain of not being able to handle the volume, or perhaps you feel you just aren't making the money that matches your effort. That is what this thread is about.
The bridge is being able to say to a new potential customer that you are two, three, even four weeks out. There are dozens, if not hundreds of companies that fear doing this, only because they don't know any better. The reality is they have been so busy keeping up and getting it done, they lose sight that they might be abusing themselves, becoming a slave so to speak.
With that said, you can't just walk across that bridge haphazardly and think all will be well, and just start telling anyone who contacts you, sorry I am 3 weeks out. You'll definitely lose some customers.
My advice is to spend more attention on due dates, asking customers when they "really" need it. Also, don't be afraid of rush charges, but you better be willing to stay late to get it done, or pay someone to stay late, hence the extra rush fee. It needs to be an honest fee, because if you can really knock it out in the normal business day, then the customer is just going to be lucky.
Now, I know some of you reading this, will say, "it just doesn't work that way in my town". Customers always need it right now!
This is just fear talking, and yes there are always customers that are like that.
What I am saying, is in the mix of all these orders, focus on the better customers, you should be charging a good premium with them, and they will most likely be better planned and have more time for their projects.
These are the customers you want to schedule first, and then fit all the "have to have now people" as you can, and if they stay great, if they don't, that's OK too. It just opens up some room to really focus on your quality customers. This also allows you time to look closer at your quality customers, to see if there is more work there, or perhaps similar companies that you can market too.
To sum it up, you may be a company that says yes to everybody right now, but believe me that can quickly get old, and really not make you the kind of money you might imagine. By stepping back, and really focusing in on your goals, you can have a more manageable work day and still be profitable, if not more profitable than trying to please everyone.