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standard turn on magnets?

GP

GP

New Member
What is your standard turnaround time on 6 sets of magnets, one set is contour cut by hand.

Based on average shop volume, tell the customer time frame- not I have nothing going on today, so "3 hours"...

Printed or cut vinyl (2 colors, just a lot of layers, outlines, etc.)

Curious as to why i just got reamed for my 5 day turn.

GP
 
SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
You got reamed because the customer thinks he is your only client and you should have nothing better to do. I always tell them that delivery time is dependent on current work load and it varies with how busy we "always" are. Even if I can do the job right then, I always tell them it will be a day before I can get to them. I don't want the client knowing how fast I am. Fast to a client means it shouldn't cost as much.
 
Tim Aucoin

Tim Aucoin

New Member
5 - 7 business days... depending on work load. SignManiac is very correct. A lot of customers think they're the only one you do work for, so they are the sole supporter of your business and should be able to wait for their job. :banghead::banghead: My CSR actually "fired" a customer last week because of this after putting up with him for over 3 years. I told her it was about time she did that!
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
yea, 24-48 hours is an easy estimate for a proper pickup on a small project like that... if you're not that busy. We usually do at least 2-3days, just because we have much larger projects, we've already set deadlines for, always cycling through our shop. You could also let him know you can expedite his project for ~30%++ more, and have it ready sooner. Employees don't mind making overtime, and business owners don't mind making profit on top of overtime pay.
 
Marlene

Marlene

New Member
unless you company is based on just how fast you can get things out, don't worry about it. 5 days is an OK lead time.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
For a two or three hour job... I would think anyone would wonder why they'd have to wait a week. For something so inexpensive to make and you to make such a nice profit... I would think you'd wanna turn these around quickly.

It could be the difference in the size of the shop [employee-wise], but we always allow a certain amount of hours a day to week for things like this. If this were a $2,500 or something job, then I could see a week, but for $700 job.... I'd get them out quite quickly.

We just did four sets last week for a guy who gave us the artwork and we turned them around the next day and then we had another one whose artwork was atrocious and his... we'll be getting out tomorrow. He has six sets also.


Heck, we had a guy last week call about a truck in the morning and we had it finished by the end of the same day. He even stopped to wash it before he came in. We started around 10am and were paid at 5:15pm. He was tickled
pink. The actual truck only took us about two hours, but we had to make it look like we earned $775. + tax. Just two colors of die-cut vinyl and scan a super simple logo.
 
TheSnowman

TheSnowman

New Member
I tell them about a week generally, unless it really is longer. If it is a petty job, and a tight wad customer, I will tell them one to two weeks, and that is because I will run it with another job, but I have to wait till I have that. If they gripe about the time, I tell them I can do it sooner, but the price goes up. If they gripe about price, I tell them I can do it when I have something "like" that to run, and the price can come down "a little".

I will call them if it is done earlier. The best is when you tell them that, and they not only call to see if it is done yet, but they STOP BY and waste time talking about stuff that doesn't even matter to you about the job. They just delay their project even longer.
 
toomeycustoms

toomeycustoms

New Member
Why not just ask the customer what their deadline is to see if its within your workload? If its not within your timeframe, then you can try to upsell a rush charge. My question is you guys that say 5 days turnaround, if you really have that much work that it will take 5 days to get to, why not hire some p/t help or a second shift to get those orders out? Is there no competition in your areas that would complete it quicker than the 5 days?

I don't run a sign shop, I'm more of a reprographer. And in the reprographics industry, its always I needed it an hour ago. If I were to tell my customer that it is going to take 3 days to print and mount their 36x48" gator mounts, they would go elsewhere. I called a sign shop when my laminator was down to see if they could coat and mount 3 30x42" boards and they told me 3 days. I was shocked as this job took less than 30 minutes with the big squeegee. Is this standard in the sign industry?
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
toomeycustoms said:
Why not just ask the customer what their deadline is to see if its within your workload? If its not within your timeframe, then you can try to upsell a rush charge. My question is you guys that say 5 days turnaround, if you really have that much work that it will take 5 days to get to, why not hire some p/t help or a second shift to get those orders out? Is there no competition in your areas that would complete it quicker than the 5 days?

I don't run a sign shop, I'm more of a reprographer. And in the reprographics industry, its always I needed it an hour ago. If I were to tell my customer that it is going to take 3 days to print and mount their 36x48" gator mounts, they would go elsewhere. I called a sign shop when my laminator was down to see if they could coat and mount 3 30x42" boards and they told me 3 days. I was shocked as this job took less than 30 minutes with the big squeegee. Is this standard in the sign industry?
Click to expand...


Not years ago at all..... and not recently in my opinion, but it seems to be the new norm of shops these days..... :omg:
 
C

CL Graphics

New Member
GP. Short answer is you got reamed because your customer is an a$$hole. Go ahead and knock them out when you get time and wait 5 days to give him a call.
 
royster13

royster13

New Member
How long it takes another shop to turn the order is not relevant unless it is the next shop down the road your "unsatisfied" client is going to go to....Delivery time, cost, quality, etc. are all driven by the competition in your market and how many days ahead you have work to do....

If you always have 2 weeks worth of work lined up no harm is pissing off the odd client.....If you never know what you will do in a few days you better take the work when you can....
 
iSign

iSign

New Member
toomeycustoms said:
My question is you guys that say 5 days turnaround, if you really have that much work that it will take 5 days to get to, why not hire some p/t help or a second shift to get those orders out? Is there no competition in your areas that would complete it quicker than the 5 days?
Click to expand...

there are not going to be that many 30 minute windows today when I get to the office... I have work I hoped to get done Friday, but the client said he would pick it up Monday when I told him it was about to be done next that afternoon.. so I told him thanks for the call... if I get a sudden rush job, I would know I can bump his production... which ended up happening...


but my point was, I have a very busy shop right now, but hiring someone else is a ridiculous idea... being busy allows for efficiencies in ganging up similar production tasks, similar print media being loaded & run, similar laminate, ganging up CNC jobs, putting pressure on both my self & my 1 FT guy and 1 PT gal... I have no intention of turning into a quickie sticky shop just because some clients are impatient & some other shops are over staffed or under used... I built up my reputation on quality & service, and that has led to being busy. Like others mentioned above, I ask the clients deadline, before I give a lead time, and often before I give a price... of course I want to get the job AND meet the customers needs... & I work late 300 days a year because I'm a freak, & I will let that habit help my make adjustments to help those clients with a genuine need... but I'
ll be damned if I'm going to run my shop like a reactive slave jumping a different direction every time a different task is thrown down on the front counter. I am most efficient when I get to plot the course of my day, and I also maintain as much of a constant buffer so a profitable rush job can always fit in... under promise & over deliver is the phrase of the day... but when a bigger better rush job comes in.. maybe someone doesn't get the over-delivering I might otherwise have been able to provide... but at least they don't get anything late either!
 
Jillbeans

Jillbeans

New Member
Three to five days, usually after which the customer will wait an additional 5 days to pick them up.
I am not, nor will I ever be an "instant" sign shop.
Three hours? It usually takes three hours just to d!ck around with their artwork, have them haggling about costs, emails back and forth, etc.
Love....Jill
 
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