When a potential client begins to introduce a new project.

[Notarealsignguy]

I agree that a true professional sales person, who stays in touch with his or her clients, will develop a loyal following. That's why they're often required to sign non-compete agreements. In fact, you are making my argument for me. If you moved from company A to company B and your clients followed you, then it follows that company A has lost its customers and got less value from you then was achieved from other account acquisition efforts.



I think you're missing the point of my post. Of course some things have changed as time goes along. Yellow Pages is largely a thing of the past, but it has been replaced by other inexpensive, as compared to a commissioned sales rep, methods of prospecting for clients. What mindset, circumstances or values have changed that doesn't recognize that word of mouth and passive advertising for prospects that have a need for what you do will not be more loyal and return for repeat business than will those that were motivated by a charming sales rep?

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Are either of you saying that however true at the time this statement was, it is not true today?

"The prospective customer who contacts you is of far greater value than is one who has never heard of you and has been signed up by a sales rep."

Youre assuming things that are not true. The majority of clients that a rep brings in wont follow the rep and it is not easy to get people that are happy to switch. If they do, that is a breakdown of management. An effective manager/owner will ride a long with a rep, have regular meetings with them and get involved in orders. They use the rep as a tool to bring people into them. This shows the customer they are important and solidifies their loyalty. You may pick up some large clients by a hands off approach but be real here, unless your business is based around making happy birthday banners it is not the usual way these clients are brought in.
Another thing you are missing is that sales reps do more than just ride around handing out cards. They field calls about the project, some do design, they waste their times in meetings which allows the manager to stay in the shop, they assist with scheduling, they do site surveys, write up quotes, etc etc.

 

[Reveal1]

Good reps build relationships between organizations, based on mutually beneficial results. Days of slap-on-the-back personal relationships are rare to nearing extinction. If a rep moves on and takes the customer with him/her, its probably because the customer perceives something has changed for the worse at that company. The same company that cuts a good rep's pay thinking those customers are theirs no matter what, tend to take that short-term thinking to other parts of their business, and smart customers will see through that eventually. Conversely, they will perceive a greedy or lazy rep moving on mostly out of self-interest, and likely will end of staying with the company and not the rep.

 

[SeeEmWhyKay]

I think this question might be more appropriate for smaller, personal type jobs. Such as a sign welcoming home a veteran or some type of "off the wall" sign. The guy who wanted me to make him a sign about God comes to mind. He didn't know what it should say but wanted to kindly let people know God was still out there. In this case, he really DID need to tell me what prompted him to make the sign so we could figure out what the wording should be. OR, those decals for people who pass away. Farm signs - I've had quite a few lately and it's worth asking when it was established, what type of farming did or do they do if they don't have any ideas for artwork, etc. These little jobs are sometimes time suckers, people can talk a long time about their loved ones or their farm history - sometimes they lead to larger jobs but often not. Not trying to sound callous but it's true. I don't see how this could really apply to larger building signs unless the signmaker is questioning unconventional placement or the wording, then you may need to dig deeper. Maybe a second generation business owner trying to be nostalgic, IDK. Time is money and I gotta keep moving forward at a quick pace to keep up with the demand, not a lot of time to yap about the past.

Funny that you mention that. I had a sweet little old man come into my shop and get a decal for his old F150, "Sally"- just a name in a nice 60's ad script with some pretty gold metallic. He told me about his son and how he was supposed to give him the truck and how he lost him in the Iraq conflict. He wasn't too sappy or anything but I could tell he just appreciated someone showing a little human decency so I humored him and he had a smile when he left.

2 months later, one of his other sons came into my shop and asked for me. He had just opened a new restaurant and wanted wallpaper done in the dining room. That 60 dollar vinyl job pretty much landed me a 12K wallpaper project. All it takes is a bit of empathy and caring about people and having passion for doing a good job. In the grand scope of things, signs tell stories- about people, about their work, their passion, their dreams. If you don't lose sight of that, it's easy to love this industry.