Great White of Signs: Two 1/2 Decades so Far

  What to do to get the new year off to a great start?!! Sometimes it's the verbiage we use to gain attention from current and dormant customers. REFRESH In our personal lives we like to have a New Beginning or Fresh Start to the new year.  Our customers very well want the same for their business! Ask them for a conversation about a refresh of their space.  It can be as small as an office wall sign.  Or as big as a refresh to the brand throughout the entire space. But before you reach out, have some ideas in your back pocket.  Small and big!  Creative wayfinding, illuminated signage, a green wall w/ logo, awards, etc. The most important thing to know about approaching your customer for a refresh is they may very much not welcome your ideas, have the budget or need one.  But guess what?!  Your ideas don't even matter.  It's all about a touch.  It's all about your customer seeing that you care about their business. So whether they begin a ...

  Ever get a "We won't be moving forward" response after you spent so much time on a proposal bid?  So frustrating right?? First, make sure before you spend all of that time and effort, you have qualified this project and/or customer.  Will they be a frequent orderer, is it one of many locations, are they nice to work with?  Sometimes even the big ticket price projects are not a good fit for your or your center. If you think they are good fit and a target account, then it's worth the time and effort.  So when they just send a short statement of "We won't be moving forward with this", what do you do?  Scream and cry a little?  Maybe. Always respond in a kind and professional way but definitely ask why they won't be moving forward.  Their answer could very much keep the door open.  If they say it's a budget thing, could you offer alternative signs or do they have to wait until next quarter?  Did they get a better cost from someone else?...

  by Jay Baer At the 2024 Fastsigns Sales Summit in Schaumburg IL, we had a motivational speaker Jay Baer talk to us.  His research showed that customers want to see quickness, clear communication and kindness as their top priority wants and needs. Our company motto is to be Professional Urgent & Friendly.  So I love how these topics align with us! I made a video about these findings and how I used them to do an exercise with our team.  Check out the link below and please share your findings with me! https://photos.app.goo.gl/oCUGjHQBzmmcXesY9 Let's keep showing our customers why they want to work with US!

  When I have meetings with employees from all the different departments, the common struggle is communication.  How do we make communication better?   Are the sales and customer service reps making enough notes?  Are the designers putting enough details in the proofs?  Is the production team even looking at rush jobs? I think when you have a smaller space and fewer employees, they rely on walking to each other and tapping someone on the shoulder.  Which is easy to do but a big interrupter of work flow.  When you have a bigger space and a lot of employees, walking to each other is less ideal.  So you rely on calling their phone if they have one or emailing and texting. We have some employees who like digital communication, including email and shared docs or POS systems on a computer monitor or TV screen.  We have employees who would rather look at a printout on paper or dry erase board.  Or maybe even snail mail!  Lol In our in...

  I love writing about the sign industry and all of my experiences. I thought why not introduce myself on a more personal level. I am a mom of an almost 18 year old son.  Graduating class of 2024.  Let me tell you this kid has a beautiful genius mechanical mind.  I could never attempt to learn or know what he does.  NO chance of getting him to join the world of signs Ha! I have a sister a couple years younger than me and a brother 13 years younger than me.  Obviously mom wasn't done.  My sister has 6 beautiful children and a new grandbaby.  Our family keeps getting bigger and we couldn't be more happy about it.  My brother probably decided long ago being an uncle at an early age that his sisters had enough kids for his lifetime.  My brother is an amazing hunter and fisherman so when he's not working he's outside doing something! When i was going to community college I was working and also visiting my grandparents nearby to help with my M...

There's no I in TEAM!  Even when you are a super successful salesperson this rings true.  The biggest task on hand for a manager is to keep the salespeople and production employees in harmony.  I tell salespeople to butter them up because they are the ones who bring the project across the finish line.  Right?! Being the best Leader is to be a follower.  I learn SO much from my teams!  And they are the ones that take my crazy ideas and turn them into fabricated signs.  Like literally a hand drawing with hand written notes, and they turn that into a custom corner pan sign w/ dimensional letters. When salespeople are working on a quote, a lot of times they have to consult with their team to make sure they present the best option and an accurate cost.  Installers can tell you how long it will take so you can charge accordingly.  Production will tell you that your hand drawn idea is a NO GO, but at least you'll know before presenting it to your cu...