The economy of the past few years have been hard on small businesses—the very businesses most sign shops serve. Ray and Rose Grossi of Midwest Signworks in Morris, IL, have felt the squeeze just like everyone. They've been established for over 25 years, but when things tightened up for their customers,
it affected their shop as well. "A lot of our customers," says Ray, "especially those in the building trades, just weren't doing any work. When their phone stops ringing, ours does, too."
So he and Rose have outlined a strategy to help keep the work coming in. Here are a few things they’ve implemented that are starting to pay off:
Fine-tune your prices. Because it’s often a fine line between what is worth their time and what will chase a customer away, now Ray and Rose quote what they’d like to get for the job, then negotiate with the customer to remove features if necessary to stay within their budget. Even modest upgrades bump up prices and entice customers, and that boosts sales.
Call them back today. They make it a point to return every customer contact, whether it’s a phone message or an email, promptly. “Back when things were going crazy,” says Ray, “some calls just fell
through the cracks. We don't let that happen anymore. The last thing we want to do is return a potential customer’s call the day after they went somewhere else with their business."
Take a look at your image. Another step for Midwest Signworks was an updated image—particularly their website. Ray points out that for many new customers, the Midwest Signworks home page is the
first impression of their shop and what they do. “Our site needs work,” Rose says, “but we know what we want it to do. We want customers to know that we're more than just a sign shop. We offer logo design and other related advertising products as well.”
Put the time in. Finally, Ray and Rose decided that they needed to put in more hours at the shop. While the longer hours aren't fun, it shows on the bottom line.
Offer related products. Many sign shops have discovered that they’re leaving money on the table by not offering related products and services to their customers. T-shirts, caps, decals, yard signs, business cards and other stationery are just a few of the things a customer needs—along with his new sign. And these items (unlike a sign) often lead to ongoing sales as customers use them up.
You’ll find a feature article on Ray and Rose in the January/February 2012 issue of SignCraft.