A man owned a small business in Colorado. The Colorado Wage & Hour Dept. claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
"Well," replied the business owner, "there's my best hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The technician has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500 per week plus free room and board."
"Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night."
"That's the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit," says the agent.
"That would be me," replied the business owner
Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
How true that is. Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
I think Dave was at my shop.
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Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
I see Dave and I both Have the same Dept. of Labor Rep.. Hows SF doing. Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
I like the way you think Dave!
Posted by Dave Shirk (Member # 106) on :
The little town of South Fork is at 8200ft.elevation in the Southern Colorado mountains, at the base of Wolf Creek Pass. (If you old guys remember the song. "Haulin' chickens outta' Wiggins" The millionaires that got kicked-out of Vail and Aspen by the billionaires are coming here to build golf and ski developments, so we're getting much of that dimensional work, and tons of Real Estate signs. It's pretty rough here in the winter time and we can't do post-frame installs in the ground untill this past week when the ground thawed. There's only two sign shops here and the other one doesn't do dimensional work like we do. We found that these very wealthy individuals and corporations have money they are usually tight-ass penny pinchers. It's taken me years to develop sales skills to deal with most of these people, and to try to make the bottom line in the black instead of the red. I just love this site, and knowing that we're not alone with our triumphs and losses, and that I've seen so many of your faces and articles in SignCraft magazine and others mags. Hang in there and don't let your brushes dry out!
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
Hey Dave, I can't say that I recognize the song. Is it country? Also, how do you think they became wealthy? Was it by being generous with their money? I don't think so Stick to your guns when it comes to your prices. When I first started out in this business, I had to deal with a certain type of clientelle that liked to negotiate a better deal. It was just the way they did business. So, we raised your prices 20% and let them talk us down 10% - 15%. The difference covers the hassles of playing their game
Havin'fun,
Checkers
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Dave.....the best way to deal with these people is to start out extremely high priced and when they start to look for a lower price, give them a qiesttionable look and say" Hmm, maybe I should be asking you for a financial statement! Sounds like you may not be able to afford me!" Remember, these are the people that normally shop at Gucci, Armani, etc., and extremely high prices confer quality and exclusivity! The few that you will lose, are more than made up by doubling your normal profit.
Posted by Dave Shirk (Member # 106) on :
Checkers and Si, you are right on with the pricing game. Over the years we have relied on the creative input from a variety of sources including foremost our LetterHead friends, and strive with every new design to bring new and upscale elements into our product. Marketing 101 in school teaches up about the law of "Percieved Value" 'The silver colored diamond broach with the $3500.00 price tag has got to be better than the identical one with the $300.00 price tag' right? We've found this to be true in almost all aspects of sales. Si, I know you probably still go through a bunch of gold leaf and you're selling the upscale image that this conveys to your customers customer. We've got to keep beating the drum to the newbies that we're selling an image to our customers. Keep our prices where they need to be, and there's pleanty of work out there for everyone! So, keep beating the drum and don't let your brushes dry out.
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