We are doing a simple site sign for a business here in town that is relocating into a new building. Right now the location is just a field. The sign says future home of & has an arrow.
The problem is, I am dealing with 2 contacts from this one customer & they don't seem to agree on some of the very basic aspects of the sign. The guy thinks the type should be blue, the lady thinks it should be black. She thinks it should have this little leaf icon that is on her business card & he thinks the leaf thing is stupid. Both of them have said "I'll handle" the other one.
I honestly have no idea which one of them is really in charge or where either of them are in the company hierarchy. I sent a sketch out to both of them with 4 different layouts 2 blue & 2 black. Now I wait to see what happens.
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
My advice would be to deal with only one person if at all possible. It can get unnecessarily complicated if you don't.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Ben...I had to laugh at your problem..
I had a long standing client (10+ years) who I lettered probably 500 tractors and 300 trailers for over the years. They hired a couple of young, fresh out of college, kids who thought they knew everything. They were watching me work one day and made the common "quip" that I was doing one side the wrong way. Only they weren't "quipping"!! They were dead serious.
I told them to take a walk around the yard and look at every single tractor and trailer and then go ask the company's CEO if she thought I had been doing the work wrong for the last 10 years!!!!
They still refused to believe I was correct and I had to go to the CEO myself and take her to these two imbeciles to let her explain that they should mind their own business and leave me to do what I knew how to do.
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
In the beginning of the process I make it known that I only listen to one person - they decide among themselves who that is...especially churches.
Posted by Ricardo Davila (Member # 3854) on :
Ben,
Just give them 24 hours to resolve their differences and, then, have only one of them come and tell you what they want.........Otherwise,they have to get someone else.......Let's keep our dignity in place and stop being so tolerant, with these self proclaimed designers.....Not on my watch !
RD
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
Normally this doesn't happen, but in this case these two both had their hands in it from the very beginning. It is one of those things where I'm not even sure how we ended up in the middle & I'm sure they will figure a way to work it out. They're not really nitpicking the design or a problem to deal with, if anything it's kinda funny watching them back and forth. Most recently he wrote me back & said he liked one of the blue designs without an icon, but he would check with her first. So, my guess is tomorrow morning when I get in I will have an email from her requesting the black design with the icon. We will see.
Posted by Jane Diaz (Member # 595) on :
She is the administrator of the business and he is on the board. I'd say she should be handling it and he should listen to his adminstrator but he really is trying to take a "hands-on" approach.
[ January 22, 2014, 06:20 PM: Message edited by: Jane Diaz ]
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Who has the checkbook?
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Bem, you gave them FOUR designs? That's two too many! You need one severely poor, ghastly design, and one great one, and explain to them why the great one is better & more effective, and they'll both agree with you: problem solved!
Posted by Kelly Thorson (Member # 2958) on :
I'm with Ian on this, although I am so guilty of doing the same. Giving them too many choices muddies the waters - and frequently the sign.
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
It's a site sign & not a very complex one. One color block letters. The 4 layouts are to show with or without the leaf icon thing & black or blue text. I didn't spend hours doing different killer designs. The funny thing about it is that the basic decision of black or blue is the major point of contention. He said it "needs to be blue" & she said that they "have done away with blue". We'll see what today brings.
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
And... She picked the black sign with the icon. I must be psychic. I sent them an email saying:
quote:I'm not really sure who has the final say on this sign & I am getting very different directions from both of you. I will let you decide between the two of you which direction I need to go.
In the mean time I'm gonna go pop some popcorn because I got a feeling I'm about to be front row for a really good show.
Posted by Ricardo Davila (Member # 3854) on :
Ben,
That was an outstanding response, on your part....!!
RD
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
I just got a call from the guy. He basically said that him & her are a team & that they have been making all of the other decisions on this new facility as a team. He said that they would figure it out & he would let me know which direction they wanted to go in. He also added that he thought his idea of how it should be was good & that hers was bad.
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
We have our final decision & drumroll...... It looks like she wins. Well sorta, now instead of the sign saying future home of the business's name with an arrow pointing toward the site, it will say the business's name have an arrow toward the site & will say future home of at the bottom of the sign. We are also doing another sign to go at the site which will say future home of the business's name & has the stupid leaf icon in the middle. Whatever, at least we have a final say & they have what makes them happy.
Posted by Shirley Carron (Member # 2446) on :
In black or blue, Ben?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
How about really dark blue?
Of course, the clients might be black and blue after they get the pecking order straightened out...
[ January 23, 2014, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
Posted by Ben Diaz (Member # 7319) on :
Black. Oh & she came in just before the days end to make one last change. Now it's supposed to say future home instead of future home of. Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
25 years ago, a 7-biz-architecht comp paid me 200 US to have a 2 hour-meeting just to tell them to shut up and let men do the work Posted by stein Saether (Member # 430) on :
One order: one customer; or else you wind up beeing a negotiator insteed of a painter.
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Time to bring in the Henry Ford clause - you can have any colour as long as it's... [whatever we have most of on the shelf and want to get rid of fastest] Any other singular colour will be a bit more expensive...
[ January 24, 2014, 05:48 AM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
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We are also doing another sign to go at the site which will say future home of the business's name & has the stupid leaf icon in the middle. Whatever, at least we have a final say & they have what makes them happy.
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