They said they wanted to be able to take them down and reuse them. I explained that the coro would not stand up to being taken down and put back up, and suggested they use pvc instead. So i gave them a price for this option as well.
Long story short, they choked on my price. They expected a price more along the lines of $200 for all.
Before I say what price I quoted, I would be interested in hearing what you folks would have charged.
------------------
MacElite, aka John Rodgers
Prodigy Sign Systems
Atlanta, GA
Are you saying $200 for all? They want to pay $2 per sign, for something that's custom die cut, and lettered ... AND, they want it to be reusable?!!
Tell them you're looking for a modest 5 bedroom Colonial, with custom kitchens and bath for around $80,000 ... AND, it has to have a water view.
Sounds like you don't need these folks on your client list, IMHO,
Jim
------------------
Jim Doggett
Vice President
Summa, Inc.
------------------
joe pribish-A SIGN MINT
2811 longleaf Dr.
pensacola, fl 32526
850-944-5060
BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND
------------------
Bill Preston
Fly Creek, N.Y. USA
signpntr@capital.net
------------------
"surf" or "MoJo54" on mirc
Cheryl J Nordby
Signs by Cheryl
(206) 300-0153
Seattle WA.....!
Whatever you are...be a good one! Abraham Lincoln
http://signsbycheryl.homestead.com/home.html
http://mojosignco.homestead.com/home.html
------------------
When good things happen...that must be a sign!!
Tony McDonald
DBA-Ace Graphics & Printing
P.O. Box 91
Camdenton, MO. USA
(573) 346-6696
<daddyo@advertisnet.com>
<tony@brownbeverage.com>
------------------
a.k.a. Brian Born
Harrisburg, Pa
717.652.9073
members.home.net/sign-it/
This isn't Burger King, you can't have it your way.
A few years ago, I got a call from a realtor who wanted a price on one 24"x6" rider D/F, red on white, that read "For Rent". I quoted him $20. I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He said Dee-Sign had them for $1.89 each. And, he was right. They did. Only, it was a stock item printed on Duron (painted pressboard) and he would have had to have ordered a minimum of 20 of them. I find that most reators really don't pay much attention to the fine-print.
It is still up to us to educate them as we should any customer. Some of my best customers are realtors these days.
------------------
Warning: A well designed sign may cause fatigue due to increased business.
http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphics
walldog@geeksnet.com
Don't bother with the residential stuff. I Give them the dee-sign magazine when the say it's for residential signs. I tell em to call me when you need COMMERCIAL signs.
These are the 4 x 8 lease/sale/build to suit. Keep the high-end work and let the rest go. Since I don't do any advertising, I send fruit baskets to these guys during the holidays and Birthday cards/chocolates to the Sec. who places the order with me. TAKE THAT DEE-SIGNS! (and all of my local competetors who can't get their foot in the door with all those full color mailers & free-bees)
They have refered all those new tennants who need every sign you can think of, - thats where the real money is, and thats where you get full price and a repeat customer.
Make friends, Get rich.
------------------
you know, glenn... i can agree on your point about trying to educate your clients but it does seem that there has to be a point when you stop.
we have a client base that deals with us because we offer excellent work at decent ( we ain't the highest priced shop in town but we are far from the cheapest) prices and we service our customers far better than most of the shops around us.
there are ways to avoid this situations... don't quote over the phone unless you get to call them back. find out where they got your name. weed out the people that are obviously shopping around for price.
i used to get real "p.o.'d" when these things happened to us. i have learned to get over and have grown thicker skin. i just don't take it personally anymore. potential clients have the right to spend their money with whoever they deem fit. if they want to go "bottom line" then let them get what they pay for.
i do get tired of the "i quoted a job today and the client choked" stories. it's a fact of life. there will always be someone out there willing to work for less. always. i just don't plan on being one of them.
have a great one!
------------------
Bruce Bowers
DrCAS
Signtech
"how great are His signs..."
Daniel 4:3
i am a proud supporter of this website!
you know, glenn... i can agree on your point about trying to educate your clients but it does seem that there has to be a point when you stop.
we have a client base that deals with us because we offer excellent work at decent ( we ain't the highest priced shop in town but we are far from the cheapest) prices and we service our customers far better than most of the shops around us.
there are ways to avoid this situations... don't quote over the phone unless you get to call them back. find out where they got your name. weed out the people that are obviously shopping around for price.
i used to get real "p.o.'d" when these things happened to us. i have learned to get over and have grown thicker skin. i just don't take it personally anymore. potential clients have the right to spend their money with whoever they deem fit. if they want to go "bottom line" then let them get what they pay for.
i do get tired of the "i quoted a job today and the client choked" stories. it's a fact of life. there will always be someone out there willing to work for less. always. i just don't plan on being one of them.
have a great one!
------------------
Bruce Bowers
DrCAS
Signtech
"how great are His signs..."
Daniel 4:3
i am a proud supporter of this website!
Well, as I see it, you can never stop educating your customers. I almost lost a $50k per year customer when I did.
I know realtors can be frustrating. Its hard not to let them iritate the crap out of you. A long time ago, I asked the Lord to teach me patience. I've been getting realtors as clients ever since!
------------------
Warning: A well designed sign may cause fatigue due to increased business.
http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphics
walldog@geeksnet.com
I do not feel this post was just another "customer choked on my quote" post. I feel I had a legitimate question here. I quoted my customer a price of around $1000.00 for a job and later that day the customer gets their second quote from speedy ****-a-rama at $300.00 for the same specs. When this happens, I WANT TO KNOW; (1) is my pricing that far off? (2) if I am that far off, what can I do to get my prices in line?
Are there companies out there that sell blanks that are already cut into various shapes, ie., stars, circles, ellipses etc. I have never heard of a company that does this, but that is all i can think of.
thanks folks
------------------
MacElite, aka John Rodgers
Prodigy Sign Systems
Atlanta, GA
Now that I'm here in my office, I pulled up my EstiMate program to see what it came up with.
100) 16"x16" coroplast; screen printed on one side.... $2.77 each.
This does not include the adhesive backing.
The hard-numbers works as follows....
*Expenses*
Materials - $61.44
Office/Design Labor - $22.82
Production Labor/Overhead - $93.48
------
Expense is $177.74
*Profit*
Materials - $61.44
Profit from Labor - $38.76
Rounding/Overridden Price - (-)0.94
------
Profit is $99.26
Included in the totals is $55 for making the screen, setting it up and clean up afterward.
45 seconds is alloted for each print.
Total amount of time spent in production would be 2hrs 14mins.
A decent screenprinter can print much faster than 45 seconds per pull which actually translates into more profit for you.
These figures do not include any art or typesetting charges. I usually charge seperately for that.
Anyhow, I hope you find this useful.
------------------
Warning: A well designed sign may cause fatigue due to increased business.
http://members.tripod.com/taylor_graphics
walldog@geeksnet.com
[This message has been edited by Glenn Taylor (edited December 12, 2000).]
Mac, you probably never will figure out how the other guy came up with a price soooooo much cheaper than you. Like Bruce pointed out, it's a fact of life that will always be there. My experience with these type things is that they usually fall into three types of catagories. One, the guy is set up to do dirt cheap work at dirt cheap prices making a small profit off a sizable hassle, he has an answer for the star shape possibly a supplier or he hiself has a die, two the guy is an idiot and is losing his ass on the job, and thirdly, and I find this one to be the most common, he quoted the price for a different job, ie. the star shape was screened and not cut out.------------------
George Perkins
Millington,TN.
goatwell@ionictech.com
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
------------------
Jimmy Chatham
Chatham Signs
164 Poplar Rd.
Commerce, Ga 30529
706-335-2348
Fax 706-335-3378
icq#11718273
