It's just frustrating. I had a small job, 2X8 Lexan, approx. 4sq. feet was digital, rest was just 2 colors (2 Mil. 3M Translucent). The customer came into the shop, left a deposit. Today I get a call asking if we had started the job yet. I let him know that it will be a few days before we begin. He then askes if he can get his deposit back. Naturally I asked why... Another "Sign Guy" will do the job FREE!!!??? The sign guy also sells a varity of other non-related sign products, and they had done business together in the past. So as a "Thank You" this sign will be on the house. If I lost the job to another sign guy thats one thing, but to a "Sign Guy" giving away signs??? Here is the big thing to me, it makes it look like everything we do is cheap, especially if someone could give it away. I am not beefing that I lost the job, I'm just beffin' that it makes the sign industry look bad when I have a quote for $450.00, and some will give it away.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Is the other guy really "giving it away"...or...did he quote a lower price?
Remember...."customers" have been know to lie!
Posted by Devin Fahie (Member # 3961) on :
Its a freebie, this has happend before.
Posted by Kathy Joiner (Member # 1814) on :
Find out what he sells and start giving it away Just kidding.
This is frustrating, but it makes you appreciate loyal clients. You are better off without folks like that. Stick with the ones that know the value of your work vs. free junk.
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Devin,
A truck lettering customer of mine stopped the other day and showed me a stack of free Edge printed decals of his logo, that he got from a local commercial equipment supply - rental dealer. Seems if you buy a piece of equipment, they supply you with decals for all your equipment .
With the proliferation of affordable sign systems being marketed to everyone, expect to see more of this.
Also several years back the local newspaper would sell ad space to various customers of mine. They would photograph my clients sign and digitize a logo for them for free. Made it quite hard to justify paying me to do it. That practice has stopped... wonder why?
The competition will take care of itself. I, like you, just cannot understand this free stuff.
Curt Stenz
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Devin,
A truck lettering customer of mine stopped the other day and showed me a stack of free Edge printed decals of his logo, that he got from a local commercial equipment supply - rental dealer. Seems if you buy a piece of equipment, they supply you with decals for all your equipment .
With the proliferation of affordable sign systems being marketed to everyone, expect to see more of this.
Also several years back the local newspaper would sell ad space to various customers of mine. They would photograph my clients sign and digitize a logo for them for free. Made it quite hard to justify paying me to do it. That practice has stopped... wonder why?
The competition will take care of itself. I, like you, just cannot understand this free stuff.
Curt Stenz
Posted by Steven Girard (Member # 3931) on :
Hi! Devin, got a bad idea ,,You know the value of your work's so next time you're gonna have a custummer who's askin for a cheap price,just tell him , go to that place and of course tel him that you heard from a couple that at that place sign are free..........lol
Posted by Kissymatina (Member # 2028) on :
Wow.
I know I've been sick this week, but I just read this thread 3 times. I must be halucinating cause it can NOT say what I think it says. A non-sign guy is going to do a "free" sign as a thank you? You get what you pay for.
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Hats off to the other "Sign Guy"!...another case of Rectal Cranial Infarction.
Frikkin Redonculous. Rapid
Posted by Gerald Barlow (Member # 3477) on :
I did some design work on a truck job last month. The job involved 6 new big Volvo tractors and two yard goats. The customer was (WAS) a repeat client for the last two years. I usually do gold leaf on their trucks but they wanted this to be straight ic vinyl. Anyhow after my drawings I never was notified of the trucks arrival. I called 4 times and left messages but no return call. I just found out they had the job done for free...as a perc from the truck dealer. He paid someone in Fresno to letter them. Oh, well...
Posted by John Arnott (Member # 215) on :
Devon, there's a lesson here that I learned long ago. If a customer EVER calls to and asks "Have you started anything yet". The answer is always YES. . . .enough as to use up their deposit!
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
same thing is happening in the paper printing industry. I have lost some customers because why pay $150 for biz cards when you can get them for $15 or sometimes even free! I know it's not the same quality, or even same printing technique, but what can you do? In the screenprinting business, people have been giving away artwork, screen charges, etc. to the point that it is impossible to bid competitively. People wonder why there is so much turnover and shops going out of business. You get what you pay for, period!!!!!!!
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
but... given a choice, it seems most people will... get what they don't pay for. (no matter what they get)
Like John said... when they call... you have always already started!! This is not just a "line" either, as we know, the consulting before we get that deposit is often the hardest part of the job.
Posted by Tasmus (Member # 445) on :
Where I am we re-sell biz cards and routinely get better than double our cost on them. Of course we don't have all the biz, by any means...but what we do we get paid for. I wrote in a couple weeks ago complainin' about the guy doing crappy cheapo truck lettering....my tactic in response has been to focus on and push my design skills, and it has been working. So persevere man! Push your strengths to differentiate yourself from the rest. Remember a FREE sack of DOGCRAP is still DOGCRAP!
B
Posted by Stephen Deveau (Member # 1305) on :
Deposits to me is MATERIALS.. Once the money is in my hand then the "Materials are Bought."
You cancel! Thats your business...But I have materials that I have No Need For! They will stand on the shelf and I will use them on the next project at your expense..Sorry! Posted by Matthew Rolli (Member # 4089) on :
Your honesty is comendable, however it may have cost you.....
Quote: "I let him know that it will be a few days before we begin."
The truth is that you already began! You went through the "dance" and got the job. Vagueness isn't always dishonest.
We've had people want to cancel at times, and we simply say that there is a cost to begin a job, just as there's a cost to complete the job.
Sorry to hear your frustrations, and to hear that a freebie is what replaced your work. Keep your chin up!
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
Wecome to the future. Yeah, companies can hand out free stickers, vinyl lettering, and maybe even business cards, but so what. It's still mostly junk. Just more mass produced crap, that doesn't set your business apart from the rest. I guess Joe Wino has gone public. But he still does'nt make any money.
Posted by Tony Vickio (Member # 2265) on :
I had the opposite happen to me!!! I was talking to the new coach of a Junior Varsity Football team and he asked what it would cost to do a single color logo on one side of the new helmets. I told him I would donate them to the team. He called me and said he was sending the art. I never heard from him after that. I ran into him the other day and I asked him about the art work and if he still needed the decals. He told one of the parents donated $100.00 to the team for the decals and they got them from another sign shop, but they were going to change logos next year and if I was willing to donate them he would call me. I told him to call...............I can't wait!
![[FYI]](graemlins/fyi.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Just kidding.![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
You get what you pay for.
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