have a 'over-the-top' paint job on a silent salesman (shop truck) for a bit and after the first few weeks of having it out there you start to think, ahh well no one really notices it... then take it off the road for repairs or whatever for a few weeks and notice the 25% drop in new walk ins and phone calls

yes dave each time devo has wrecked or fixed one of our heaps we have seen the evidence

cheers
gail

BUT! It does result in lots of new work!

I HAVE had people contact me and mention the van. Those are the ones I know about. But I firmly believe that a well done shop vehicle, even if it doesn't result in people rushing up to order signs because of it, sends out a message that you are a professional.

My last one was a 74 Mercury in Grabber Blue(real close to Process Blue) with 9 other colors in the graphics. My present "truck" is an 85 Chevy Caprice that is a little more subtle. Basic White(no chrome) with Bright Orange flames, steel wheels, baby moons, and trim rings.

When I finished the first one, my wife said she didn't think this town was ready for anything like that. Within the first month, my business more than doubled. I still get lots of calls and people say, "Are you the guy with the car?"

My partner's truck is lettered similarly but has a gold leaf outline and uses an airbrushed fade on the lettering.

We both have "see thru" prints in the rear windows. The window provided an excellent area to letter while the prints allow us to remain compliant with applicable motor vehicle codes as far as blocking the driver's vision. We also tinted the rear window just a bit lighter than "limo-type" window tint.

We have found that the trucks offer excellent advertising exposure. We have sold many jobs off the trucks since we have had them.

We have also found that having your name lettered boldy on your vehicle gives you an air of permanance and professionalism. We have found that people tend to take us a bit more seriously than people who have no lettering on their vehicles.

It is hard to justify to your customer that they need to have the "bomb" lettering job on their vehicles when you can't be bothered to listen to your own advice and letter your own. Ask me how I know...

And yeah, they almost always ask me if I 'do' signs....!
(design by Percell Signs)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
And at Christmas....

A

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: AdrienneMorgan ]

My van has been my ONLY way of advertising my business.

I droped the phone book add...not effective with 30 shops in the area to compete with.

I droped the web site, it didn't work either.

So we lettered our van up very wild looking for this area, and made a place for people to take magnetic business cards right off the vehicle.

When I park at restaurants or stores or building supply centers, a few cards are always missing when I return to the van. Later the phone rings.

Word of mouth is the best, then next best is people seeing your van and wanting something similar.

If you letter your truck up to look quick and cheap...thats the response you will generate.

Have to say my truck brings in the work, since it is my only ad. Not even a sign in front of the house. The local zoning restrictions don't allow for a sign of any size other than too small to be effective. With the truck, I have been going with the less is better philosophy, making the whole layout only take up about one third the width of the door. Multi-colors with some airbrush stuff to give the ribbons some 3-d effect. Wish I knew how to post pics-------- but.

[ October 25, 2001: Message edited by: Bill Preston ]

[ October 25, 2001: Message edited by: Bill Preston ]

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: AdrienneMorgan ]

if not, this does

Terry

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Terry Bull Sign & Custom ]

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Terry Bull Sign & Custom ]

[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Terry Bull Sign & Custom ]

Never did any of those calls ever result in a job. Lots of price bids, but no serious leads. I was amazed! One guy even went so far as to follow me home, waste a half hour yapping about his new restaurant and never returned any of my calls, once I tried to let him know I had some designs for his inspection. I drove by his place later and the signs he bought were the saddest I have ever seen. He was out of business in six months.

Last winter I moved up to a new Chevy truck and just leaf lettered the door with my name and phone. No tag line about signs or design work. I have had three calls this year in traffic requesting I show up at their place to do a job. Not a single price request! Only people who knew who I was or repeat customers.

I guess my hunch was right that big and bold just grabbed the bozos and conversely, discreet and simple got the people who already knew about me. Now, I do not rely on the retail trade and generally only work for market managers of fastfooders, grocery chains and the car doggies. It is rare I do a job for any small business or fresh start-up, who both generally tend to be more price conscious and less concerned about getting something of my unique talents.

I agree, sometimes people are just shopping around. Of all the cards I hand out, I don't get many calls from them later. BUT, now I ask them for thier card or phone number too, that way, if I don't hear from them in a week, I call THEM!

I'm enjoying seeing all these shop trucks

i become bored easily, i have a new more effective ad in mind.

coming soon!

[ October 23, 2001: Message edited by: Stephen Broughton ]

[ October 24, 2001: Message edited by: old paint ]