200-300 office signs. price as maintenance agreement?

[toucan_graphics]

I came across a commercial property management company as a potential client today and they are looking to remake every name and door placard in their 2 buildings. This is easily 200-300 office spaces (maybe more) with a placard on each door for the occupant and of course the office number. In addition, they asked about sign changes for the street sign as well as the directory signs in the lobby of each building.

I've always been fairly small-time and this is one of the largest projects of this type to date. (the last one like this was only 18 offices and only one placard each)
It looks as though it cold be long term, repeat business. I have a verbal commitment from them contingent on cost.

Should I price this as a maintenance agreement and if so, what method would be best? I usually charge by the foot, plus shop time, but in this instance think it might not be the best way.

Below is an example and I could possibly be doing a few hundred of these as well as lobby signs and a street sign. Then onesie-twosies after that as occupants come and go.

Anny input or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[CES020]

Just price it as a normal job. No maintenance agreement. At one point, we handled the signs for entire buildings like this for about 70 buildings total. When we'd get requests for new building signs, we'd quote it as a individual job, quoting it all. There really isn't any maintenance for this work. When a new tenant moves in, the property management will order a new suite sign, new directory strip, and anything else needed for that new tenant. More often than not, it's charged back directly to the customer anyway.

Also, the complete up fit with new signs comes out of the common area maintenance (CAM) fund, so the tenants are actually paying for the upgrade, whether they know it or not. They'd like it to be in a lump sum, so that can charge it off easily. Turning it into a long time maintenance agreement would just be more work for them, having to code that bill each month, rather than just a 1 time thing, in my opinion.

Other's experiences my be different, but it's been part of our business since the business was started about 15 years ago so I've worked with property managers for a long time now.

 

[TheSnowman]

Do you have all the equipment to do this, or are you going to sub it out? I'd sub it to Gene @ C&C Engraving and be done with it and collect my sweet moolah.

 

[John Butto]

I do not see a problem of you being a small shop. Get a price from a wholesale company, give your customer your price, receive them and install. No maintenance agreement, just break down in your bill the price for just one order and up to ten and so forth. Make it simple, don't complicate it.

 

[GB2]

I was once was considering the purchase of another sign company that had work of this type. They did signs just as you are proposing using a unique color substrate that was engraved. What they did was purchase the substrate by the case, or whatever it was, then charge their customer lets say $1000 every time they bought a case and then just charged for the engraving, let's say $15 for every sign they engraved after that. So it was sort of a maintenance agreement or a contract to provide services. This worked since they did all the engraving themselves, this way they would never get stuck with unused material and it guaranteed future work.