all over pricing

[BROWNDOG]

why does it seem sign shop pricing is all over the place.
i try to maintain my material x2 plus labor for most jobs, but come in all over the place compared to the 10 other shops on the block, and apparently its not just me, some times low sometimes really high,
cant we get our customers to spend with us like they do with their plumber

 

[Gino]

I dunno, maybe it's a regional problem.

 

[Marlene]

the reasons are many. I lost a job to someone who bid the job a lot less than me. I bid for a pan face, they bid for a flat face. right there the quotes aren't based on the same thing. sometimes it is a newbie who has no idea what to charge and has no standard for quoting a job. sometimes it's a dic$*h%#d who under cuts any bids out there. there is also the in- home sign shop vs the larger shops. the in-home shop owners costs are different from the guy who has a piece of property, trucks, vans, cranes and multi employees.

 

[Brandon708]

why does it seem sign shop pricing is all over the place.
i try to maintain my material x2 plus labor for most jobs, but come in all over the place compared to the 10 other shops on the block, and apparently its not just me, some times low sometimes really high,
cant we get our customers to spend with us like they do with their plumber

Great Question. All the money we spend on equipment and the skills we have we should be able to charge without haggling.

 

[dj_elite]

It seems lately I have to haggle with every customer

 

[jiarby]

Try using a good-better-best quoting system/

Quote the sign as they wanted, but then add another quote for the flat face "economy" version. Then add a "deluxe" version.

The customer does not know what they need.. it is up to you to be their sign expert and make a "good-better-best" recommendation to solve their problems.

 

[signpro]

i couldn't agree more, it's hard to price these days.
I got a guy down the road, same thing.. if he's slow he's cheap, if he's busy he's expensive. then the other guy, that does mainly T-shirts bought a roland and now prints banners for 1/4th of what every else in town sells them for, "becuase it's not his main income". now he's the D!CK

I try to always keep my pricing the same. i have a guide i made up and follow, similar to the estimating programs, that keeps all my prices 'similar'. i'll adjust if it's a good customer, etc. but for the most part, i'm very consistant.

 

[BROWNDOG]

weve been busy as $h*& this fall, getting way more jobs than i expected, trying to bump my pricing back up a little, which makes me wonder what everyone else is doing,
I long for the time and material jobs, i too tired to keep estimating or estimating the same job 3 times.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Try using a good-better-best quoting system/

Quote the sign as they wanted, but then add another quote for the flat face "economy" version. Then add a "deluxe" version.

The customer does not know what they need.. it is up to you to be their sign expert and make a "good-better-best" recommendation to solve their problems.

That's what I do. I also try to have samples of items that are close to what they are thinking about doing. That way they can see, touch all that good stuff. Sometimes they might have come in for the economy, but went out with the premium.

9 times out of 10, if they can see the end product they won't be trying to compare you to the "Wal-Mart" shop down the road.

Now, I will admit I am the at "home"(actually is a building that is next to my stables, not actually in the house) shop and not one that has it's own seperate facility. I don't see an issue with that, but some on these boards do. I charge what I need to charge to make a tidy profit. Sometimes I come in cheaper then other places, sometimes I don't. Just depends on what the customer is wanting. However, I always make a profit, I don't undercut intentionally. My products speak for themselves.

Unless you really know what the costs are for each individual shop(short/long term, materials etc) it's going to be really hard to say they are doing that for this reason or that reason. They might tell you supposedly why, but you would have to take them on their word.

 

[TheSnowman]

Can't we get our customers to spend with us like they do with their plumber?

Nope, cause our products don't throw crap all over them when they break. No one wants to touch poop...

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Nope, cause our products don't throw crap all over them when they break. No one wants to touch poop...

Let me tell you what. Back in May when we had that really nasty flood come in, my stallion's stall had 2 inches of water in it. Have any of y'all tried to shop vac a flooded stall? That's an honor y'all really don't want, trust me on that one.

 

[Pat Whatley]

All the money we spend on equipment and the skills we have we should be able to charge without haggling.

What you've spent on equipment should have no bearing at all on your pricing. You shouldn't be buying equipment until you're subbing so much work out that buying will only increase your profits (something it seems 90% of sign people don't do)