Best Way to get new customers?

[Shaun.x729]

Hello Everyone,

I have started a side business as a signage reseller. I worked on the project management side of things in a few sign companies in the past.

I was always closing inbound leads but never prospecting ( Not part of my role)

I am finding it very time consuming to build a prospecting list and cold calling to gain introductions.

Can I get your advice on what you did to get new customers from SCRATCH. Referrals cant help me here as I don't have any customers yet.

Thanks so much!

 

[ams]

What exactly are you doing? I am assuming you aren't making any signs, you just get an order and sub it out? The customer winds up paying double the amount.
It'd be better to work at a sign shop as a salesman.

 

[James Burke]

Can I get your advice on what you did to get new customers from SCRATCH. Referrals cant help me here as I don't have any customers yet.

Believe it or not, there are still customers out there who desire to be courted and that will require time and effort. You have to go out and chase them down. It's not like fishing where you sit around and wait for nibbles. It's more like bear hunting...with a knife...except not as much blood and danger is involved. At least not in my customer segments.

Surround yourself with people that know people. Show your face, smile and shake hands. But in the end, you have to solve problems for people. Stephen Capper (A-1 Awards, Inc. Indianapolis, IN) always said that "people buy from people". Typically, those same customers will be repeat customers who will evangelize for you.

IMHO, unless you're armed to the teeth with the latest SEO and fulfillment capabilities, the old fashioned way is still the most effective and rewarding way to go about it.

To me, the book "Raving Fans" seems a bit over simplified and syrupy (I'm over 50 and it explains the obvious SOPs back in my day). But I think it will become a best seller again as ever spiral toward the coldness of digital "everything" (marketing, contact, sales, fulfillment, follow up, etc...)

Personally, I consider myself a craftsman first and a salesman second. My greatest goal is a job well-done, and as ironic as it may seem, lead conversion ranks somewhere near the bottom of my list right now as we have been very busy (it wasn't always that way, though).

JB

 

[Shaun.x729]

Thanks for replys so far

To Answer the first question.

I am subbing it out. I am lucky to have some very good trade companies in Vancouver. I am selling everything at market rate so I am in line with regular full service sign companies. Things that I am not competitive with are the small jobs that are in the $100 -$200 dollar range

For the second reply thanks. I thought as much!

My thoughts have been validated : just have to grind over a long period of time doing whatever I can to get customers.

If anyone else has a story that would be kind enough to relay on how you got your first customers I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Fred Weiss]

Create a nice mailing piece and send it to new business licensees in your area. These are usually available from your county government either online or in person and are public information. Screen out locations or business types you may not want.

Check for new building permits and drive by to look for activity. Mail, phone, leave a brochure or cold call the contractors as appropriate as well as occupants when they appear.

Doll up your vehicle to advertise your services.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Plan a vacation, that always makes them show up!

 

[Marlene]

To Answer the first question.

I am subbing it out. I am lucky to have some very good trade companies in Vancouver. I am selling everything at market rate so I am in line with regular full service sign companies. Things that I am not competitive with are the small jobs that are in the $100 -$200 dollar range

For the second reply thanks. I thought as much!

My thoughts have been validated : just have to grind over a long period of time doing whatever I can to get customers.

If anyone else has a story that would be kind enough to relay on how you got your first customers I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

how do you explain what you do to the customers you do have? you aren't a sign shop or a sign pro but will sub out their sign needs. who specs what is purchased and how do you provide the signs? do you find a customer that needs a sign then you contact a sign shop to figure out what they need and what will work? not sure how this works or how to sell your services as most don't need a go between to buy a sign

 

[Gino]

Sounds like you are trying to start a sign brokering business. Based upon your profile, you are entering the industry with nothing except..... you wanna try it.

It takes all kinds to make the world go round, but please let me ask you a few questions......

• Can you design..... or will that be farmed out, too ??
• Do you have all of your wholesalers lined up ??
• Do you intend to install anything at all ??
• Are you even allowed to work around electrical signs, let alone their installations ??
• How much time do you expect to put into this, since you are already finding it too hard to find your first customer ??

I like helping people, but what have you done so far, that has failed ?? No sense our beating ourselves up, with ideas you've already tried or can't or won't do.

​

 

[TimToad]

I'd be curious to know how you established fair market prices. Did you do some kind of market survey, polling of local shops you'd consider peers, etc.?

Also, say I'm one of your vendors and in order for you to charge the regular market rate, I'm doing your work for 75% of that regular rate, I can guarantee you that whenever I get a full price job, your job gets pushed back behind it.

As long as you can deal with the scheduling of others affecting your promises to customers, the potential for skimping on materials, effort or reliability to make up for the wholesale discount your vendors must absorb, and the face to face interface that your vendors will have with your clients, nothing beats hard work and determination.

My best advice is get your process for choosing vendors and why as organized as possible, wrap your head around the idea that in exchange for not owning any of the equipment, talent or hands on knowledge of signmaking, your role is limited to being a salesperson and project manager.

After that, do what you say and never settle for less than full customer satisfaction. If you can work all those factors out, anybody can sell anything.

 

[Shaun.x729]

Thanks for the replys

I am acting exactly like an outside sales person for a sign company
I do have trade companies lined up already whop specifically print for Trade printers

Gemini for example, Howmac, WS displays ect.

For stuff I need printed in Vancouver I have 3 printers I have created an agreement with.
I have connects with various installers who will do my installations.

I have a Company called TDH who is a whole sale signage company in Vancouver who arranges everything.

I am striving for 33% margin overall

I have a Company called TDH who is a whole sale electrical signage company in Vancouver who arranges everything.

The real reason I am doing this is because I just dont have enough capital to start a sign shop and dont want to burden myself with overhead till I have some consistent revenue

My goal is to acquire customers first and with the profit move to a store front.

I can design and set up files for print.

I am have been in the sign industry 5 years so I have enough knowledge to talk to clients clearly.

 

[TimToad]

Thanks for the replys

I am acting exactly like an outside sales person for a sign company
I do have trade companies lined up already whop specifically print for Trade printers

Gemini for example, Howmac, WS displays ect.

For stuff I need printed in Vancouver I have 3 printers I have created an agreement with.
I have connects with various installers who will do my installations.

I have a Company called TDH who is a whole sale signage company in Vancouver who arranges everything.

I am striving for 33% margin overall

I have a Company called TDH who is a whole sale electrical signage company in Vancouver who arranges everything.

The real reason I am doing this is because I just dont have enough capital to start a sign shop and dont want to burden myself with overhead till I have some consistent revenue

My goal is to acquire customers first and with the profit move to a store front.

I can design and set up files for print.

I am have been in the sign industry 5 years so I have enough knowledge to talk to clients clearly.

Your business plan is riddled with unrealistic expectations and question marks surrounding how the work gets done, by who, when and for how much. We do a fair amount of wholesale work for other local sign companies who lack the same equipment or expertise. I'd never in a million years do a job for them for 67% of what its really worth. Its well and good to acknowledge that you have no capital and don't want to "burden" yourself with overhead, but those things kind of come with the territory regardless of who is ultimately doing the work. Where will your office be? In your apartment? Will you be going to every single client's location to transact your business?

Well, that takes a car or truck and somewhere to call your office. That's overhead. That cuts into that 33% you expect to make off every job. That's also a very time consumptive way of doing business. All this eats into your time to design and manage your projects.

As soon as you stated your profitability expectations, I knew you hadn't done your homework or have the real world experience you claim.

I find it hard to believe that there are vendors up there desperate enough to take on your work and have you retain nearly all the profit.

Sorry, but the gift of gab and five years of working for others does not make a broker worthy of a 33% profit off every job you touch. You'll never compete with the established brick and mortar shops who have outside salespeople that already have a huge headstart on you. If you are only working production right now in a shop, I know this management stuff must look easy, but managing a business eats up an enormous amount of time and non-productive labor. Even with all the equipment in house, tax writeoffs, decades worth of expertise, etc. 33% profit is a pretty lofty goal when its all said and done.

 

[Shaun.x729]

Thanks for the replys.

At the end of the day having sold whole sale signage products I have been marketing them up 80%

So If I get an item from a vendor for $1000 I will strive to sell if for 1800.

I worked for a franchise signage company and this is what I was told to do.

Sorry if I wast clear regarding profit. I know its not on every job. Also I do have costs. I am just looking at the potential for an average jobs before cost.

My cost of operation is 350 approximately.
Covers, subscriptions, hosting, phones, virtual office ect.

Car is dependent on how much i drive to customers.

EITHER WAY this is getting far away from my point.

I am just asking others experience on gaining new customers from scratch.

I already know its going to take grinding the pavement and my contacts to get going.

I am under no illusion that this will work. I have seen quite a few brick and mortars fail as well.

No customers= no business.

 

[CanuckSigns]

I agree 33% is very ambitious, very few wholesalers will give you enough of a discount off retail to allow you to mark something up 33% and remain competitive.

 

[TimToad]

Thanks for the replys.

At the end of the day having sold whole sale signage products I have been marketing them up 80%

So If I get an item from a vendor for $1000 I will strive to sell if for 1800.

I worked for a franchise signage company and this is what I was told to do.

Sorry if I wast clear regarding profit. I know its not on every job. Also I do have costs. I am just looking at the potential for an average jobs before cost.

My cost of operation is 350 approximately.
Covers, subscriptions, hosting, phones, virtual office ect.

Car is dependent on how much i drive to customers.

EITHER WAY this is getting far away from my point.

I am just asking others experience on gaining new customers from scratch.

I already know its going to take grinding the pavement and my contacts to get going.

I am under no illusion that this will work. I have seen quite a few brick and mortars fail as well.

No customers= no business.

In addition to my critical analysis of your business model, I offered several concrete ways to spur sales.

Our craft is one that is best sold by the visual appeal of jobs already completed, so you'll need to put a little portfolio together of jobs as you do them in as professional and appealing format as you can. Having project addresses is a great way to spur potential clients to seek out your work.

Stopping in at businesses with signs in distress near jobs you are delivering or installing is another good way. My typical intro is "Hi, I was next door putting up your neighbor's sign and noticed yours is looking a little tired." Or something to that effect. They can easily go look at what you just did for their neighbor and see what kind of quality you are capable of.

I guess a question I'd have that hasn't been asked yet is fairly obvious? Are you a good and/or experienced salesperson?

I think lots of people think they are good salespeople only to find themselves languishing in used car lots, bouncing from sales job to sales job, or failing to ever really sell much of anything no matter what the product is.

You'll find most folks here and in our craft itself are drawn to it from the creative side of themselves first and then we learn how to be good business people after many years of experience. We have artistic talents or skills that lend themselves to this type of work and its a rare one of us who is great at both the creative and the business end of things right from the start.

That being said, being really talented and hard working makes up for a whole lot of business prowess in this wonderful trade many of us have devoted our lives to. At least for a while until economic realities force us to become smart, efficient business minded people.

 

[HDvinyl]

Where's Adtechia's advice when you need it??

 

[Posterboy]

Business networking is a reliable solid way to get new customers. It can take time, but it works.
Try BNI, they have chapters in Vancouver. It has a great setup, a little demanding, but it's like anything, you get out what you put in.
http://bnibc.ca/find_a_chapter.php

People live online these days, so a simple website targeted only on the products you want to sell and the area you service is a good investment. Keep the product range focused though, resist the temptation to be everything to everybody, it will give your site more authority and rank better in Google. If you can find the right product, you can have perfect customers contacting you for product A, then you can get a repeat order for product B. Online marketing is a whole can of worms though.

 

[decalman]

I get new customers by taking advantage of incredible advertising opportunities.
I get rid of them, by not answering the messages they seem to love leaving. Ahhh haaa:ROFLMAO:
How can I answer them, when I can't even find a pencil

 

[mark-s]

Some times when I see a sign falling apart,failing or just plain bad graphics, lettering so forth.
I stop in give them a biz card and let them know what i can do for them.
i carry an Ipad with pictures of different jobs I`ve done.
Most times I get the job.
I do have my own shop, doing dye cut and digital print.

mark-s

 

[coastguy111]

Never stop learning... From reading ebooks, subscribing to reputable marketing blogs, and signing up to forums dedicated to online marketing is the best way to at minimum stay current with whats working. Technology moves so fast that if you don't regularly set aside some time each week just to keep abreast, you can find yourself quickly out of the loop!

Also, there can be a downside to online marketing since its so expansive. Going back to some of the older ways of advertising before the Internet highway became so dominate can actually work in your favor. you just might have to try and get a little creative and put a unique spin on some form of offline marketing materials. If you search for Online marketing forums, they usually have a section dedicated to talking about it and peoples experiences!

 

[winterk80]

I am striving for 33% margin overall

This alone is cause for concern. Start back at square one and re-figure all your expenses. I imagine it will be closer to 5% net, maybe 10% if you take on some things yourself like the design work you mentioned. Can you make that work? Everything costs more than it looks on the surface, especially when you outsource everything, as you really cannot control the costs or fees vendors charge.