Big Jobs - How do you sell them?

[Dovette]

for jobs that are going to include over $10k in orders, I can set aside an hour or three to do the basic research and layouts

edit: NEVER give them anything, even printouts, unless THEIR signature is on YOUR copy

 

[fresh]

But here is an example of a sign, from design to completion had 200 hours that I billed on it, let alone the sign shop who invested their time in selling it.... all spec, so you really have to decide for yourself how far out you want to go..

That is fantastic. Did they come to you and say "we want something cool, and our budget is $XXX"? Or did you approach them with sketches and say I've got a vision for your signs and i think you're gonna like it. Give me the money.

 

[Rick]

That is fantastic. Did they come to you and say "we want something cool, and our budget is $XXX"? Or did you approach them with sketches and say I've got a vision for your signs and i think you're gonna like it. Give me the money.

Originally the sign was a huge Googie sign, it was replaced with a
stock an ugly AMF bowling sign in the 90's....

They didn't know what they wanted, and their original budget
was next to nothing. The owner approached the sign shop, the
sign shop hired me to design it, draft it and get permit and
production drawings done.

The owner wanted only to reface the sign because he did not
want to spend too much, so the sign company who was going to
build and install hired me to design a logo and sign face.

They put the sign face without a permit and the city popped them.

Then the owner had to redo the sign, so I continued to work with
the sign shop, in turn the sign shop went back and forth between
the client and the city till the design, price, engineering, permitting,
landscaping and design was finalized.

This project is the epitome of what not to do if you are a sign shop.

The only people that made out was the owner, and me, and even
I felt bad and did not bill them for every hour I worked on it.

Shown below was the original sign, the AMF Corporate standard,
and the refurbished corporate sign.

 

[ddarlak]

i guess the moral of the story is you do what ya gotta do.

if i'm busy I a pull a large number outta my head and throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

if i'm not busy i'll take some time away from my internet wasting time slot* and throw together a design and put a very scary disclaimer on it......










* sigsn101, fantasy football, yahoo news, slate, various online auction sites, etc

 

[fresh]

This project is the epitome of what not to do if you are a sign shop.

The only people that made out was the owner, and me, and even
I felt bad and did not bill them for every hour I worked on it.

Thanks for the insight. This is why I have a hard time sharing brilliant ideas.