Customers are so ignorant...

[danno]

I give them directions to Wal-Mart and tell them to ask the greeter where the custom made signs are at. If the greeter isn't there, they should go to customer service.

 

[Billct2]

The OP said he was getting his price for lettering them, so if I'm getting the price I want to letter some acrylic supplied by a client I'm making money.
Add a few bucks for cutting the sheet on my panel saw is fine by me. I don't think I've ever cracked a sheet of acrylic, lexan a few times, but not acrylic.
Like I said if the guys a jerk I wouldn't bother, but if it's just somebody trying to save a buck I can sympathize.

 

[Ponto]

The OP said he was getting his price for lettering them, so if I'm getting the price I want to letter some acrylic supplied by a client I'm making money.
Add a few bucks for cutting the sheet on my panel saw is fine by me. I don't think I've ever cracked a sheet of acrylic, lexan a few times, but not acrylic.
Like I said if the guys a jerk I wouldn't bother, but if it's just somebody trying to save a buck I can sympathize.

Hmmmmmmm,.. are you sure about the lexan / acrylic cracking possibility??? I would think it would be the other way 'round.....

JP

 

[shoresigns]

Hmmmmmmm,.. are you sure about the lexan / acrylic cracking possibility??? I would think it would be the other way 'round.....

JP

Lexan is supposedly more shatter-resistant than acrylic, but I've had way more Lexan sheets where big chunks broke off while cutting with the panel saw.

 

[Billct2]

Yep, lexan shrapnel is scary

 

[Speedsterbeast]

Ok, I've never vented on this forum, but I need to this week.
Had a guy call me. His usual "decal guy" doesn't have a printer and he needs some multi-colored graphics done. But he's on a budget because he's on disability. He then shows up with his 2012 Dodge Ram that has more accessories than Mr.T along with a huge lift kit and 35" tires which can't get more than 10 miles to the gallon. He then proudly whips out his phone and shows me pics of his custom trike posed beside the dozen or so best of show trophies it won AND a pic of his 2005 C5 Corvette. All this while standing beside my 17 year old Honda CR-V (which I love so not looking for pity)

Yep. On a budget.

 

[FireSprint.com]

You have to pick your customers. We did. But once you do, they must be cherished. I shake my head and feel like I notice a trend on these forums. Some of the posters that complain about their customers often are also the ones that complain about business being in the dumps. I would be willing to bet that the most profitable sign shops on this forum generally don't complain about customer relationships. They use every opportunity to connect with the people that actually pay the bills.

We're the professionals here. Let's put ourselves in our customer's shoes and step up our game a little.

If customers really make you mad, then that's probably a sign that this isn't for you.

P.S. This isn't really directed at the O.P., I'm just saying this in general.

 

[iSign]

We're the professionals here. Let's put ourselves in our customer's shoes and step up our game a little.

If customers really make you mad, then that's probably a sign that this isn't for you.

P.S. This isn't really directed at the O.P., I'm just saying this in general.

That's awesome FireSprint!
That right there is why I come by here.
Business views, from people in the same biz, can really cut through your blind spots sometimes!
Not saying I knowingly appear ungrateful to clients, but I'm sure I've become jaded enough over the years to have lost that more grateful customer service style!

Thanks for the reminder

 

[Speedsterbeast]

You have to pick your customers. We did. But once you do, they must be cherished. I shake my head and feel like I notice a trend on these forums. Some of the posters that complain about their customers often are also the ones that complain about business being in the dumps. I would be willing to bet that the most profitable sign shops on this forum generally don't complain about customer relationships. They use every opportunity to connect with the people that actually pay the bills.

We're the professionals here. Let's put ourselves in our customer's shoes and step up our game a little.

If customers really make you mad, then that's probably a sign that this isn't for you.

P.S. This isn't really directed at the O.P., I'm just saying this in general.

Well said. I DO think if you are tired of educating customers then you are tired of the business. If you have to explain the same thing over and over to customers that should tell you it is common to not understand a certain aspect of what we do. And just because you explained the same thing over and over to people that doesn't mean the next person should know it. That being said I think the majority of our frustrations come from unreasonable people and not the majority of our clients. Most of them are a joy to deal with and respect what we do. And I'm only just over three years into this full-time for myself so I'm not jaded.....yet

 

[Jane Diaz]

The vast majority of our customers are considerate and appreciate what we do. They come back and we treat them with the respect they deserve.

But then there are those who come in occasionally that "just don't get it!"! I don't feel the least bit bad about sending them on down the road so that we have time to do the work that is our bread and butter, profitable and appreciated. It is all a matter of respect in my book. If you think I do this so that you can "get a deal", you are at the wrong shop. We value our customers if they value us.

 

[Jillbeans]

Oh, I am definitely jaded and have been fed up since business dried up in 2007.
I am sick of dealing with people who only care about price, and competing with idiot hacks who work for practically nothing.

I do have several great customers, but the problem is that I do their signs so well that they last 5-7 years without needing anything. I am surrounded by talentless people who own plotters and even printers in an area with a bad economy, so that people hold on to their money very tightly.

But when I buy something from a business, or get a service from a contractor, I don't try to haggle or tell them how to do their job. I wish customers had the same respect for me. I do try to be polite. Hence switching to being email only so they can't hear the p!ssiness in my voice when they ask me "is that the best price you can give me?"

There's a thin line between offering advice for free and gaining a paying customer who trusts your expertise.

 

[iSign]

I do try to be polite. Hence switching to being email only so they can't hear the p!ssiness in my voice when they ask me "is that the best price you can give me?"

but I think I can "hear" it in your writing...

...oh, wait

that's my reading voice, while thinking of my last useless excuse for a for a client that I fired yesterday

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

OH Man! Just finished on the phone with a lady who wanted 15 yard signs....today for an estate sale this weekend. Sent me the layout in a pdf.
She also said she had old campaign signs to put them on.
I went through the hoops of how many business days it would take, printing on decals to put on those...and that it would be cheaper just to flatbed print them.
Either way it wouldn't be today.
I'd do decals for $$$$ tomorrow or brand new signs by Friday for $$$. Or for an $80 rush fee...all of them by Thursday for only $$.
Then tells me she'll just have another printer she talked to print posters.
She's gonna get 19"x 13" posters printed for .50 cents each 20 minimum,..cut off the white boarder and staple them to her old signs...because it's not her money she's spending and needs them fast.

Seriously....? Why not grab a Black Sharpie, and go to town on some inside out cereal or pizza boxes?

 

[CanuckSigns]

OH Man! Just finished on the phone with a lady who wanted 15 yard signs....today for an estate sale this weekend. Sent me the layout in a pdf.
She also said she had old campaign signs to put them on.
I went through the hoops of how many business days it would take, printing on decals to put on those...and that it would be cheaper just to flatbed print them.
Either way it wouldn't be today.
I'd do decals for $$$$ tomorrow or brand new signs by Friday for $$$. Or for an $80 rush fee...all of them by Thursday for only $$.
Then tells me she'll just have another printer she talked to print posters.
She's gonna get 19"x 13" posters printed for .50 cents each 20 minimum,..cut off the white boarder and staple them to her old signs...because it's not her money she's spending and needs them fast.

Seriously....? Why not grab a Black Sharpie, and go to town on some inside out cereal or pizza boxes?

the problem is that this woman was never a customer to begin with, customers buy products or services, she had no interest in buying either she just wanted someone to justify her cheapness, so she could justify why her signs look like crap.

these types of people will never become profitable customers, don't feel bad about getting them out of your shop ASAP and focusing on your bread & butter, we have a handful of clients who we will bend over backwards for, they need me to install a sign at 3 am on a sunday, i'm there with coffee. As a result i have a handful of clients who don't look elsewhere for signs, and don't question my pricing, give me 10 of these clients over 100 of the other type any day.

 

[Jillbeans]

give me 10 of these clients over 100 of the other type any day.

Amen!!!!

 

[gnemmas]

After 28 years, I know I am jaded, arrogant and impatient. I can tell a time waster when he utter his first word...

I also remember one such customer walked in 26 years ago, I was patient and humble. Today, the company he worked for still is one of my best customers. (although he retired)

My staffs are handling customers now.

 

[CES020]

Watson, I know you can appreciate this, being in the laser business as well, but we get a lot of people that are "inventing" things and need 1 of them to prototype. It's always the same story. If this one works, they'll be back for millions more. I can't count how many of those people we have helped over the years. Haven't seen a single one make it yet. In the beginning, we got excited with them on their projects and wanted to "help" them out so we priced things lower. Now, we'll throw out market price or higher for the prototype. They'll either have us make one or go to a Tech Shop and have one made for free. Either way, we never see them again.

I've seen so much stuff from those types of people now, I can read them fairly well.

Had a guy two weeks ago want 4 pieces made for a prototype. Gave him a price. He called and wanted to know what CNC machine we had because he wanted to write the program for us to save time and money. I told him "it doesn't work like that, you have no idea what tools we'd use or what speeds and feeds we'd use". He called back and wanted to know what software package we used for the CNC router. We told him, he downloaded a free trial, send the file to us, with the tool path on it, then asked how much now. I explained that the cost hadn't changed and the way he drew the parts wouldn't work because they parts needed to be held down.

Then he says he wants to come run the parts on our CNC machine once I get the program ready, to save money. At this point, I'm about totally exhausted with the entire conversation. He then calls back and says he wants to come to work for us and he'd go out and sell and when he wasn't selling, we could teach him how to run all our machines and we could make a lot of money together.

Calls back the next day and tells another guy that he needs to know where we buy our router bits from because he's buying his own router and needs to know where we get the tools from. Calls back about a week later, tells me that a guy down the street from me made them for him and it only took them 8 hours. We quoted 4.

I'm very patient with them, but some times it's exhausting.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Lol, we don't get as many of these requests as we used to, but what you say is very true! I would have told him if he paid my rent, payroll, leases, insurance and other overhead I will run him as many parts as he wants for free!

if any of these inventions work out, the parts would be mass produced using much less expensive processes than laser and cnc cutting!

Watson, I know you can appreciate this, being in the laser business as well, but we get a lot of people that are "inventing" things and need 1 of them to prototype. It's always the same story. If this one works, they'll be back for millions more. I can't count how many of those people we have helped over the years. Haven't seen a single one make it yet. In the beginning, we got excited with them on their projects and wanted to "help" them out so we priced things lower. Now, we'll throw out market price or higher for the prototype. They'll either have us make one or go to a Tech Shop and have one made for free. Either way, we never see them again.

I've seen so much stuff from those types of people now, I can read them fairly well.

Had a guy two weeks ago want 4 pieces made for a prototype. Gave him a price. He called and wanted to know what CNC machine we had because he wanted to write the program for us to save time and money. I told him "it doesn't work like that, you have no idea what tools we'd use or what speeds and feeds we'd use". He called back and wanted to know what software package we used for the CNC router. We told him, he downloaded a free trial, send the file to us, with the tool path on it, then asked how much now. I explained that the cost hadn't changed and the way he drew the parts wouldn't work because they parts needed to be held down.

Then he says he wants to come run the parts on our CNC machine once I get the program ready, to save money. At this point, I'm about totally exhausted with the entire conversation. He then calls back and says he wants to come to work for us and he'd go out and sell and when he wasn't selling, we could teach him how to run all our machines and we could make a lot of money together.

Calls back the next day and tells another guy that he needs to know where we buy our router bits from because he's buying his own router and needs to know where we get the tools from. Calls back about a week later, tells me that a guy down the street from me made them for him and it only took them 8 hours. We quoted 4.

I'm very patient with them, but some times it's exhausting.