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Customers Not Planning Ahead is Costing Me $$$
- Thread starter rossmosh
- Start date
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
People get a whole lot more patient when you charge a rush fee.
dypinc
New Member
I hear you. If it wasn't for rush jobs we wouldn't have any work. And now with the supply issues people are having to learn the hard way about planing ahead.
Not when you have hard event dates. 90% of my stuff is event date related. If it's not ready for that date, it's a big deal.
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
You need to manage your customers. If they can't plan ahead without a RUSH situation, then they can pay for it. It's pretty simple.
Paying extra doesn't just magically solve problems. You still have to get the stuff in your hands and you still have to do the work.
I'm flat out not being given a reasonable opportunity to fulfill orders because there's literally not enough time to get the product and get the job done without driving myself crazy.
I'm flat out not being given a reasonable opportunity to fulfill orders because there's literally not enough time to get the product and get the job done without driving myself crazy.
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
If 90% of your business is event related, what is it you have to procure especially for "that" job, that you don't keep on hand? Are you a middle man who outsources everything? I can see that being a huge problem for you. If you are manufacturing the product, and you need to burn the midnight oil to finish it in time, then they pay extra, or they can go somewhere else. If your customers have so many places they can turn to for their emergencies, it makes me wonder who the unprepared one is.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Can you start telling them it can't be done?
I've found that since all these shortages and stuff from covid, a lot of people that were habitual "I need it now" types have started planning ahead better.
gnubler
Active Member
Like me, he probably had no idea what he was getting into.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
All these posts about being rushed, not know who to bill who... it's all caused by the person on here starting the thread. You guys are business owners and are in control of your company. Tell people what you can and can't do... what they will or will not pay for. I know shit will come up that is out of your control and you have to learn a lesson and move on... but I don't get all this complaining about people rushing you. It's like a girl dressed in a short skirt standing on the corner of the road, pissed off that guys drive up wanting to fuck her. Look at how you handle this and figure out how to do it differently.
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
It's the "Amazon + FedEx = Tomorrow" mentality that everyone has become accustomed to.
If people had to wait 2 to 4 weeks to look at the photos they took today, they'd definitely have a new appreciation for how far we've come.
JB
If people had to wait 2 to 4 weeks to look at the photos they took today, they'd definitely have a new appreciation for how far we've come.
JB
CanuckSigns
Active Member
What kind of magical world do you live in? All my need it now types are now need it yesterday types!
Covid has become the newest excuse "we didn't want to pull the trigger until we were 100% certain it was moving forward with covid and all" is mentioned to me weekly now.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I think I've built the customer base that suits me the best. If someone calls with a deadline I can't reasonably make, I don't take the job... they can call someone else. Most of my customers know what to expect and more importantly I communicate what I can and can't do. If they want something I can't do they will have to look elsewhere. Many times they will call back and concede to my timeline (probably after hearing no from everyone else). Always under promise and over deliver. Sometimes I get rush jobs, but those are charged extra so the overtime I put in is worth it.
MNT_Printhead
Working among the Corporate Lizard People
Same day rush Charge was 100% more when I first got into sign through a color deptarment of a repro shop, next day could be 50-75% depending on the work load. The late one who couldn't wait and paid up were usually architects.
Zendavor Signs
Mmmmm....signs
We are talking about 2 very different types of clients/projects. The OP is talking about event signage, the "quick print" stuff. We used to do a lot more trade show graphics and event signage, and that was very stressful work, because there is NO flexing on the due dates. To keep your sanity, you will have to set reasonable boundaries and say NO sometimes. We have shifted a lot more toward the "commercial" sign shop work - lighted signs, monument signs, etc. There is certainly a lot of stress in that type of work as well, but it is not nearly as harried as event signage.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
If you cant take the heat then get your ass out of the kitchen. I don't get all of the bitching about rush stuff. That's life. It's not your customers fault that you need weeks to do their work, if you don't want to hustle for it then send them down the road to someone that does. One off issues are their problem, regular issues are yours.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
You can't be a race car driver and whine about everyone driving too fast.