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Good Morning - From Dallas!

Branded Signs

Branded Signs

New Member
Hello everyone! I've read quite a bit of the posts on the forums, and decided to jump in and join the shark infested waters.

I've been in the sign industry for 11 years, working for a large franchise company that will remain nameless at the moment. I started at the graphic design / production table level, working my way through Composer and Corel before graduating to Illustrator, Photoshop and a little bit of Flexi. I've been the sales manager at my current company for the past 7 years, and have built up a nice client base that is loyal to me personally - not the company I work for.

Over the past several years, I have amassed quite a few different logo, clipart, vector designs, vehicle templates and opened an account using Photospin. I will be using a local print company for all of my business cards / flyers / postcards / etc. and have partnered up with a few of my local vendors that have set me up an account for NET 30 or NET 60 billing for larger projects like channel letters, wraps or monument signs. I have converted my garage into a dust-free, humidity free nice cool environment big enough for my workstation, rolls of material and a 24" Graphtec (hopefully!) plotter. I'm using a new M81 ThinkCentre PC to run everything - have a decent client base and starting to turn a SLIGHT profit in the past couple of months doing things in my spare time.

It's getting closer and closer to time for me to just make the full leap - and see a good chunk of my current client base jump with me!

Whew - that was the most long-winded "hello" in history! :bushmill:

If I do something stupid, slap me around and tell me - thick skin in the sign industry is almost as important as the knowledge itself! :supersmilie:
 
signworldusinc

signworldusinc

Merchant Member
Welcome from California and congratulations on building and establishing your gig. One of the most important things in our business is establishing relationships with clients. Most customers will buy from someone they know no matter the price.
 
Branded Signs

Branded Signs

New Member
Thanks for the welcome everyone! I've pretty much figured that over the years as well in terms of people buying from who they know. It seems as though they build up that personal relationship and buy into that first, product second and company third.

To me, the customer service is what separates the fly by night "uh, I wan't to sell decals, what (cutter) can I buy on ebay for $250" and the people that want to establish a successful business.
 
M

mark galoob

New Member
ok so let me get this straight...your working for a company right now, sounds like a franchise, and you are saying you are going to jump ship, and STEAL their customers and open your own business with the stolen customers.

sorry but i find this very distasteful...imagine if that happend to you...

mark galoob
 
Branded Signs

Branded Signs

New Member
mark galoob said:
ok so let me get this straight...your working for a company right now, sounds like a franchise, and you are saying you are going to jump ship, and STEAL their customers and open your own business with the stolen customers.

sorry but i find this very distasteful...imagine if that happend to you...

mark galoob
Click to expand...

Well, what would a Signs101 post be without someone trying too hard to read between the lines and not simply taking a post for what it is, right? :banghead:

No, I am not going to "steal" anyone at all. If you would have read the post, you would see that the customers I have amassed are my PERSONAL customers. They are loyal to me because I personally brought them into the company I work for now with my own connections. These are members of *MY* church, head of the pee wee football association that *I* played with when I was a kid, business owners that I have met through other avenues, no matter if its BBQ's with friends on the weekend or cheering for the Rangers at a game in Arlington. This has absolutely nothing to do with the company I am at now. They came here because I work for the company I work for now - and do so because I recruited them and pulled them over.

I'm not going through a customer database, pulling customers from this company and calling them for my own personal gain. Not only would that be immoral, but it would be ILLEGAL.

I appreciate your concern for my current employer, I really do, but these are my PERSONAL connections that were made through years of living in the same area or on my own time. These people would be GONE from the company I am with now - no matter if I was starting up a sign business or a hotdog stand.

In fact, an olive branch - :corndog::corndog::corndog::corndog:
 
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