How do you work with big companies?

[Alex R.]

We are trying to grow and expand our business. So, keeping our small to medium'ish clients I am trying to attract bigger clients, such as brand agencies, event management companies etc.
I worked in the past in the event management industry so I know how stressful and hectic it can be. However there is one company, there are almost always order from me in the last minute. I don't blame them, their clients throw ат them curve balls all the time, so they have to make it work.
Recently we had a big job with them. and there was a huuuge delay due to their client couldn't confirm the budget. So, instead of having a 3 days lead time(for each type of job), we forced to do all the stuff in like 2 days plus install. So I had work nights as well and obviously, I didn't meet deadlines with a few items and installation.

I understand I should have said them sorry lads I can't make it to your deadline, find someone else.But I already spent a lot of time on liaising the project with them, site assessment etc so it was a pain to say them bye bye. So I just warned them that don't expect 100% delivery.

As result, we did a good job for them, but delayed with installation, So their client isnt happy. their event already started and I was still putting fence banners up. Everyone was stressed and not happy. It was a nightmare haha.

So, how do you deal with such clients? And is it really my fault? Is it not the end client's fault?

Need your advice and idea. thank you in advance.

P.S.
One of the event managers asked why do I put vinyl by hands, meaning, it all has to be done by a machine. Like "Don't you have such machine???" Is there any machine that can apply printed vinyl onto pvc boards? I am only aware of roll-ver tables. but that's not a machine it's still a manual work.

Sorry for such a long life story, just wanted to give you a better idea.

 

[AKwrapguy]

We are trying to grow and expand our business. So, keeping our small to medium'ish clients I am trying to attract bigger clients, such as brand agencies, event management companies etc.
I worked in the past in the event management industry so I know how stressful and hectic it can be. However there is one company, there are almost always order from me in the last minute. I don't blame them, their clients throw ат them curve balls all the time, so they have to make it work.
Recently we had a big job with them. and there was a huuuge delay due to their client couldn't confirm the budget. So, instead of having a 3 days lead time(for each type of job), we forced to do all the stuff in like 2 days plus install. So I had work nights as well and obviously, I didn't meet deadlines with a few items and installation.

I understand I should have said them sorry lads I can't make it to your deadline, find someone else.But I already spent a lot of time on liaising the project with them, site assessment etc so it was a pain to say them bye bye. So I just warned them that don't expect 100% delivery.

As result, we did a good job for them, but delayed with installation, So their client isnt happy. their event already started and I was still putting fence banners up. Everyone was stressed and not happy. It was a nightmare haha.

So, how do you deal with such clients? And is it really my fault? Is it not the end client's fault?

Need your advice and idea. thank you in advance.

P.S.
One of the event managers asked why do I put vinyl by hands, meaning, it all has to be done by a machine. Like "Don't you have such machine???" Is there any machine that can apply printed vinyl onto pvc boards? I am only aware of roll-ver tables. but that's not a machine it's still a manual work.

Sorry for such a long life story, just wanted to give you a better idea.

Well first off, don't over extend yourself, no one wins. Second look at outsourcing stuff next time a job like that comes in. Also look at wide format digital printers, You can print stuff often faster.

Yes it is your fault. You should know your capabilities and limits. It's also your job to be honest with the client and their expectations.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Your lack of planning or “emergency” is not mine.....

Once you jump through that hoop you will always have to jump through that hoop. Set your cutoff dates for production and that is it. Why should your other clients not get the same treatment? Big or small they all spend their money with you right!?

 

[johnschleich]

If you are going to chase this type of work you need to find trusted vendors to outsource to. Both for installations and direct-to-board printing. Establish their "trustability" by working with them on smaller projects, even those that you can easily and less expensively do yourself in-house. Have more than one source for the outsourced work.

 

[equippaint]

Why? You just laid out how you cant handle the workload demands of these larger customers and actually dropped the ball on the first then ask how to get more? Stay with the smaller guys until you can master that

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Outsourceing on large and extremely time sensitive orders like that is not a good idea for an endless amount of reasons. I outsource alot but you have to understand the limitations and possible problems.

 

[Rick]

What kind of sign work?
How big, is BIG?

 

[ddarlak]

90% of my work is event based timing. i give a deadline for artwork, if i receive artwork after deadline they have been warned that completion of project is no longer guaranteed. i try my best, but i don't stress about it.

 

[ikarasu]

rollover tables are 10x faster than by hand. Yes, they're not automatic... but our guy on a rollover can mount literally 10 signs compared to our guy using a laminator, or big squeegee, or just by hand. Especially when the signs are bigger... it makes a huge difference. I just spent 4.5 hours (About 30 mins per sheet) mounting 9 4x8 sheets of alupanel by hand, and the whole time I wished I could just bring them back to the shop, spend literally 15 minutes from start to finish and be done with all 9 of them.

You could have done direct to substrate at an even faster rate with a flatbed printer... Maybe he was talking about that?


Is it your fault? No.. but I'd say you are partially to blame. be honest, let them know it's not going to happen in time - What are they going to do, run to a different sign company? Sure... But any of the bigger sign companies that could handle a huge order, wont drop everything theyre doing to get an event ready within a 1-2 day time frame.

Be honest with them, let them know your deadline for completion... Let them know ahead of time when that deadline is approaching, let them know that deadline has now passed, and They can continue with the job and you will do your best, or they can try to find another shop who can do it, but it is likely not going to happen. Or you could tell them you now need to subcontract some of the installation work out to another local shop, and the price is going to be higher in order to meet their deadline.

We just did wayfinding for a whole hospital wing - We told them it would take roughly 2 weeks due to all the rules/regulations we had to follow. It took us less than 1 week, and that was including all the re-prints of the damaged artwork during shipping. They were happy, didn't expect it to be done so quick... and loved the work. I put in close to 30 hours of overtime in that 1 week to try and get it done as fast as possible to make the client happy. Had we thought we wouldn't be able to finish in time... We know 4-5 different sign install companies who we could have hired to help us, and wouldn't have hesitated to do so.

You should always have a plan B to get the job done properly and in time.

Always under promise and over deliver, not the other way around. Especially with the big clients.

 

[ams]

Live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of your customers will give you small jobs and larger headaches. 20% of your customers will give you big jobs and less headache. So ditch the 80% and keep the 20%.

 

[CL Visual]

We do a lot of event work. Sometimes getting art night before the event. I give quote based on certain deadlines they have to follow. Once they pass that, they know extra guys will be needed and costs increase. I've never let a client down. I had a job recently where we installed 4300ft of wall, window and furniture wraps for an event in 67 minutes. I had to bring in 16 guys to get it done but was done with 30 minutes to spare to start time. As a result, the venue made us the preferred vendor there.

As far as the rollover table, probably the best investment you can make in production department. I can mount vinyl on 4x8 sheets alone with no risk in about 60 seconds each.

 

[visual800]

The best weapon in dealing with large companies is keeping an email trail. and do not think whoever you are dealing with will not throw your ass under the dump truck when crap goes south. There are too many people going too many different directions and everyone is trying to call the shots. And to add to that after the project done try getting that last draw.....a couple years ago i dumped these kinds of jobs I just aint gonna put with that crap anymore