I had a good answer for a client yesterday...

[WYLDGFI]

Client calls up asking if I can match an internet price on an item. His employee was looking up pricing and found some banner or print online that was cheaper than mine.
I simply stated, "You are more than welcome to go with that printer. Ask Your employee who found the place and price if they were Personally..out of their own pocket potentially.... willing to stand behind the work of that place and guarantee any failures."
We spoke cordially for a few more moments as I explained the material we would use for his job..etc.
The next day we got the order.

 

[skyhigh]

a "To The Trade" customer?
I'm guessing it was a retail customer, if you had to explain materials. That gets old....educating the general public on the "why they should go with you".

 

[TheSnowman]

I had a guy in here yesterday that was questioning my pricing, and I informed him I'm generally never the cheapest. He questioned why I would brag about that. I told him that my work speaks for itself and that I'm not into the cheap stuff. Then he said "Go ahead, I have time for a sales pitch". The guy was ordering beer logos for a bag toss game. I didn't feel the need to sell myself to him for a job I didn't want in the first place. I told him my shop minimum, I got the job, but after he left, and all the drama that followed him, I decided to up my minimum fee, yet again because it's never worth it in these scenarios.

 

[Typestries]

a "To The Trade" customer?
I'm guessing it was a retail customer, if you had to explain materials. That gets old....educating the general public on the "why they should go with you".

I wouldnt jump to that conclusion. Walk a mile in the shoes of a trade shop and you will see there are a lot of clueless sign/print/ad specialty shops out there. To me, educating them and guiding them sets us apart. That could easily be the situation here. You would be amazed at how little so many people know about this industry. That's not a dig, just a fact. It is, in my opinion, our job to sell them the proper product for the application at hand.

 

[fresh]

I wouldnt jump to that conclusion. Walk a mile in the shoes of a trade shop and you will see there are a lot of clueless sign/print/ad specialty shops out there. To me, educating them and guiding them sets us apart. That could easily be the situation here. You would be amazed at how little so many people know about this industry. That's not a dig, just a fact. It is, in my opinion, our job to sell them the proper product for the application at hand.

Yep. Its hard to know everything about everything. That is why we rely on wholesalers to help us choose the best solution for our customers.

 

[supersignmart]

I agree!

It's very easy to assume this, and it might be true, but I complete agreee with this!

I wouldnt jump to that conclusion. Walk a mile in the shoes of a trade shop and you will see there are a lot of clueless sign/print/ad specialty shops out there. To me, educating them and guiding them sets us apart. That could easily be the situation here. You would be amazed at how little so many people know about this industry. That's not a dig, just a fact. It is, in my opinion, our job to sell them the proper product for the application at hand.

 

[dale911]

education

....educating the general public on the "why they should go with you".

Isn't that the definition of "Salesman?"

 

[ibikestickers]

The other aspect to educate people about is the fact that the local shop already knows the technical stuff that they need to know to use the online services, like image selection, uploading, resolutions, substrate choices, etc. If you explain that they're paying you for your knowledge in these things, they'll understand that you're providing more than online services can provide. ALSO, there's no shipping expense and that's a savings of time and money oftentimes.

 

[WYLDGFI]

The other aspect to educate people about is the fact that the local shop already knows the technical stuff that they need to know to use the online services, like image selection, uploading, resolutions, substrate choices, etc. If you explain that they're paying you for your knowledge in these things, they'll understand that you're providing more than online services can provide. ALSO, there's no shipping expense and that's a savings of time and money oftentimes.

+1

Also...online services will serve up "crap on a cracker" to you and you have no recourse for it.