Upselling quotes (good/better/best)

[netsol]

Ya know treating every thread with kidd gloves is getting terribly dumb.

There's a time and place for using the three tier system, but not for every frickin' transaction.

First of all, ya need to look the part and act the part. If ya ain't got that, use your 3 tier system and look like ya don't know what you're doing.
Awwww, I'll take what's behind door #2.

When you approach someone, either in person or online, ya need to find out exactly what it is they want. If they want channel letters, some monolith sign structure or a pylon sign..... ya need to know what these things are worth. You need to know it going in within 2 or 3 seconds. You assess the situation. Don't shoot from the hip, but ask them right up front..... do you have a budget ?? IF it sounds realistic, THEN you tell them, you can quote it with .050 aluminum or ACM. Front lit or halo. This is where you get the feel of what their intentions are. Tell them, it might go a bit above their budget, but you can possibly get it lower. It all depends on their desires. They make the decision to go cheap or not...... NOT YOU. You need to educate the customer and after doing it for 50 years, ya get damned good at it.

Just had a lady who asked for two wall murals about 9' x 22'. She had all the files and eventually made everything perfect for me to print and cut. Are you sure this is what you want ?? This is gonna be kinda expensive. That's Okay.
Gave her the price..... and they had a guy to instal it. I've worked with him before and he is quite capable.
Oh, we weren't expecting it cost that much.
Sorry.
2 days later, she came back with a much more simpler layout. It certainly reduced the cost and now, they want us to instal it.
I didn't offer 3 tiers. It is what it is.

Quote people on what they want, not what you think you can get away with to show off or make more money. Pack that in with each and every quote ahead of time.

A flat panel sign with raised letters would look stupid and be totally unnecessary, unless a letter fell off and got ya in trouble.

Basically, there is no real upelling, unless the customer says, hey, what if I............ ?? Or you make a little side comment about something which might interest them.

Doing this online as you indicated is not a good idea. Online sh!t is not a good idea. If you're gonna be installing this stuff or they're picking it or whatever, they can come in and you do you pow-wow in person.

banner,good/better/best. tyvek/13oz scrim/18 oz scrim

2" x 4" wall mounted sign /coro/sintra

 

[2B]

If the customer is reluctant to give a budget, we will start asking
* Expected life expectancy
* type of sign they want
** This requires them to show an image / photo
* Where it is going (interior, exterior, wall, pole, hanging, etc...)

Once we know a size, 1 sided / 2 sided, illuminated, etc... it is easy to create the GOOD, BEST BEST
This has more than once enabled us to upsell or at the very least

 

[gnubler]

Lots of ways to figure it out. One way is to ask, and change it up if you get a "I don't know" run around. How much would you like to spend, would you like to invest in something permanent, or just vinyl.(stress just vinyl) How important is the sign to your building's curb appeal is another useful question.
Another way is looking at building permits. Signs are typically 1% or less of a building's cost, so a million dollar project is going to have a $10k wallsign.

Great points here. I need to add life expectancy to my list of questions and throw in the "if you just want vinyl..." factor to try to steer away from it when appropriate.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

In my experience, I don't think I client that is willing to spend $10k on channel letters, suddenly picks $1k on a flat sign because now they know it's an option. The only ones that go for the flat sign are the ones that don't know how much the nicer ones cost. You might have a customer base that doesn't have a lot of $$... or that's the type of client you're attracting. Instead of showing them designs and prices, I usually just go over quick numbers / options on the phone to qualify the lead and find out a budget...

1. banner: temporary, no warranty. $500-$1000
2. flat /pan metal non-illuminated sign... used mostly for industrial buildings, low end retail $1500-$2000
3. illuminated channel letters / cabinet sign... standard for retail business and required by most strip malls. $7k-$13k

From there they will let you know where their budget is and you can design based on that feedback.

Also, having nice high end signs displayed on your website will encourage that type of client to call. I removed most of the cheap looking stuff from my online presence. When I am calling around the country looking for a sub, I look at their website and try to find work that matches what I need done. If I see a small vinyl shop and I have a small job, Incall them. I wouldn't call them for a pole sign or monument, I look for someone who has pictures of that.

 

[Zendavor Signs]

How do you upsell in your price quotes? 99% of my quotes are done via email, some are just typed into the email, bigger ones have a formal quote generated from my invoicing system. Whether I'm asked or not, I often include good/better/best options - such as making a flat vinyl sign vs adding dimensional letters or other upgrades. Most people have no idea what they want, so I usually kick back some images of other signs showing the options.

Too often my customers are just choosing the cheapest option. I'm tired of cranking out flat panel signs, I can do so much more and it would reflect so much better on their business as well. What are some effective ways to upsell a sign in the quoting process without coming across as a sales slime or uppity?

You seem interested in selling nicer type signs, but it sounds like you may not have the reputation yet for it. I was there about 10 years ago when I really wanted to sell high-end monument signs, lighted signs, etc, but I did not have a strong reputation for doing so. If you don't have these types of signs in your portfolio yet, you may have to sell some signs below market value to get your foot in the door.....then you can post these nicer signs on your website and build up your reputation, then slowly start edging your pricing up to market value.

 

[Signscorp]

The biggest piece missing here is just when you're trying to do the upsell. You should qualify by phone, and sell them by phone at the beginning of the process. Trying to sell by email isn't something I'd recommend.

If i were you I would limit your email upsells to things that are easy to understand (eg: increases in quantity, higher quality vinyl etc..). Having conversations around dimensional vs non-dimensional will be much more effective over the phone.

EDIT: to clarify, taking orders by email is great. Trying to sell is not

 

[boardboy330]

We grow at 25% per year on average. How we have done this is no advertising, word of mouth only. That said, I quote what they ask, exactly as they ask it. When I write the email to send the PDF quote, I simply advise there is a better way to make the sign, explain it, and price it. Usually, the upsell works - within reason. They trust us because we recommend better products and can explain why. They send people to us and we never advertise.

 

[Signscorp]

I'm consistently amazed that anyone thinks I can stay organized and on top of their job over text. We do 500ish projects a month. So impressed with people who can track that properly over text.

 

[Stacey K]

Sometimes there is a method to people's madness....

Most of the businesses I deal with do zero advertising and many times they purposely keep things simple as far as signs and vehicle advertising because they are already overwhelmed with work. And as long as there is name/logo recognition, that's really what is most important vs. using dimentional letters, etc. They are doing what works for their business. My plumber has never had his van lettered and he's overwhelmed with work. All word of mouth. I joke with him about lettering his van and he says NO WAY!!! I CAN'T KEEP UP ALREADY!

 

[Gino]

That's weird. Around here, if you do more than $5,000 in business a year, you need to have a special certificate and all commercial vehicles must be lettered. That goes for fleets, grass cutting guys, window washers to plumbers or electricians. Now, that can be achieved with shoe polish or vinyl lettering, but you can get fined if they find out. Odd how the authorities always find out...........................

 

[gnubler]

We have a plumber in town who goes around in a plain white 24ft box truck with a small square decal stuck right in the center, maybe 24" wide and unreadable...it looks ridiculous and totally tacky. He actually contacted me about doing a wrap but decided it was too expensive or pointless because he's already overwhelmed with work.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

They find out on jobsites when they show up for permit inspections. In the city here all contractors have to have their name and license numbers on their vehicles. The inspectors can cite you for it but it doesn't seem to be strictly enforced.

We get most of our work now from word of mouth and repeat customers but would caution that forgoing marketing now may bite you later on. You really want to establish some good volume customers now while they are spending money so you are in when it slows down. Everyone seems to be overly busy but it is generally not because you are some business god that's just better than everyone else. Save your pennies, don't blow off work or get too smug because it will not always be like this. Our 22 revenue was up around 80% from 21 and it wasn't because we are special. Its only because an unusually high number of businesses have money burning a hole in their pocket but that faucet can get shut off real quick. You can't lose sight of this.