VEHICLES - Do you produce artwork before or after deposit?

[Gino]

Yeah, my bad, I knew I was getting off topic and I didn't want my post to run on forever, so I left out the B example
hoping people would extrapolate it in there.

Okay, then I'm not going nuts.

What I believe is Ginos system is also the system we use.
We use a tier pricing system based on how much business the customer usually do with us.

1-25 signs a month gets tier pricing C. This is our biggest markup. This is walk-in customers also as well as customers we don't believe will choose us or will go with another shop no matter what. We get these price hunters often.

25-75 signs a month gets tier pricing B. This is 80% of our customers. Mid level markup. We are still making decent money and the customer is getting prices that beat most competitors around here. So that keeps these customers coming. These are the main bread and butter customers. If you are a 1-10 but you consistently come to us we give you this tier anyways. If we want your business or are trying to get the job we will normally use this tier.

75+ signs a month get tier pricing A. These are 5% of our customers. These are the guys that I will see 3-5 times a week for various items and signs. These guys do high volume for our shop and as such deserve better pricing. We want to keep their business as much as possible and because of the volume they get our best pricing.

There is always middle room for people. Or we want your business but don't think your ever going to return for more stuff so maybe we will give you between A and B. I think this is the idea Gino goes by also.


So yes their is pricing and manipulation of numbers but our system is more based on the return aspect of the customer.

No, yours is a 3 tier set up, but not a system in the sense I was voicing.

Yours is more like a discounting procedure, based upon what any given customer does with you monthly or yearly. Everyone does that. It promotes repeat work.


I was merely talking to quote a job, be it a wrap, a post and panel or whatever......

As I already said a [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Plain Jane, to a middle of the road.... ordinary sign to a super-duper real nice setup. You can give them a price range for the plain jane at around $450. The middle one for $1,145. and the nicest one for $2,685. You do your own math and do whatever, but now, you're giving the customer a choice from a few hundred up to a few thousand. Now they can make an educated decision. Be prepared to show examples from a portfolio or website what they look like or how well they weather. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]You need to talk with them and find out their real needs, budget and then design something around that.[/FONT]

I do that with almost every job that comes in. I have about a dozen with that very pricing structure going right now. So far, everyone has opted for the best one..... and now they understand why pricing is different. We can compete with the lowballers, but with better quality, knowledge and craftsmanship than all the rest around here.

Hope this makes more sense. Overhead, profit, markup and everything else is already figured into all equations. It's the input and quality of material that's different. Sometimes is just the method of fabricating them that makes a difference, but it's still a 3 tier system. You can also make each tier a range for such & such to so & so, if you like.

 

[Andy D]

I was merely talking to quote a job, be it a wrap, a post and panel or whatever......

Honest question Gino, why wouldn't you have different markups on different types of signs?

Every business has "sweet spot" products that fit's their business well for whatever reason, and pricing
should reflect that to attract more of those jobs and less of the types that you may not want to turn away, but if
you're going to do them, you need to have a higher markup to make it worth your while... a standard % markup on all materials
plus shop time makes no sense to me.

 

[grdshute]

Thanks for the help guys, although it did go a little off topic!!