Discussion what's everyone's hurry????

Yep. It's an instant everything era. Customer tell me every day ''you just have to press the print button'' like if it was a regular laser copier. Some think I'm just waiting in my office for their call and have no other customers.

One day, I've made an ''open house'' for my top 20 customers. I've showed them how the machines and I work, let them weed and premask some vinyl. Now every one of them know how much work it take and don't ask to have their stuff yesterday.

 

Oh yes indeed, and I blame it all on our society...

30-35 years ago, most stores were closed on Sunday and holidays and many closed early on Saturday. 20 years ago it wasn't a huge deal if you called and left a message for someone and didn't get a call back until the next day. You understood and moved on...

Nowadays because of cell phones, instant messaging, etc. everyone is in the mindset of instant gratification. That trickles on down to everyone's perceived belief that everything else has to be done instantly as well...

I swear I get regular phone calls with panicked customers saying; "I called because I emailed you an hour ago and hadn't heard back!" I'm like...really....? This is what it has become...

 

yeah the market has become dominated by shops with quick turnarounds, some offering same-day or 24hr prints. when you are trying to keep up with shops with 15 printers in them and a fully staffed production facility, it puts anyone not in that state in a bind where theyre losing out on business to national retailers. the amazon effect, if you will.

 

I run on a two week schedule for almost all jobs. I'm upfront about this when the order is placed. If they need it sooner, depending on the job, I can do it at no extra cost. But if I need to really bump other stuff to get it done, then there's a charge. Yes, I lose some jobs because of this. I know that. BUT, I've also found that if I do these small rush jobs too often, then i'm setting a standard that is expected by those clients and EVERY job they bring is a rush. I don't have time for that BS. That's why I've learned to be very clear upfront about projected turn around times.

I'm also really good at reading people, and I can tell if I need to tack in a PITA charge.

 

I've been wanting to do this at our shop for the longessssssttttttttt. but I'm not the woman in charge so... oh well

 

These days for pure print jobs next day turnaround is standard and same day is becoming more common.

 

Allot of times they ask for a rush job but don't show up for a couple of days after they said they wanted to pick their stuff up.

 

They don't usually rush to pay either...

 

Few months ago, a friend of mine had 20 ford transit to wrap in one week. They worked like crazy to be able to meet the deadline. It took 2 extra weeks for the customer to pick them up...

 

We wouldn't have any place to put 20 vans.

 

Doesn't everyone have one of these at their shops?

 

In the wholesale world, we get 2 questions, how much and how fast (Quality must be good, so there's nothing to talk about there).

This is because our clients are getting the same question from their customers.

Next day turn on corrugated plastic, foamcore and banner are pretty standard for most orders at FireSprint.

It's just the nature of things. People still needed stuff on Sundays, and some enterprising entrueprenour understood this and opened on Sundays. People needed stuff fast, so another entrueprenour figured out how to get it there faster.

The big franchises realized this long ago. It's in the name. Fast Signs, Signs by Tomorrow, Signs Now, Speedpro, Sir Speedy...

 

To combat the super fast needs, we ask our customers to put their head in our "Mind to Print" halo and the signs will be ready as soon as you can think it.

 

This really isn't anything new, Everyone wants everything faster and that's progress. Acceptable speeds 10 or 20 years ago are not acceptable now. Find out where you can improve your process and speed it up. The shop down the road that is more streamlined may start taking your lunch.

 

Glad I'm not the only one with this thought. Sold 50 coro signs last Thursday, told customer 7-10 business days and he had a fit. I told him today they will be done Friday, he says

"Any chance of them coming in tmw? I really need them by Friday at latest to get up before weekend."

Lawn care guys....

 

The problem with quick turn around and short lead times is that you cant really keep a good backlog. The minute orders slow up, your overhead is put back on your bankroll rather than on jobs. With longer leads, you can even out the ups and downs. Really, I feel like your overhead rate and in return your shop rate needs to be higher when youre working on a 2 day plan rather than a 2 week plan. You have to cover down time a lot more. You cant over commit and expect short turns, you can when its spread out.

 

Very good point.

 

I blame the Internet, when everything is a click away, be it clothes, hardware, equipment etc. people get used to seeing prices immidiately, delivery next day and instant feedback on everything from email to chat to Facebook. Now, this is the trend today, this is how customers work so you have to adapt to it or someone else is there, ready to take on the job. OR, you can specialize in some custome made products that are not too time sensitive. But from my point of view buyers for even big projects such as lighted signs, 3D and/or carved signs etc. don't understand it takes time to do stuff properly.

 

Poor planing on customers project doesn't constitute an emergency on my part, so I charge for rush jobs.