The thumbnail version:

Relax and reflect

• 2021 is in the way out  – today is our last business day of the year.
• Now it’s time to relax and reflect.
• We’ll be back an raring to go on Tuesday the 4th of January 2022.

The full version:

As we said in the annual holiday hours email, 2021 has been another roller coaster ride and now we all deserve a rest to relax and reflect. Here is the rest of the message . . .

We’ll, we’re just about done with this year and looking forward to a more “normal” year in 2022. The question is, will we still recognize “normal” if we see it?  

But for now we all deserve a break. Let’s make the most of the holidays and come back refreshed in January ready to put out some great work.

We will be closing at 4.00 pm on Thursday the 23rd and reopening on Tuesday the 4th of January, 2022.  

The crew at all four Stanley’s branches wish you and yours the best of the season and a happy and prosperous 2022!

The thumbnail version:

• Can you tell a total stranger what you do in one, enticing sentence?
• If you can’t do it right now, you need to work on it.

The full version:

You have some thinking to do.

We’re talking of course of the old but still good concept of an elevator pitch. Preparing a single sentence description will force you to focus on what you really do, what your shop does that could capture the interest of a total stranger.

So, for instance, “We print signs” is lame and hardly likely to arouse any interest in anyone other than some person perhaps in desperate need of a sign at that moment. Much more captivating would be something like, “We design and print signs that help our customers stand head and shoulders above their competition.”  It’s still not the greatest elevator pitch but it’s much better than “We print signs.” You get the idea.

An important aspect of this is that in developing your elevator pitch you’ll be giving some thought to what your business is really all about. And that’s a good thing to revisit as you prepare to begin a new year.

The thumbnail version:

• Customer churn explained.
• Troubleshooting customer churn.

The full version:

Customer churn refers to the loss of customers over a given period of time, and the customer churn rate is the rate of loss expressed as a percentage of all customers. It’s most commonly used with reference to online subscribers but is equally applicable in a non-digital sense.

A friendly chat with customers can reduce churn.

In the previous post we talked about letting go customers you’d rather not have. Now we’re discussing retaining customers you’d like to keep but who, for one reason or another, are showing signs of disengaging from your business. And one reason you’d like to keep them is because it’s easier to sell to people who have been customers in the past than it is to attract new customers.

The key is to be proactive and not wait until they leave but to instead look for signs that they may leave and then deal with it. Some of the signs include a long interval since the last purchase, not opening your emails, or unsubscribing from your email list. But in order to spot these signs you must constantly monitor your customer base.

You then need to troubleshoot. But you can’t troubleshoot if you don’t know what the trouble is. The best way to find out what might be going is to have a chat with the customer and address whatever issues may be bugging them.

Customer churn—it’s just another one of those business realities that you have to deal with.

The thumbnail version:

• You will inevitably have unhappy customers from time to time.
• How you deal with them will directly affect future business.
• But you don’t want to retain them at all costs.

The full version:

The unreasonable customer. Let them go.

They will always turn up, the unhappy customer. I’m not a believer in the old adage about the customer always being right because, not only is it untrue, but if that’s the prevailing belief, then it invites unreasonable behaviour from those occasional customers from Hell.

But assuming your shop has a reasonable customer with a reasonable product complaint, then whomever has to deal with the unhappy customer could do worse than adopt Starbucks’s LATTE approach (Listen, Acknowledge the problem, Take action, Thank them, Explain what you’ve done).

Any reasonable person should respond well to LATTE. If they don’t, they may not be reasonable, and you may not want to retain them. Life is too short to spend time battling with energy-sapping, unreasonable customers.

The thumbnail version:

• A survey of industry leaders suggests some optimism for 2022.
• The survey  preceded the Omicron surge.

The full version:

Sign Media interviewed industry leaders about their impressions of 2021 and their forecasts for 2022. It’s the forecasts for 2022 that are the more interesting aspect of the article. The survey was of course pre-Omicron so it will be interesting to see if they do a post-Omicron follow-up.

But for now the consensus (though some were more optimistic than others) is that the supply chain problem will continue well into 2022 and will get worse before it gets better. Some felt that returning conventions and trade shows would give the industry a boost in 2022 but, as we now know, the recently-arrived Omicron variant might have different plans.

How do you see 2022 unfolding and are you adjusting your business plan optimistically or pessimistically?

The thumbnail version:

• The 2021 salary survey results are out.
• Not much has changed.

The full version:

Except for a percentage shift here and there, not much seems to have changed in the industry in the past year.

Here are some results that caught my eye:

• Most responses came from Ontario again (40 percent).
• BC was next with 20 percent (so 60 percent of responses came from just two provinces).
• It’s still a male-dominated industry at 75 percent male to 23 percent female.
• 83 percent of respondents were over 40 years old. (Question: Why aren’t the younger members of the industry responding?)
• Almost half of respondents have been in the industry for more than 20 years.
• 44 percent of the respondents were business owners.
• 83 percent said that COVID had an impact on their business revenue. 70 percent of those said their revenue was down.

Surveys are only as good as the degree to which the respondents are representative of the population being surveyed. Keep this in mind as you read the full survey results.

The thumbnail version:

• OOH market slated to grow next year.
• COVID hasn’t managed to slow it down much.

The full version:

Your OOH, for instance, can be on any vehicle, not necessarily your own.

If your shop is in the OOH (Out-Of-Home) market, Sign Media Canada has good news for you—your market is expect to grow quickly over the next couple of years. If your shop is not in the OOH market in any big way, perhaps it’s something to consider as we move into a new year still dogged by a COVID-damaged economy in which new revenue sources are being sought.

The driving force behind OOH is said to be it’s advantage of being seen over and over again, sometimes for months, thus building awareness more effectively than other media with shorter exposure. In the case of truck-side advertising it moves about, reaching a wider audience.

There are a lot of interesting observations in the Sign Media article (which you should read)  but one that says a lot for the effectiveness of OOH is that, ” Research shows 45 percent of consumers feel OOH ads located close to where they shop provide useful information which in turn inspires those all-important purchase decisions.”

An OOH focus for your shop in 2022?

The thumbnail version:

• Roland often offers useful advice for more productive use of your equipment

The full version:

From time to time I remind you to check your suppliers’ websites, not only for the latest news on new technology, but also for tips and advice on getting better productivity out of your existing technology. Roland is one of the sites you should visit regularly.

A recent Roland post addresses step-and-repeat:  “With the popularity of printed patterns for applications like heat transfer vinyl, wall coverings, and wall graphics, it’s a great time to revisit an old favorite – “Step and Repeat.” The effect is taking a single pattern or design and repeating it in a pattern without having to design at full size. Think wallpaper, background logos on a banner creating a watermark effect, or even patterned vehicle wraps.”

The post then includes a detailed step-by-step guide to using the step-and-repeat feature.

This is just one example how an investment of a few minutes could save you hours, and hence, dollars.

The thumbnail version:

• A creative OOH campaign can spark other ideas

The full version:

Apparently 58 percent of food produced in Canada ends up being thrown away. Yes, I know . . . disturbing and disgusting! Well, according to an article in Sign Media Canada, Hellman’s Canada has decided to draw attention to this with a pilot project in Peterborough, Ontario.

They’ve undertaken an out-of-home campaign by placing messages on the sides of half of the City’s garbage trucks “suggesting these trucks are Canada’s most popular food truck as it carries away the food that is thrown away by Canadian households to landfills.” A great idea and a clever campaign. But from our perspective, that’s just half the story.

The other half of the story is that the campaign demonstrates a degree of creativity that should arouse the interest of anyone with a creative role in the graphics industry. This is how great ideas are born—when one idea give rise to another. And then that new great idea becomes a money-maker for a graphics shop that sells it to a client.

Give it some thinking time. Maybe this will spark an idea in you.

The thumbnail version:

• It’s easy to adopt a negative mindset when things aren’t going well
• Shifting to positivity helps weather the troubled times

The full version:

It’s not difficult to lapse into a negative mindset when things are not going well. For instance, the current pandemic has been a real drag for some. The problem with negativity is that your mood affects everyone else around you, particularly if you’re the boss. And a ‘down’ worker is not a productive worker.

A better alternative for all concerned is to maintain an upbeat outlook; to put a spring in your step. But let’s not kid ourselves, doing this is as difficult as it is necessary. So here are some tips I read somewhere but unfortunately I don’t remember where in order to give the originator proper credit:

• Say “yes” to a challenge. Make it work. Find a solution. Figure it out.
• Know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Know your purpose.
• Be on top of your work/life balance. You need a break. Downtime changes perspectives and refreshes.
• Remove negative influences (people and objects).
• Work for victories in even small things. Victories invigorate.
• Look for the company of positive people.
• Fire the negative customers who exhaust and depress you. Actively seek positively-minded customers.
• If you suspect that you are clinically depressed, seek professional help.

Chin up!

The thumbnail version:

• An out-of-the-blue email sparks a question
• What are you doing to promote your store?

The full version:

An email arrived out of the blue in my inbox a few days ago from a sign company I’ve never communicated with. I have no idea how they found my email address. And while I don’t like unsolicited emails, I’m pleased that these guys found me because their email provided an idea for a post for this blog.

That question is this . . . What do you do to promote your shop? I’ve raised this before but this sign company served up a great example of a promotional email. It used Black Friday as the excuse for the promotion by suggesting that they had a variety of signs and banners for creating displays to get your store’s Black Friday message across.

They listed illustrated suggestions that included banners, custom decals, foam core signs, acrylic signs, aluminum signs, wooden signs, and PVC signs.

So what do you do to announce to potential customers what your shop offers? And if you’re not announcing, how do you expect anyone to know?

The thumbnail version:

• A graphic shop success story
• Secrets laid bare

The full version:

The Canadian graphics shop that prompted this post is not the point of the post. The point of the post is that explosive growth and bottom-line success can be achieved even in adverse circumstances such as a pandemic.

So, how did this shop do it when most others in the industry were sitting around wringing their hands and wondering when things would return to “normal”? Well, it turns out that it’s about hustle.

As the story goes, in the early stages of the pandemic they laid off staff as incoming business declined. Then, instead of wondering when business would return, they went out and hustled. It paid off. They rounded up business and re-hired the previously laid off staff. So that’s one clue to success in this story. But there is another.

The other clue is that this shop’s success has a lot to do with vehicle wraps which they confirm (and as I have pointed out before) is a growth market. And again, in boasting about their success they were happy to disclose to their competitors (that’s your shop) that it’s all about chrome delete, colour accents, and roof and hood wraps, in loud and bold colours in different vinyl finishes.

So, there you have it. The secrets to growing a successful graphics shop laid bare.

The thumbnail version:

• COVID has boosted online business
• It’s competitive—you have to do it right
• Sharp, attractive images are essential

The full version:

Online business got a boost from COVID. And now that it is in full flight, online is going to remain a significant part of the future of commerce. This is good news for small businesses, particularly those selling digital (non-physical) products and services such as artwork, e-books, design services, website development etc. (you get the picture). Now technology makes it possible for them to compete with larger businesses on a more level playing field.

Man, that stuff doesn’t look so good . . .

But all of that said, the small businesses still have make sure that they match their larger, better-resourced competitors in confidence-boosting appearance. One way to do this is to have sharp imagery in all online platforms, particularly websites. It’s not an option. Anything less than excellent graphics and imagery is going to cause potential customers to hesitate. It’s just the fickleness of human nature and there is no way around it.

This is not as onerous as it might sound but you will have to make some investments in equipment and photo editing software if you’re not going to hire a photographer.

So why the necessity to address this topic on a blog for a graphics industry? Because even this industry has its share of shops posting sub-standard images online. Don’t let your shop be one of those.

The thumbnail version:

• Pricing right can ensure that you survive and thrive
• BDC has useful material to help you.

The full version:

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) publishes a lot of useful material for business owners. I encourage you to sign up to receive their free material by email. One such publication is titled “7 steps to setting the right price for your products or services.” It is full of useful advice on a topic on which most small business owners can use some advice.

Setting the right price — you have homework to do.

I’m always horrified when I hear that a business owner has set prices only according to what the competition charges. You can’t do this because, for one thing, the competition’s cost structure is likely very different from yours and cost is a key element in setting prices.

The BDC article discusses the topic under these seven steps (with examples):

1. Calculate your direct costs
2. Calculate your cost of goods sold  (cost of sales)
3. Calculate your break-even point
4. Determine your markup
5. Know what the market will bear
6. Scan the competition
7. Revisit your prices regularly

Get the BDC article. Then do your homework.

The thumbnail version:

• Focus is a legitimate business strategy
• Focus allows you to become the best in your field

The full version:

A week ago I wrote about an interesting article on the Roland blog about a printer who had found a niche market—printed slate plaques. One of the aspects of the article dealt with narrowing the product focus.

Here is what the shop owner said: “The problem is not only selling something but promoting something. If I were to do house signs but also bumper stickers and t-shirts, I’d have to promote each one separately and compete with other companies in a dozen different markets. With our market it’s just ‘house signs’ so we maybe have fifty keywords that we use, we are spending less on advertising, competing with fewer companies, and ours is unique—no one personalizes in the same way we do.”

This might of course change now that what should be secret competitive advantages have been laid bare for all to see, but we’ve dealt with that aspect in the earlier post. The message in this post is that focus is a legitimate business strategy and may be something for you to consider.

The thumbnail version:

• Sign Manufacturing Day is designed to expose the industry to potential employees (and customers)
• Plan ahead to participate next year.

The full version:

Future employees at Sign Manufacturing Day.

Sign Manufacturing Day is an annual event that exposes shops to students who could potentially consider a career in the industry. This year it was on the 1st of October just ten days ago. The idea is that participating shops give groups of students shop tours. Apparently COVID did not stop some shops, they simply conducted virtual tours.

Now would be a good time to get your shop in on this event for 2022. Not only is participation in anything like this good exposure for your shop but it could give you access to up and coming talent.

Sign Manufacturing Day is organized by the Sign Association of Canada. Contact them and get your shop involved.

The thumbnail version:

• A report about finding a market niche
• Also about product focus
• But it raises questions

The full version:

An article (interview) on the Roland blog today tells the story behind a printer that found a market niche. It also makes a good case for how a small business can do well by narrowing its product focus, in this particular case, to one item—printed slate plaques.

Don’t give away your product and business secrets!

The article by Ben Fellowes is well worth reading from a small business strategy perspective. I’m not going to enlarge on it here because I couldn’t address it properly in a limited post—you should read the full article for the details.

But in addition to the interesting topic, there’s another aspect to the article that’s a bit puzzling. It raises questions . . . Why, if you have found a niche with very little competition, would you brag about it in a magazine article that targets your competitors? And why would you disclose exactly how to make the product and who your target customers are? In short, why would you give away your competitive advantage for the sake of a bit of publicity? Vanity?

I think there’s a lesson to be learnt here. If you build a great product that fills a niche market with no competition, shut up  and milk it for all it’s worth. Don’t invite competition, and definitely don’t tell them how you make and market the product.

The thumbnail version:

• Business opportunities mostly have to be created proactively
• Promoting an opportunity to your customer can create an opportunity for you.

The full version:

Get the customer excited about window, wall, and floor wrap designs

A recent ad by a major film manufacturer pointed out something you’ve probably seen before on this blog. Showing your customers opportunities they can take advantage of using your products, creates opportunities for you; this is good business sense.

The ad was pointing out that windows, walls, and floors are branding opportunities for your customers that can make them stand out in a memorable way. A lot of organizations pretty much look the same when you walk through their doors; well-chosen wraps can take them from “boring to bold,” as the ad suggests.  It’s hard to argue with that.

But this is not a business opportunity that’s going to fall into your lap. You’ll have to go out and make it happen by showing your customers how they can stand out from the competition with some well-placed wraps on their windows, walls and floors.

The thumbnail version:

• Some vehicle wraps are a lot more effective than others.
• The good ones should serve as design inspiration.

The full version:

The Kraken is perhaps the most famous mythical representation of the octopus. It’s a legendary, giant sea monster that is said by some to be more of a squid than an octopus. The legend has apparently been traced to Scandinavian folklore that holds that the Kraken lives in the deep ocean off the coast of Norway  and Greenland and has been known to terrorize sailors.

Well, now it’s terrorizing Londoners as a vehicle wrap. This wrap has to be one of the most extensive and effective ever. The bus actually looks like it is being crushed. Sometimes one sees clever and artistically-appealing vehicle wraps but five minutes later the name of the product or service being promoted has been forgotten—which of course defeats the purpose of spending on the wrap in the first place.

But after seeing this bus, who is going to forget The Kraken Black Spiced Rum?

A bit of technical information was offered by the person that posted this image on LinkedIn: “Using a mix of one-way film on the windows and vehicle wrapping films on the front and sides, a fleet of 5 branded buses were printed and installed within three days leading to one of the most memorable wraps I’ve ever seen.”

Hopefully it will serve to inspire great vehicle wraps here.

You can see more of this project at this link.

The thumbnail version:

• Your market may impose pricing pressure
• Mismanaged price cutting can be a downward spiral

The full version:

Simon Sinek in his book, Start with Why, raises some interesting issues relative to price cutting. Here are some excerpts that should be considered in the context of the market in which your shop operates:

How do I get out of this downward pricing spiral?

“Many companies are reluctant to play the price game, but they do so because they know it is effective. So effective, in fact, that the temptation can sometimes be overwhelming.”

“Playing the price game, however, can come at tremendous cost and can create a significant dilemma for the company.”

“Once buyers get used to paying a lower-than-average price for a product or service, it is very hard to get them to pay more.”

“And the sellers, facing overwhelming pressure to push prices lower in order to compete, find their margins cut slimmer and slimmer. This only drives a need to sell more to compensate. And the quickest way to do that is price again. And so the downward spiral of price addiction kicks in.”

What all of this confirms is that price cutting should only be considered with the big picture in mind. It should never be a spur-of-the-moment knee-jerk reaction to a competitor. That would be playing a dangerous game with no end in sight.

The thumbnail version:

• Promoting sales is not the job of just the person with “sales” in his or her title.
• Sales is a team game.

The full version:

Everyone in the shop is on the sales team

Since the objective of the shop is to make sales, and everyone is there to help further the objective, it follows that everyone is responsible for sales.

This doesn’t mean that Roger who operates the Roland now gets the title “salesman” but Roger needs to know that he doesn’t operate in a vacuum because everything he does has an impact on sales. The quality of his work will influence customers’ future buying decisions. Also, if he gets to talk to a customer about a job, how he conducts himself will matter to the customer and will have an influence on future sales.

The same goes for Bonnie in bookkeeping. If she doesn’t handle customers politely and helpfully, she will have a negative impact on future sales. In fact, if she’s a joy to interact with and makes a good impression on customers, she could have a positive impact on future sales.

Sales aren’t just the business of the the “sales guy.” And to drive this point home, some recognition or reward for everyone based on the sales numbers is a good idea. It says, “We’re all on the sales team and we are rewarded for results.”

The thumbnail version:

• Pole banners can be effective for promoting a message
• The have to be designed to catch attention

The full version:

If a customer inquires about pole banner designing and printing, you’re obviously going to want them to go away so satisfied that not only will they become return customers but that they will also become-word-of-mouth ambassadors for your shop.

Pole banner designers highlight four key aspects to effective design:

1. The banner must have a focal point that quickly conveys the message to passers by.
2. The design and any wording used must flow. Viewer’s eyes should flow from one section to another without stutters.
3. Colour psychology applies in pole banner design as much as it does in any other banner or sign design. The use of background, base, and accent colours will contribute to visual flow.
4. The banner must be designed to grab attention; it cannot be ordinary. Attention-grabbing fonts, phrases, and images are key.

An eye-catching pole banner by mrprinter.ca . . .

The thumbnail version:

• Value-added features can consolidate customer relationships
• Information on proper care of vinyl banners is an example of added value

The full version:

Vinyl banners are said to last between two to twelve years. The vast difference between the two ends of the scale has much to do with proper care. If you make a point of advising customers on the proper care of their just-bought vinyl banner, it will be appreciated as a gesture of goodwill. It’s the kind of value-added element that helps consolidate customer relationships.

Some of your advice for your vinyl banner customer could include:

• Wrinkles can be made to disappear by about 30 minutes of sun exposure.
• Banners should be rolled for transport, not folded.
• Clean banners with a mild solution of soapy water, not with harsh chemicals.
• Don’t store banners when they are wet or dirty.
• Banners should be stored in a dry, cool place.

Advice given one-on-one would be good. But why not take it a step further . . . Why not hand over over a well-designed printed pamphlet with, say, installation and care instructions that could also serve as a promotional item. Why not include all your major products?

For example, a tri-fold pamphlet something like this . . .

The thumbnail version:

• Promptly responding to customers is important
• Uninterrupted work time is also important
• Balance is important

The full version:

I’ve often urged small business owners, including sign shops, to respond promptly to customers and prospective customers. To a customer or prospective customer (most of whom are impatient nowadays) an unduly delayed response is a prompt to take their business elsewhere.

But that said, there is also the problem of getting work done if you’re constantly interrupted to immediately respond to every phone call or email. This is  a particularly acute problem for one-person shops or shops with staff but where the owner is the only person capable of dealing with most customer inquiries.

These two conflicting demands have to be balanced. There are ways to work out a solution to balance customer impatience with your need for uninterrupted time to get work done. There could be many ways to do this in a manner that suits your shop’s circumstances; here are just a few to consider:

• Using a phone-answering service and setting times at certain intervals during the day to collect and return calls.
• An out-of-office message on your email that assures the other party that you will respond within “x” hours (and “x” shouldn’t be more than a few hours).
• Using the time between scheduled customer responses to concentrate on getting work done.

Customers will generally accept a promised response within a reasonable time and you’ll have stretches of uninterrupted work—something that’s essential if you are to be productive.