Know Your Customer First, Then Grow Your Business

Know your customer first, before anything else, is the best way to grow your business.  So many business owners know their business or trade, but do they truly know their customers?  To know your customer or clients is the only way to ensure your business is providing the right products and services they really need.  How do you begin to know your clients?  There are so many tools out there that can help you do just that.  I find that simply asking them, “what exactly are you looking for and how can I be of assistance?”  Sounds easy right?  Well it is!

 

Learning your customers’ needs can be challenging, but it will ultimately pay you back in sales.  For instance, streamlining your business to focus on one product line or neglecting to offer other accessories and services because it is “too much of a headache” is just not going to work in today’s marketplace.  I have seen it all too many times, “we don’t want to offer that service because it is too hard on my staff”.  Well is your staff running the business or are you?  Perhaps you were not properly motivating your employees to offer those extra services, or worse, you simply were not charging enough to make it worth the while.

 

What is important to remember is that your customers are the ones paying the bills, listen to them and their requests and change your business to be a better fit for their needs.  One method that has always worked for us at Sign-Express is to offer a total package and gauge the client’s responses and interests.  Have a solution available for any and all requests, even if it is not something that is your core product.  Our core products are lighted signs and LED signs, but we offer sign design, permitting reviews as a complementary service to help potential clients reach a better solution.  Then we offer site surveys, sign permitting, sign installation and after installation support.  You would think this is only natural, but the truth is, most large sign companies prefer not to handle sign permitting and sign installation due to the complexity and liability of such services.  So the client is left with dealing with multiple vendors in order to achieve the desired result, this is often costly and miscommunication runs amuck.

 

If you truly want to grow your business and provide the very best product and services to your clients, you must take note on what they are requesting.  Charge appropriately for your services, never discount them as simple or easy, your skills are worth the price and the client will thank you later for a job well done.  And always remember to advertise your products and services effectively through all means available.  Know your customer!

 

Sign-Express is a total turn-key signage solution provider of lighted signs and LED signs in the US.  We pride ourselves in going above and beyond with each of our clients.  Call or click to speak with one of our professional sign designers so you can get started making money! 

Is a Business Sign Really All That Important?

Here’s a little story that will show how important a business sign really is to a business.  Recently I was looking for a barber shop in my neighborhood.  I’ve lived here for almost three years, and the same barber has cut my hair the entire time.  Unfortunately, when I went to his shop I found out that he had closed.  Panicking, I dug around in my memory for another shop close by and couldn’t come up with one.  No signs came to mind.

When you boil marketing down to its most elemental form, the situation described above is at the root of it.  I needed a haircut, I had the money for a haircut, the opportunity arose for a new business to step in and immediately fill the need … and I couldn’t remember where a single shop was in my area.  I drive through this area all the time.  Signs are noticeable.  Signs, and specifically logos, are perfect for “memory embedment” in that they slowly work through the subconscious until needed.

Here’s another example:  My better half is into beading.  She loves nothing more than to string a variety of different shaped balls together to make necklaces, bracelets and whatnot.  We were in an unfamiliar section of town this week and she hollered out “BEADS!”  Now, knowing her, I simply assumed that she was thinking about her passion and couldn’t help but vocalize it.  However, she was only reacting to a bright LED business sign proclaiming a 20% off sale at a bead store we were driving by.  The rest of the story is obvious:  We both came out of the deal happy.

The store won because of simple marketing.  They had merchandise that a customer wanted, they had a story to tell regarding that merchandise, and they had the means to tell that story.  Without that sign, we would have no idea that a bead store existed there.  Their business sign was bright, colorful and easily noticeable.  Now, if the store had only, say, channel letters on the face of the strip center or placement on the communal sign (along with every other business in that location), we might have seen that bead store anyway.

But one thing is certain:  We would have passed right on by if there was NO business sign at all.

How many potential customers are passing you by?

Not too long ago, I got interested in baseball cards.  For a very short while, believe me.   A friend turned me on to a baseball card store a few miles from my house, claiming that it was the “best store ever” or something along those lines.  I’m not familiar with the area, so I Googled it to get the address.

When Google informed me that I was there, I couldn’t find it.  I was in front of an office park, staring at a Subway (I knew it was a Subway because of the full color sign above it), along with about 40 other businesses.  Some had signs on their windows, some had channel letters or neon or hand-painted poster board taped to the glass. A few had white letters on the door announcing their services. Others were a complete mystery as to the goings-on inside.

So I called the store.  I was informed that they were located “next to the Day Care … Suite #387”.  Trouble was, I couldn’t figure out which one was the day care.  I noticed one shop had a picture of a cartoon dog on it, but that turned out to be a pet food store.

When I called back, the owner seemed a tad miffed.  Well, so was I.  He tried to guide me in, but the wind was taken out of my sails, and I left.  As I pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed a comic book store across the street, complete with a full color sign of Superman in flight.  I smiled.

Any marketing plan centers on speaking to past and future customers.  Period.  You can buy all the ad space you want to, build a beautiful website and get an SEO firm to provide backlinks for it, but if the customer can’t find your business then you will fail to gain those precious clients.

Sign-Express sells lighted business signs and LED sign solutions for businesses in the US for very competitive prices and have a spectacular (5) five year parts warranty with a (5) year on-site service warranty for all our clients.  We pride ourselves in going above and beyond with each of our clients.  Call or click to speak with one of our professional sign designers so you can get started making money!  You can contact Sign-Express at 1-800-888-5051 or email us at sales@sign-express.com.  Visit us at www.sign-express.com and take the next step toward transforming your outdoor marketing ability.

How to Make Money with LED Billboards

How to make money with LED billboards is something everyone who is familiar with digital billboards and LED signs has asked themselves. Making money with an LED sign is quite simple actually. If you own a business or location where you can install an LED sign, you have a great opportunity to make more money with only a small investment. Brick and mortar retail locations wishing to advertise their products and services in bright images or moving messages have everything to gain from owning an LED sign. Now if you really want to rake in the cash, the way to do it is with billboard advertising. The formula is simple, locations are the key component and traffic is the multiplier.

Everyone knows that off-Premise advertising billboards are big money makers. Ted Turner started his career in advertising by running his father’s small outdoor billboard advertising company in Savannah, Georgia. He worked very hard at growing the heavily leveraged business, and was very successful at amassing a fortune. Ted went on to start Turner Communications Group then later was owner of AOL Time Warner and the Atlanta Braves baseball team. I’d say he did pretty well for himself. Clear Channel started in the outdoor advertising business way back in 1898, I guess you would call them a pioneer in this industry. Now they are one of the nation’s largest billboard networks established in the US. Their networks span city roads, buildings, street benches, ground transit systems, airports and spectaculars such as Times Square. Over the last few years Clear Channel has begun converting their static billboards over to dynamic LED billboards to increase revenue for each location. The revenue streams from having multiple advertisers on a single board is outstanding.

So I bet you are wondering, “How do I start?” Finding a location where you can install a billboard is the beginning. The laws and regulations are not all that kind to the advertising business so you need to do your research. Once you have identified a location, check with the local permitting codes to find out how large of a structure you can erect for your fledgling LED billboard empire. There is usually a state license and fee you will need to pay in order to advertise legally, not all states have this provision. Next, do your market analysis! Identify your competitors, and most of all your future clients and businesses that will want to advertise. You will need to know the pricing for the area advertisers so you can start to build your pricing schedules and begin selling your ads for your new LED sign. The final step is finding the right company to purchase your LED billboard from and who has the knowledge and know how to install the boards correctly so your investment is protected for years to come. LED sign and LED billboard pricing varies dramatically based on needs and sizing. I strongly suggest that you purchase from creditable companies and avoid buying from overseas. Although some of their products will be attractive in price, you will end up paying your profits in keeping them running and locating knowledgeable technical support who speak your language.

Sign-Express offers a comprehensive site survey to help you determine the ideal size and height of your future LED billboard home. It is not a “one size fits all” for each location, there are several factors you must identify before you end up over spending or under-utilizing your location. The owners of Sign-Express has worked with thousands of clients, large and small, in providing the best LED sign solution that meets our client’s goals and budget. Our team of professional project managers, graphic artists and signage experts can help you grow your new LED billboard venture. Sign-Express sells billboards in the US for very competitive prices and have a spectacular (5) five year parts warranty with a (5) year on-site service warranty for all our clients. We pride ourselves in going above and beyond with each of our clients. Call or click to speak with one of our professional sign designers so you can get started making money! You can contact Sign-Express at 1-800-888-5051 or email us at sales@sign-express.com.