Let’s face it, design work costs money and somebody has to pay for it. Someway, somehow the designer’s wages and time spent on designs and revisions has got to be covered by the sale of the sign or it comes directly off the top of profits. One of the easiest ways to cover this cost is to get the customer to agree to pay for it up front.
Easier said than done you say? Perhaps you’ve never been shown how to get a commitment from the customer on the first design revision?
For as long as I can remember, sign companies have given away their design work in order to win favor with the customer. Like they are some restaurant in a shopping mall with a booth attendant out front giving away little samples of chicken. Really? We should have enough “samples” of previous jobs to save us from creating a sign design just to win favor with the customer.
Somewhere this pattern of insanity has to stop, and learning how to finesse the “upfront design contract” will allow you to use your artwork as a tool to get one step closer to the sale.
Understanding how to use the design as leverage to close the sale is critical to both maintaining control of the sales process and for limiting your time investment. If you are not using their desire for a revision as an opportunity to secure a working relationship, you probably are giving up a lot more than just control of the sale.
Don’t let your customer use you as a tool
I certain sales circles, it’s called “being tooled” by the customer. It leaves the salesperson searching for answers as to why after 10 revisions, and 10 promises to buy, the customer went with someone else for their sign.