Sermonette #2 - Showroom Displays
Posted by Rick Sacks on November 17, 2001Another opinion I have, and it is just that - an "Opinion" - is what should be displayed in your showroom or reception area, or whatever your customer first sees when they walk in the door.
I've been in many showrooms that have a chart with every font that they have on the computer along with a display of available vinyl colors, and what various heights of letters look line (6", 5", etc.). Since we are supposed to be professional designers, it is my opinion that when we have a "menu" in the office all we are doing is taking an "order" for a sign, not designing one. The choices are being left up to the client and that is why they came to us in the first place - to design a professional sign.
My idea would be to have samples of work, photographs, and an array of artwork, and then design the sign for the client. The display is to show the quality and diversity of the work that you do.
Closely related to that is the idea of having all the computers, plotters, printers, etc. out in the showroom area so the customer can see the high-tech equipment that we use. Since most of us all have basically the same stuff, it would seem to me to not be a selling point. Better design and construction or quality of both would seem to be the advantage that one shop would have over the other.
Just my opinion. What do you think?
Posted by Danny Baronian on November 17, 2001Bravo! Over th years Mike and numerous others have spoken louldly about displaying what you want to sell and showing where you want to go.
The type of displays you described are for vinyl franchise shops.
Posted by Rick Sacks on November 17, 2001Ditto, Rick.
Show work you are proud of, work you world like to provide a customer, the type of design / craft capabilities you offer.
In my opinion, most vinyl shops do not / are not capable of 'design services’; hence the multitudes of font / material samples. That way the design is left up to the customer, and it shows.
On computers: keep them in the back. Numerous magazine articles have described how some shop owners locate the computer screen so the customer can help in the design. Would you want that kind of help?
Posted by Mike Jackson on November 17, 2001No, Danny, I don't want the customer's help.
Quite often, when I'm doing a job that I'm excited about, I might make a second one for me, or a smaller version. It doesn't require much more effort to run them both through the chisels and brushes at the same time and then I have the showroom sample I'd want.
Actually, the Showroom and the Portfolios go hand in hand. Both should be filled with the type of products you WANT to sell. We dedicated quite a bit of our old shop to the showroom, but it was the result of a wall that was already there when we moved in. It could have been a little smaller and have served the same purpose.
As I've written earlier, you will often here people saying "you can't sell that kind of work here". Notwithstanding "the Gary Anderson Theory", many times the person saying it has none of that kind of work in their portfolio or showroom.
We might have been guilty of pushing the custom work a little harder than we should have in the showroom because we had quite a few people almost ready to walk back out--thinking we were too expensive or that we didn't do basic work. Of course, basic work is often more profitable than the custom work. We borrowed a phrase from Jim Pritchard..."Plain and Fancy", and included it on our cards and on the window.
I agree with you on all points. We felt it was better to keep the equipment behind the scenes. Most customers have no idea how they are made, but some think if it comes off a machine, anyone could do it. We liked the "mystical" additive. All they knew is they placed an order and we showed up one day to put it up, or called to let them know it was ready to be picked up. We sold a product and not a process.
Since we work out of our house and garage now, the showroom theory has pretty much bit the dust for us.
Great topic!
Mike Jackson
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads