Grow Your Business | Ignite Your Brand!

High Class Wraps: Know your Niche and Serve them like Royalty

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Competition is rising in the vehicle wrap marketplace, and the profit margins are getting tighter. What can you do? You know you will never win playing the price game. It's time to refocus on why you are in business and who are you targeting!

WHO ARE YOUR BEST CLIENTS?
So you have done everything right. You have online advertising, a salesman or two, and an amazing website showcasing your work. Here are some questions that you need to begin with in evaluating the needs of your specific market share and become the best in what you do - vehicle wraps!

1. Who are your best clients currently?
2. Why are they the "best"?
a. Generates highest revenue?
b. Easy to work with?
c. Provides ongoing business?
3. What industry are they in?
4. Who are their competitors and why aren't you doing business with them?
5. What demographic category do they fit into?
6. What is their position in the company?

Using these questions you can uncover what your optimal customer looks like. If you don't know what they look like then it is hard to find more of them, right?! Interview them and find out why they choose to do business with you. Is it your price? Quality? Customer Service? Professionalism? Speed of delivery? Nationwide Service? Certifications? Trust?

You need to understand that people do business with you for a reason, and many business owners never think of finding out why. It seems simple, but just spending some time with your best clients can be a real eye opener and totally change how your business operates, in a positive way.

SOLID SYSTEMS CREATE SUCCESS AND HAPPY CUSTOMERS
It's always interesting when I hear potential clients tell me that we are the first company that has asked them about what other types of advertising they use. It is important to let the client know that you are more than a vehicle wrapper, you need to position yourself as someone who understands advertising as a whole and can evaluate if a vehicle wrap fits in with their current strategy. The client will appreciate the interest and you will be able to show the client that you care about the success of their investment in wrapping their vehicle.

Some initial interviewing questions to ask clients up front:

1. What other types of advertising are you currently investing in? (This is a brand reinforcement question)

2. Who are you trying to reach?

3. What is the purpose of the wrap? Will you be promoting a product? An event? Or just your business in general?

4. Will you have a call to action on the vehicle? If you call this number and say you saw our vehicle, you will get 10% off your first order!

5. Will you be supplying the design or will you need us to design it for you? Talk about the advantages of having your designers do the work. They are specialized in designing for 3D contour surfaces, while other traditional designers may not have this skill and may make the process more difficult. Some companies actually still charge the design fee even if the client provides the design because it takes them so long to pre-press their artwork.

6. Did you like any of the vehicle designs in our gallery? Which ones, and would you like this style to be mimicked in one of the proofs for your vehicle?

7. How do you see vehicle advertising fitting in with your current marketing strategy? (here is where you can add your input, after you listen to them)

8. Where did you hear about us?

These questions should be created as a script so that there is consistency in the questions all of your employees and salespeople ask to clients. This will save a lot of headache in training new employees.

Here are some of the technical questions that should be asked before quoting out a wrap:

1. Make, model and year of the vehicle

2. Is it s standard vehicle, or have there been any after market modifications done to the vehicle?

3. If it is a van or truck, please specify if it is extended or regular

4. Can you send me pictures of the vehicle?

5. How new is the paint job? Are there any scratches or rust spots?

6. Is there any pre-existing vinyl that will have to be removed before installing the new graphics?

7. Can you send me any artwork you would like on your vehicle?

Also make this into a standard form for your staff to refer to and use on every job.

CRTICAL SYSTEMS DOCUMENTS EVERY SHOP NEEDS
1. Creative Brief

a. This document consist of design questions to uncover their expectations for the wrap design.

b. Some questions include - what is the purpose of the wrap? Who are you targeting, describe how you want the client to react when they see your wrap. What are 5 adjectives that describe your business.

2. Legal Contract

This document is a standard document outlining the policies that both you the company, and the client are agreeing to. This should include a detailed version of the warranty information for the material and installation, and what is covered. Payment policies should be in this contract as well. Always specify that all deposits are non-refundable.

3. Invoice with clear payment terms and late payment policies
We charge 10% of the bill every 30 days

4. Email Follow-up Template

a. Every initial client conversation should have a clear follow-up template that is sent to them outlining the following:

i. Benefits of a wrap
ii. FAQs
iii. Warranty Information
iv. Why choose you over someone else
v. Any certifications you have
vi. Some examples of previous work that relates to their project
vii. Testimonials

5. Customer Survey
Create a short customer survey to send out to every client at the completion of their project. You can use www.surveymonkey.com to create a free survey for up to 500 mailings. I recommend this website because it does all the analysis for you and you can store everything electronically

6. Pre/Post Vehicle Inspection Sheets
a. All installers must be required to fill out a pre and post inspection sheet for every wrap they do.
b. Both sheets must be signed by an authorized person from your client's company.
c. The purpose of these sheets is to ensure that the paint job is sound and that there is nothing that was missed in conversation with the salespeople, as well as ensure that the installer is held accountable for the quality of their work. This is done by having the client sign off on the installation when they are finished.

Clients love consistency. If you want to someday have the freedom of true business ownership, you must set up the systems to allow client experiences to be replicated without you being a part of it. The documents are the first step. Training your staff how to treat your clients like you do is the key to successful client relationships.

STUDIO COORDINATOR & ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Every shop needs one. If you don't have one, your shop is in danger!

We use www.proworkflow.com/ to manage al of our projects in the office. It is a great tool because all of the information for all the jobs is collected in a centralized spot, accessible all online from anywhere. Tasks can be assigned electronically, and clients can view proofs virtually as well.

However, a software system is only as good as the people populating it. If your shop feels like chaos, and things are constantly being mis-communicated and lost, you are probably facing a very similar situation that we faced about a year ago. The owners (me and Keoni) are not detail oriented people at all, and we were in the position of managing the office. Because there were no well defined job descriptions, and the key position, the Studio Coordinator, didn't exist yet, we were in total chaos when even the least amount of work came in. Everyone was exhausted, and the culture severely suffered.

Everyone wants a hard-working, fun environment where you can come to work and be yourself, feeling like you are doing something worthwhile. The secret to creating this environment is clear job definitions, expectations, and systems.

Now, to the Studio Coordinator position. The Studio Coordinator's sole responsibility is to manage all of the orders in the system to ensure that they are getting done on time, and to the quality specifications of the shop. That's it. They interact with the production manager, schedule installs, and interact with vendors.

It may not sound like a lot, but without a person in this position, which some may call the shop manager, which isn't the same and I'll show you why, you will be forever in chaos.

Shop Manager vs. Studio Coordinator
The Shop Manager's job is to supervise employees in each department, make sure the work is flowing through the system and there is no bottlenecks, handle customer complaints, educate and train the employees, and make sure every month is profitable. This person needs personnel management skills, leadership ability, financial management skills, and industry expertise.

The Studio Coordinator's sole job is to ensure that someone is paying attention to the jobs at all times to prevent fires before they happen. They work with vendors, but are also the person that provides salespeople and AEs the reality check they need. They know what the system can handle, they know timelines and what is possible for due dates, and they understand the policies in and out so that nobody can bend the rules without authorization from the Shop Manager. The skill set of the Studio Coordinator is very different. The ability to be firm, incredibly organized, and exceptionally anal about perfection is the ideal Studio Coordinator. Sounds like a joy kill, but trust me your office will never be more profitable and relaxed than the month after you hire them.

The Studio Coordinator role was the best thing that ever happened to our company by allowing us to stop fighting fires and focus on growing our business. I hope it helps you too.

THANK YOU and CUSTOMER REFERRAL PROGRAMS
Clients love trinkets. They love the chocolate on their pillows at the hotel. They love having the door held open, they love the free mint at the end of a fancy meal.

Don't give them fortune cookies, treat them like they are royalty and they will never forget.

Vehicle Wrap Gift Packages
Go buy some nice-looking, inexpensive baskets and budget out $40 to purchase a few car washing gadgets and some shampoo. Put together a fancy care sheet and slide it into the basket along with a www.grabacard.com . Don't forget a hand written thank you card to accompany the basket. They will feel special, and they tell everyone about the experience. This is the treatment that turns your customers into sales people.

Customer Referral Programs
Your salespeople get 15% of what they sell, why not offer a reward when you land a sale by word of mouth? Because research has shown that people respond more positively to dollar amounts than percentages, offer a flat referral reward. If we land one of your referrals for a full wrap, you will get $100. The average vehicle wrap is $3200... the standard 15% commission would be $480. I say it is cheaper to turn your client base into a raving sales force for $100 a pop, don't you think?

Implementing all of these ideas should not feel overwhelming. Enlist the help of your employees by schedule a time once a week to develop and revise systems. They will appreciate that you value their feedback, and it will create buy-in from your team.

To read this article online please visit: WRAPS MAGAZINE's DIGITAL EDITIONS and turn to page 49 for a complete article with pictures.