Monthly Archives: August 2019

How does one calculate the value of the SignForce GUARANTEE?

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Illuminated signs

Candice Berman shop front sign

In the modern world of skeptics, especially in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa (where SignForce South Africa is headquartered) and where it currently seems that nothing is as it seems, buyers must be forgiven for believing that EVERYONE offers some guarantee.

Guarantees help sell because they give the buyer comfort and peace of mind, and, unfortunately, sometimes a false sense of security. This is because it feels fantastic knowing that one is “covered”, until, that is,  one reads the fine print, when, too often, it seems that unless one does a head stand under water for no less than 50 seconds on an even numbered day Tuesday in the second week of a month starting with F while a pink elephant ties one’s hand to a good mate’s foot …. you get the idea!

At SignForce we are proud to have been in the signage business for more than 20 years under the current management. We are also proud to have honored the SignForce guarantee 100% of the time there has been a LEGITIMATE claim. (Yes, we have also had claims that were not legitimate, such as the time a sign was damaged by thieves (as was evident by the photo’s the client provided) and the client demanded SignForce replace the sign. But sorry, I digress).

The reason SignForce are in any position to honor the SignForce guarantee is that (a) SignForce work with the best available material, which generally carry their own guarantees, (b) SignForce make a point of working with reputable suppliers, (c) SignForce have skilled staff and (d) SignForce use an automated quote system that has a built in factor for each sign in order to ensure there is sufficient margin on a job so that, in the event of their being an issue with the sign, SignForce can afford to go back and make good.

Unfortunately this ‘factor’ does increase the cost of the sign, and this may seem unnecessary to the potential buyer, especially if they are highly price sensitive. That is, price sensitive until there is an issue with the sign…

The photo on this blog happens to be one of the 4% of signs that SignForce produce that WENT WRONG. Yes, the odds are in the client’s favor that NOTHING will go wrong, but when it does, as with all insurance, is the cost of the risk not worth being covered.

In the case of this Candice Berman signage, what we do know is that something (we don’t know what) made contact with the sign resulting in the sign tearing and falling off the wall. Obviously this is not something any sign company likes to admit to or takes lightly. (In SignForce’s case we have fortunately only had 3 signs fall off walls in over 20 years, two of which were while installing and were the result of faulty fixings).

In this case the signage was replaced at no cost to the client, which, had the client not been with SignForce, could have cost the client the same as the original sign. Now if one thinks about the cost of the guarantee versus true peace of mind, how does a buyer calculate the value of the SignForce guarantee?

As a rule of thumb, when a price is ‘too’ low, it is often because short cuts are being taken or simple numbers such as guarantees are not factored into the cost. This may make the up-front cost more competitive, however, when something goes wrong, (and it will, even, as in SignForce’s case when it is under 4% of jobs) if the cost of errors has not been factored into the price of the sign, there is a better than average chance that the supplier simply cannot afford to go back to make good.

Working with SignForce provides peace of mind!

Contact SignForce on info@signforce.co.za or call us now on +27 (0)11 440 7524 / 5 to see how much we care for you and our clients.

 

How do you Maximize & Measure the benefit of your signage?

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Living in the world of the 21st century, it seems EVERYTHING is expected to be measurable.

While this is not always true and definitely not always simple – for example, even in 2019, how does one measure the level of LOVE – there are many ways to evaluate and measure the ‘SUCCESS’ of your purchases and investments.

At SignForce we see signage as an investment, and in order to measure the return on investment, we believe that four fundamental questions need to be answered, preferably BEFORE the sign is purchased.

  1. What do you want the sign to achieve?
  2. What is the correct sign for the objective to be achieved?
  3. What is most important to you in measuring the success of your investment :

    (a) the cost of the sign and / or

    (b) the quality of the sign and / or

    (c) the importance of your deadline being met.

  4. How do you intend measuring the success of your signage?

If your sign is located in the middle of an open field, with the only thing competing for the potential reader’s attention is the vehicle instruments, the possible people in the vehicle, the road and nature, and all you want the sign to do is capture attention, measured by the number of vehicles you can get to respond to your signage’s message, then the main focus should be the SIZE and ATTRACTIVENESS of the message.

If on the other hand your sign is located in a shopping mall where, aside from the landlord’s approval, you are competing with a number of LARGE, FLASHY, 3D signs, best you either make something even LARGER, FLASHIER, 3D or alternatively, something TOTALLY DIFFERENT in order to STAND OUT. If your measurement of success of the signage is to get a specific response from the viewer of the sign, then before purchasing the sign, one should look at what about the sign will lead the viewer to respond.

While the above two scenario’s are greatly over simplified, it should already be clear that not all signage is appropriate or necessarily the best signage to achieve a desired objective. This leads to the next set of questions, as to the order of which is most important: (a) the cost of the sign or (b) the quality of the sign or (c) the importance of your deadline being met.

As custom signage is generally made or assembled by hand and thus labor intensive, the three questions above tend to be at odds with one another. If it is a ‘cheap’ sign one is looking for, that will generally mean a compromise on the quality of the sign, so the sign may be able to be produced pretty quickly. Being produced pretty quickly should not be confused with the sign being an ‘off the shelf’ item, and it should generally be understood that the speed of the signs manufacture will generally (but not necessarily always) have an influence on the quality of the sign.

If the deadline is the most important factor, followed by superior quality, then it should be fairly obvious (although it never is) that the cost of the sign is going to be higher, ESPECIALLY when the sign is ordered (in South Africa this includes the order being received, the artwork being approved and the required deposit being paid) at the last minute.

It seems that very few people who do not work with signage on a regular basis tend to understand the manufacturing process(es) that are required to get signs manufactured, decorated and installed, and thus often tend to have the erroneous belief that the wave of a magic wand will get the picture that they have in their mind, and possibly even the picture they have approved on paper, to suddenly appear in full life size. The best advise we at SignForce can give is if you have a specific deadline, and a budget, then make sure you get information on the time required to manufacture your signage, and give the supplier more time than they required, as this way there is less room for error – or surprises.

Measuring the ‘success’ of you signage could be by measuring how many viewers respond to the sign and / or it’s message. It could also be measured by an increase in sales or turnover, or the number of (additional) feet that come into your premises, or how much you paid for a sign that matched or exceeded your expectations.

Conversely the success of your signage could be measured by looking at what the sign cost and whether the sign is the correct sign for the task, whether it is what you expected it to be and whether what you got is what you were sold and how long the sign lasts and the total cost over the life of the signs. This is because in an industry where purchase decisions are generally made on a picture on a piece of paper, where the buyer seldom knows or understands the materials and processes that are used or whether the materials that were used match the materials that were sold.

As a buyer of signage, a purchase where price is ALWAYS a factor, often because the signage is the last item on the agenda which means the budget has long been blown, it is often understandable that what looks like the best sign at the best price is what gets purchased, especially when the buyer believes that all the signs that are being quoted are generic and identical, simply because the paper that holds the ‘picture’ displays the same picture.

It is more often than not important for the buyer to understand that unlike a purchase of a can of beans of a single brand which are all assumed to be almost the same, custom signs differ from manufacturer to manufacturer, with a lot depending on the integrity, design capability and professionalism of the sign maker.

It is for this reason that when a buyer of signage gets multiple quotes, and they are all ‘saying’ the same thing, but the prices have a great variance (in my personal opinion more than 30%), the buyer should be asking for samples of materials and probably asking for references. It is quite possible that the buyer is about to get a bargain of note, because there are many sign businesses who unfortunately, for their own good and long term success, do not quite understand pricing and margins, so the buyer could well get a bargain. On the other hand the buyer may believe that they are getting something they are not.

If you are intending to buy signs, and are interested in having consultants on what signs may best suite your needs, we at SignForce are available – simply call +27 (0) 11 440 7524 / 5 and ask to talk to Arnold or email arnold@signforce.co.za with the subject PLEASE CONSULT.