"Adding a bracket to a sign sale can increase that total sale by up to 50%. " Patti House, Sign Design, Inc., Purcellville, VA
"The bracket added value for the customer and increased the amount of the sale as well. " Nathan Folsom, Sign-A-Rama, Chino, CA
"About 50% of our customers are also looking for hardware. " Patti House, Sign Design, Inc., Purcellville, VA
"Customers know their sign will work with their bracket. " Robert Burnes, Mouse Design Studio, Cumming, GA
As a shop owner, you know them well: projecting signs, projecting banners, post signs, free-standing signs and even the most complex custom applications. You're dedicated to helping your customers find the sign that best meets their needs. Decorative brackets
But what do you offer when it comes to mounting and hanging your customers' new signs? When they ask, do you send them elsewhere? Perhaps you've never given much thought to the sign's supporting structure, or shrugged it off as someone else's niche. Today, however, there's more of a market than ever for many styles and types of sign brackets, including hanging blade sign brackets, light post banner brackets, hanging basket brackets, post and panel sign systems and A-Frame or free-standing sidewalk folding signs. In fact, common sign criteria now call for a blade sign --the vast majority of new shopping centers specify a blade sign over each door.
Why miss out on a perfectly good opportunity? You're well aware that without the core functionality that enables the sign to be properly displayed, you have little more than a pretty picture. By letting your customers depart with just a sign, you're sending them home with only half the package - or maybe to a sign retailer that does offer hardware, which could help a competitor snag your customers.
In general you may have always thought "Business is decent, and my customers seem happy enough. Why would I consider going to the trouble of expanding my signage business and carrying sign brackets as well? " Of course, that was then, before the 2007 - 2008 economy. Adding value to customers and income to you by offering brackets and attachment hardware is clearly a good idea to keep and grow your customer base.
Take Mouse Design Studio owner Robert Burnes in Cumming, Georgia, as an example. In the past 18 months, Burnes began to offer brackets and mounting hardware as an integral part of his overall high-end sign package. Last week a customer walked into Burnes' shop with a complicated print-only logo that he wanted to turn into a dimensional sign.
"My only requirement is to keep the basic shape that's part of my brand, " the customer told Burnes. When Burnes showed his customer the scroll brackets Mouse Design carried, it so happened that one of the brackets fit the logo perfectly. The customer immediately saw how the sign would look when it was completed and installed-and he loved it.
"Because of the bracket design, we were able to secure that business and the customer didn't need to look any further, " says Burnes. "It really solidified with us that the decision to offer hardware products was the right decision because it truly made us a one-stop shop-and customers know their sign will work with their bracket. "
The Benefits of Brackets
Burnes' decision to carry brackets is one that many sign shop owners are making, and for good reason.
"About 50% of our customers are also looking for hardware, " says Patti House of Sign Design, Inc., in Purcellville, Virginia. "Adding a bracket to a sign sale can increase that total sale by up to 50%. " House has found that her customers will even buy the sign to go with the bracket instead of the other way around, and they always appreciate being able to save time and buy the two in the same place.
In addition to increased convenience, selling brackets actually saves House's customers money - ensuring that the signs are mounted on quality hardware to minimize wear and tear. "We did a carved oval sign for one family, and they took it home and hung it themselves, " says House. "Because of the way they hung it, after some high winds, the sign was almost destroyed. They came in with a sign for me to remake, but this time I sold them a bracket as well, and it became a success story. " House firmly believes the initial bracket purchase would have saved her customer money in the long run.
And meeting the needs of the customer is what business is all about. "Customers thrive on choices. The availability of different bracket options is a way sign companies can add value to their clients" advises Laura Harvey, Sales Manager at, The Sign Bracket Store (by Hooks and Lattice) in Carlsbad, Calif., which supplies retailers with sign brackets.
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