De-Soto.com

I am sitting on a bench in down town Phoenix, the weather is a cool 84 degrees and people are busy all around me.

Sitting on this bench is really like being isolated amongst the swarm of busyness around me.

This older man, probably in his late 60′s dressed in a very nice suit, neatly groomed with a smile on his face plops down next to me and says, son I would like to give you a present. Intrigued I say ok, sure. He handed me pocket new testament and said, I don’t know you I just wanted you to have this. He shook my hand and got up and left.

I wish I had the boldness of that old man, even though I am not shy by any means or even hesitant to speak my mind but if I honestly evaluate my personal conviction that old man has more stones than me.

I hope to learn and be better because of this tiny Jewell of my human experience. Hmmmmm

Dealing with competition. This is a subject that I get asked about frequently.

My perspective on this issue as it pertains to the wrap industry is not common nor maybe even right, however the way I view competition has been very effective in running my wrap business.

Main Entry: com·pe·ti·tion

Pronunciation: \?käm-p?-?ti-sh?n\

Function: noun

Etymology: Late Latin competition-, competitio, from Latin competere

Date: 1579

1 : the act or process of competing : rivalry: as a : the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms b : active demand by two or more organisms or kinds of organisms for some environmental resource in short supply
2 : a contest between rivals; also : one’s competitors

First off lets discuss how you view competition. Do you view others in the wrap business as your competitors? Do you view others in the sign business as your competition? Do you, if you have a printer in your garage and a laminator in your bedroom view others in the same category as your competition?

Many business owners have not yet put the cognitive thought into determining who they are really competing with. I have heard it said by a small sign shop that a large graphics manufacturer is their competition, I have heard it said by a wrap shop that a franchise sign shop is their competition.

To me the above statements may have some merit but I would wager to say that if they have any its not much.

The reality is that there are hundreds of businesses in any given market with the ability to produce a vehicle wrap, the question is who specifically is taking money out of your pocket and why?

Once you have determined who exactly is effecting your business, you need to then spend some time thinking about how they are mystically doing so. I would bet it’s because your dropping the ball not because they are mimicking your brilliance.

Look seriously at what competition means, simply stated as I view competition as 2 or more people of equally based ability aspiring to be a winner at a common goal. Making money. This common goal would assume that they are competing in the same market for the same demographic.

In laymen terms, 2 or more companies with the same basic abilities going after the same exact customer base fighting for the same ends resulting from a competitive action as it pertains to obtaining those same customers.

Unless you are one of 3 wrap shops in a town of 100 people competing is not the smart way to go to market. Its actually quite infantile as it relates to business maturity.

Especially in our industry where the customers are generally not experts, tactics such as shopping calls, sending a buddy in to get a quote or otherwise fact gathering is simply a waste of time.

At our shop we have a blast when we receive one of these shopping calls, they are a dead give away and can become the best part of our day. We will either bid it high or bid it extremely low depending on our mood then joke about it, poke fun at the suspected shop owner and get back to business.

Here is the reality of being in the wrap business. If you choose to COMPETE, that means that you have to drop price, or otherwise match something that your competitor is doing to get business. I will say that sometimes we do match a price or underbid to take business away from another shop but the reasons for that are several but not based on competition.

Competing or spending your resources actively watching other shops in your market is futile unless you are new and trying to learn the business. If thats the case do it!!

Realizing that you along with others in the wrap business all have the same opportunity to succeed on a daily basis in the form of hours allotted. The choices you make on how you spend that time will give you an edge that is sharper than ever trying to out do a competitor.

For every minute someone is thinking about what I am doing, I am thinking about how to be better, different and stand out to my customers. I could give a plug nickel what the guy down the street is doing.

Who cares!! I do not have time to focus on anyone else’s business and neither do you. Unless you can tell me that your business is 100% dialed in, your controls are perfectly set, your inventory perfectly managed and your accounting is to the 100th of cent, your jobs flow like clock work, your making more than 40% profit on every wrap that leaves your shop, your staff is productive 80% of the day, your designer is giving you 7 hours of production a day and your wife still thinks your wonderful then the hard reality is your eye is not on your business focusing on someone else’s is pure stupidity.

Do not think that you are a McDonalds or an Apple where your competitors are recognized by brand from the masses. Your not, you are a wrap shop. Once again unless you are in a situation where there are more of you than the market can bare. Competing does not make sense.

What does?

You have a choice to make, do you want to swim in the pond with 100 other like fish or do you want to be in your own pond? I say what other 100 I like my own pond. Create something in your business that sets you apart from the others in your field.

Build a brand, have better service, by producing a unique and better product are just a few of the things you can do to increase your business.

Watch your own house. Spend your time worried about your processes, your customers and your employees. Really ask yourself this question. Is my shop a pleasure to be at during the day, are things working like they should be at a profit I can live with?

Every day I allot 1 hour to business refinement. This can mean several different things depending on the day but I will give you a few examples.

• Monday: Work with staff on systems.
• Tuesday: Analyze current procedures and their effectiveness
• Wednesday: Refine Quality control procedures
• Thursday: Refine customer service protocols
• Friday: dial in design procedures/ review job costing and materials usage.

After all of these things are functioning at the highest possible level your shop will be more profitable than the guy who spends his time worried about your website, your costing your advertising and your business. I promise.

The best way to compete is the the way that all of the best competitors compete, by training themselves to be the best daily not by hanging out on the sidelines watching the other guys train. The reality is that the hard part is the discipline to make yourself better, this provides you with results that have staying power. Watching and reacting to the other guy may have short term benefits such as allowing you to react to a sale or some marketing scheme. They will not make you better in the long run because while your looking through the window at me training I am getting stronger, faster and better. Resulting in long term growth and success.

Sergio DeSoto

Copyright Sergio DeSoto 2010 © all rights reserved.

More Than A Logo: Who’s my competition today?

Coming soon

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Vehicle wrap certifications explained.

I have purposely remained out of the public view for sometime now to focus on family and my new business ventures. However my email, twitter and Facebook accounts still remain very active with shops from the across the country sending me all sorts of vehicle wrap business related questions.

I felt that re doing my blog and addressing some of the more frequent questions may free up some of my time. It seams more and more these days, the biggest question I get asked is about vehicle wrap certifications.

As I happen to have intimate knowledge of several vehicle wrap certification programs in place today, I feel ok about commenting.

Please take note, the following is my opinion only. Make up your own mind regarding certifications. If you feel the need to comment go ahead, if you feel it necessary to blast me on signs 101 have fun, the last time I checked I have pulled more readers than any other topic.

Please understand this. There are 3 very unique and not always synergistic views in this industry, yours ( the shop owner, installer) , the supplier and the manufacture. Not all goals are the same and they are not all in your best interest. As I am probably the only person in this industry with intimate knowledge off all three as I have held executive positions in within the 2 largest players in the business, minus working for a vinyl manufacturer and have had a hand in writing 3 of current certification programs, i have some ground to stand on.

What is a vehicle wrap certification?

A vehicle wrap installation certification is simply this, someone, some business, some entity is attesting to the fact that a person/ business is capable of performing a vehicle wrap installation.

What entities or people offer vehicle wrap certification?

• 3M
• UASG
• PDAA
• FELLERS
• LOWEN

Not in any particular order.

Which one should I pick?

Im not going to say, however I will tell you in my opinion what you should look for in a vehicle wrap certification program. What a vehicle wrap certification program should look like, and what the purpose of a vehicle wrap certification should fill. Then you can do your homework and decide for yourself.

What should a vehicle wrap certification look like?

First of take the time to think about the reasons you may want to get “certified”, the reality is that this decision fits within any other investment into yourself or your business. It should have some viable return for your time and effort.

If you simply want to prove to your self that you can install, go ahead and get certified by any of the above. Then you will have it, a certification for you to hang on your wall.

If your reasons are motivated by improving your business by earning additional revenue from a certification program then you must weigh several factors before making a decision.

A good vehicle wrap certification should at minimum have the following.The caveat to this a bit complicated because most of the programs lack a key component to making them worth the investment at all but I will explain that later.

• Tests that are timed and maintained at a high standard.
• Tests that verify the individuals ability to perform the function being tested.
• Test facilitators with a good reputation for keeping high standards and the ability to install proficiently themselves.
• Controlled testing environment.
• Consistency in the testing. Meaning its the same time and test for everyone, in the same environment with the same materials.
• A return on your investment. This is up to you to determine. All of the above offer some sort of value proposition, just how valuable is really up to you.

The biggest missing ingredient.

There are always 2 realties, what we perceive to be real and what really is real. In the case of vehicle wrap certification you have to ask yourself does this really matter? In my experience when building a wrap business certification has meant little to nothing. Reason being is this MOST of your clientele is built off of word of mouth, resulting from your handling of their projects, viewing your work on the street or some other form of marketing. I have NEVER had a customer come in or call me and ask if I was certified, NEVER.

For the sake of framing my last comment, I have been in the vehicle wrap business for over 10 years and have wrapped hundreds of cars, and yes never have I been asked for a certification.

Straight to the point, until someone takes the initiative to market the value of using a “xyz” installer to the general public or more specifically to the small business community and brings an awareness to their program the reality is that a certification really has no intrinsic value.
The exception to this is Lowen and I will explain why Lowen’s program absolutely makes sense shortly.

Think about this for a minute, if you have been in the vehicle wrap business for any length of time you will know without a doubt that the primary demographic for a vehicle wrap is small business.

If someone was thinking at these corporate meetings about how to really increase sales, they would spend less money marketing to us and more money marketing to small businesses. Actually I strongly feel that this is the responsibility of the vinyl manufacture and view it as irresponsible for not being done.

Imagine opening a trade journal for hmmm, lets say catering, carpet cleaners, restaurants or even air-conditioning and seeing a full page add or even a spread with the following ad.

Increase your business with the best advertising medium in the world, a vehicle wrap!

A photo of a nicely wrapped van compared to a cut vinyl job,the demographics of yellow page ads-radio and tv, a customer testimonial and then KAPOW!! A snippet as to why use a “XYZ” Film installed by an “XYZ” certified installer to get the best possible wrap.

Now there is an idea, drive business to your brand through your end user ( us ) and validate the fact that there is a certification process that has value.

Hell the dairy association did it for the dairies, the beef association did it for the cattle men. Why cant our film manufacturers do it for us?????????

Someday they may get some sense and do this sort of advertising, I know what it cost to do a trade show, you could in fact publish a full spread in 20 trade journals in every issue for a year for the price they pay to attend one trade show. The banners hanging in the foyer cost up to 7 thousand dollars each!

I will exclude Lowen from the above because they in essence do this, however to a private base of customers.

The reason there is no real validation.

Amongst the various vehicle wrap programs out there we see a big lack in validation.

For example in one program all one must do is become a customer, mail in some photos and there you have it.

In another, one must simply have a good business history and employ someone who can install.

Here is the problem. Without verifying or certifying the individuals ability to install there is no real substance here. By simply employing a person, who can be terminated and gone for 6 months without losing your certification there is not failsafes as to wether or not you are going to receive a certified install by a certified installer yet few of these certified companies have the integrity to be forthright with the end user and tell them only one guy in the shop is certified.

The bottom line is this, unless each installer carries a validation and it is maintained there is no real value here. I liken it to certifying one mechanic at a car dealership and them advertising certified by Ford, then that mechanic leaves and is gone for six months but the dealer is still certified, oh did I mention the dealer is close to bankruptcy but since no one has verified their business practices since inception they still are listed on the website and still tell the client the are certified. BS!

So why the push?
Several reasons, most of which I probably cant divulge or a team of lawyers will be knocking down my door. However I will say this.

As of today there is not a streamlined way to get consistent work done across the country in a quick and organized fashion with any certainty of quality work being done.

Sure there are individuals with good contacts, companies with an installer base, relationships built on past work being done and gambles taking place on a national level , but as of this writing. A national brand could not launch a national wrap program of any scale within the same perimeters as other forms of media to be successful.

Meaning, no one has the means to wrap 40 cars per city in the US in 4 weeks. So Ford could launch the new whatever model and have the impact of a launch within another form of media. This is a huge problem, it effects the small shops as well.
When and if this happens, understand business will play follow the leader. If national brands use wraps to advertise on a grand scale the rest of the business world will follow suit.

Most shop owners are very short sided when they view the wrap business. They are not looking at the industry from a national perspective, from a perspective of where does my supplier, my manufacture have the most to gain from doing this.

Shop owners need to wise up and start paying attention. Start asking yourselves WHY am I being marketed to in this fashion. HOW does this benefit my shop and will I ever really see a benefit from this program?

All I am saying is do not be stupid, pay attention and look at things for what they are.

Why Lowen does make sense and why is it a unique proposition?

I am going to use this clarifying statement before I put any more detail into this. I have no ties with Lowen, yes I worked there, yes I left there and that’s it. I am publishing this because I know the details of the program intimately as well as many of the others and this one is the only one that truly makes sense.

Lowen’s proposition is very simple.

Come test with us and once we verify you can install we may or may not give you work in your area, however once we know your good, guess what you will probably be the one who gets the job.

Ok, this is paraphrased, not from Lowen it is my interpretation for your reading pleasure.

This program is the only program that really makes sense to me because it does the following.

• Test’s and certifies the individual.
• Has potential work directly tied to the program, this is not simply being listed on a website in hopes that someone may call you for work.
• Maintains a private customer base that is proven.
• Awards more work than any other private company.
• Has the ability to launch a national branded campaign, this is good for the rest of us.

Its that simple.

No other program on the market offers the same value proposition. They cant.

A distribution model cant sell against you by marketing jobs or selling by selling the project and referring the install, all they can do is simply list you on a website.

A manufacturer cant sell against you by marketing jobs directly or by creating a new competitive channel- or at least they shouldn’t be.

A “private” certification will either list you on a website or potentially refer work to you, maybe refer work to you. However look hard at agendas here, who is really getting paid and for what and does it make sense for you?

The bottom line is this.

Until a certification that means something to the end user comes out, and I will add there is one that is very close to doing this but has not marketed it to the proper audience for whatever reason, maybe they need a black belt sig sigma alpha beta capa pie delta omega ninja to study the value proposition first before pulling the trigger. The first one who does will own the hearts of the shops and the minds of the consumer..

As of today you could in theory put up a certificate on your wall that says, Wrap Certified! Signed by your three year old and your customer would never know the difference and probably would not care.

Granted there is some value in brand recognition, and having a logo on there carries some weight but in my opinion a picture of a happy customer with a photo of the project probably has more of an impact on a potential client than a certification does at this point in the game.

I am willing to bet if you do good work, employ a decent designer, have decent business ethics and use quality films you are every bit as busy as those who carry the plaques of certification offered by our industry.

At least with Lowen they are not hiding the details, its their work they are hiring out so they have the right to request your skills be verified. This makes sense! Its up to you to choose to do the work for the price offered or not.

Im sure that I have missed something or misspelled something or have pissed somebody off, its par for the course believe me I am used to it.

Just stating my opinion, take it for what its worth.
Sergio DeSoto