Pricing & selling commercial wraps
Tips to help your sign shop succeed
By Charity Jackson
Being busy is not the same as being profitable. That’s a fact that took us a while to fully understand as we built our business. It’s tempting to charge less to get the job, but if that busy work prevents you from taking on a more profitable project, or takes you away from things that can help build your business, then it’s not worth taking on the job.
Often, when your sign shop is bustling, with the printers going nonstop, employees working overtime, and installers applying graphics to one vehicle after another, you feel pretty good. But when it’s time to pay the rent, payroll, supplier invoices, and equipment leases, if your profit doesn’t reflect how busy you are, then you need to reevaluate your pricing strategies and sales structure.
True costs
When you’re pricing out your wraps, it’s important to understand the true cost of producing and installing them. The costs go beyond the price of the wrap vinyl and laminate. You also need to consider ink consumption, design time, labor costs for production and installation, and shop overhead, which includes rent, utilities, equipment leases, and other costs.
Because California has high labor costs, we must charge more for our wraps to account for increased payroll, despite our material costs potentially being fixed by the manufacturer. Therefore, there is not a one-size-fits-all price for wraps that works for all shops. The variables have to be considered for your particular area.
The full wrap on this hood and fenders may not have a lot of square footage, but it does have deep contours and tricky fenders, so make sure your installation costs cover the extra time.
Pricing model
The industry standard for wrap pricing is based on a price-per-square-foot model. This is the method we use, and we’ve broken it down by ranges, meaning the more square footage in the project, the cheaper the price is per-square-foot.
A tailgate wrap is going to cost more per square foot than a full wrap will because beyond the actual coverage there’s also the time spent with the customer discussing options, writing the invoice, etc. Beyond design and installation costs, you’ll often spend a similar amount of time on a wrap with less coverage than you will for a full wrap.
We’ve also broken down the pricing worksheet for different material options. So we have pricing for premium wrap vinyl, reflective, transit, perforated window film, etc. Each one has a fixed price-per-square-foot, with the sliding scale depending on the total square footage.
This pricing has already taken into account our shop overhead and labor costs, and we’ve translated these expenses, plus profit, into a per-square-foot amount that is added to the marked-up material costs.
Labor pricing
Our wrap pricing is graphics + design + installation. The price-per-square-foot price covers the graphics. We add design and installation labor costs separately. Because each job is custom, the cost of designing the wrap will depend on what artwork the customer provides versus what we need to design from scratch.
Many companies use a price-per-square-foot formula for installation as well, but in this case we differ. We prefer to price based on the specific vehicle and its coverage.
We break out the installation costs separately to cover the unique obstacles of each vehicle. While a box truck may be a lot larger than a sedan, we might wrap it a lot faster because of the lack of obstacles and contours.
Sales approach
Since we specialize in commercial wraps, our sales approach comes from an advertising and return-on-investment standpoint. Most of our commercial clients are counting on the views they receive from their wraps to translate into increased sales due to direct advertising or brand reinforcement.
Approaching wrap sales from the standpoint of what they can receive in return helps justify the upfront cost of a wrap. Since vehicle wraps last for many years, the customer should expect a high volume of impressions in that time.
You can’t sell a vehicle wrap the same way you would sell a banner. A banner is a cost-effective short-term marketing option, while a vehicle wrap is a long-term resource that generates leads, revenue, and sustained brand value. As you discuss the cost discrepancy between the two, communicate these differences to your customer.
Vehicle templates are a great sales tool when figuring out square footage. Art Station’s Wrap Dimensions guide also has pre-configured square footage for a large number of vehicles.
Price competitor
When customers question our pricing, we tell them we might not be the cheapest sign shop, but we’re also not the most expensive. The unspoken meaning is that we’re not interested in competing on price.
We’re right where we need to be to attract the customers we like to work with. If you’re the cheapest game in town, you’re going to have to work harder to make a profit, and you’re going to attract high-maintenance, one-time buyers.
It’s tempting, especially when you’re new to the industry or when sales are down, to take every job that comes in. But keep in mind that these jobs become busy work that can keep you from jobs that earn higher profits and take your time away from opportunities to grow your business.
Quality competitor
Earning a customer’s business through quality rather than price involves a few different areas. The main area is customer service. We pride ourselves on being knowledgeable, helpful, and thorough on each job. This also means we answer the phone, show up when we say we will, deliver on time, and keep meticulous notes on company branding, materials, and placement for future jobs we hope to earn.
We also only use quality products for every wrap project. If a customer is going to spend thousands on their advertising, they deserve materials that are going to last. Since longevity is key in justifying the cost of wrap advertising, we must use quality media.
Effective design is also a part of the wrap sales process and is an important step in earning repeat work. A poorly-designed wrap can not only be an ineffective waste of money for the client, but it can actually hurt their business by making them look less professional. If design isn’t your strong point, then either hire a designer with mobile advertising experience or partner with a local graphic design agency to help you strengthen this part of the process.
This long-term customer incorporates a partial wrap and spot graphics on the sides of their vans, with a full wrap on the back. The eye-catching design works on a many different types of vehicles in their fleet.
Interview
I often refer to the initial steps in selling a vehicle wrap as an interview. As we ask the customer strategic questions, the point is to find out the goal of the wrap, the target audience, and budget constraints.
We take pictures and measurements of the vehicle we’re quoting, and we discuss the questions above. If a customer does not know what their budget is, we then offer a range of pricing based on a partial to full wrap.
The scaled photos of the vehicle are great when we get to the design portion, but we also often use Art Station’s Vehicle Wrap Templates to get started. This allows us to quickly pull up the customer’s vehicle and note coverage for pricing.
Future
Our goal with any new customer is to turn them into a long-term client. We’ve built our company on repeat business. We enjoy these long-term relationships and being a part of our customer’s success.
Even if a customer only has one vehicle, we always treat them as if they have a fleet, because someday they might. With this mindset, we design wraps by planning elements that could be used across many different vehicle types. We also keep notes on colors, materials, and placement on file, and we add printed color samples to their files.
Once you have a customer’s artwork on file, let them know about other services you offer. Window graphics, job site signs, banners, and marketing collateral pieces are all great ways to support their advertising and increase your sales.
Confidence
As much as we’re interviewing a client to get the information we need to sell a wrap, they’re also interviewing us. It may be less direct, and maybe even subconsciously, but it’s a reality.
The experience of the salesperson, the installer, and the person doing the design work all goes to building the customer’s confidence. Sometimes, the same person will do the sales, design, and installation, especially in a smaller shop. Often, they’re different people, but it’s also a good reason for people to be cross-trained so they can answer a customer’s questions thoroughly and accurately.
Having a product warranty in place, along with the ability to print or email it easily, is another way to build confidence. Let the customer know the manufacturer’s warranty parameters and the quality warranty that you offer on the installation.
Samples of your work in the lobby or online are a huge confidence booster as well. Customers are more comfortable seeing completed projects that back what you’re telling them. Being able to point out partial wraps and full wraps you’ve completed not only clarifies the coverage options but also shows your abilities.
We have two digital displays in our lobby that rotate photos of finished jobs. “Oh, you do so-and-so’s work? I know them,” is something we often hear after a customer has watched a few of the slides. This is like having word-of-mouth advertising right in your lobby. The customer sees you worked for someone they know, and they automatically feel more confident in your business.
As mobile advertising trends continue to grow, be sure your company can grow alongside. Know your profit margins, work smarter, not harder, sell confidently, and focus on turning a first-time customer into a long-term client.
Charity Jackson is co-owner of Visual Horizons Custom Signs based in Modesto, California. She has been in business since 1995 and has worked in the sign industry for over 30 years. You can visit her website at vhsigns.com.
