Wrap up the Sale

If you’re going to warranty you work, have it in writing. Have pictures of vehicles you’ve already done that show examples of full and partial wraps. I don’t try selling full wraps, and instead start with partials. A partial wrap puts more money on your bottom line and the price is usually easier for most to budget into their advertising. Partial wraps are a great way to sell to customers with multiple vehicles.

6. Listen

You would be surprised how many times I’ve walked through the door to have a meeting with someone just to have them show me a drawing from another company and say, “I told the guy what I wanted and this is what they came up with,” and it won’t even be close. Write down what they tell you and repeat it back to them. Avoid getting caught up with a customer who tells you they don’t know what they want and to just come up with something. Most of the time they know exactly what they want, but don’t know how to express it to you. Ask more questions and make them feel involved. You’ll gain respect as a professional and get the job over the last guy who said, “Okay, I’ll put something together and get back to you.” Getting back to them in a timely matter with an illustration of the wrap gives the impression that you are on top of your game.

7. Follow Up

The sale is never over. Following up with a phone call in the first week has many benefits; it shows your customer that they are important and you appreciate their business. I also gives you the opportunity to ask them how they liked the experience with you and if there was anything you could do to make it better. On rare occasions, if there is a problem, the customer doesn’t tell you and just never comes back. The follow up call prevents this from happening.

8. Tools

Don’t get out the squeegee yet. I’m going back to the perception is reality idea. Have a professional looking and informative website. Show a lot of pictures and make it easy to navigate. Heavy metal music and tons of flash does not make a good website unless you’re going after a specific type of work.

Have a nice three fold brochure printed that that you can mail or hand out. I know it seems like a waste of money, but I’ve walked in to talk with potential customers who called me about doing work for them only to see my brochure pinned to a cork board. A PDF of that same brochure can be emailed if you’re doing cold calls.

Attractive and easy to read business cards get me a lot of compliments. Try to avoid putting to much information on them. We old guys have a hard time reading all that small print without using a magnifying glass.

If you’re new to the vehicle wrap business, human nature is to offer basement bargain prices. By doing this you destroy the market for you and your competitors. You may think that you’re going to take business away from the other guy, and in some cases that may be true. What that really does for a business like mine is give me ammunition against you. Offering cheap prices puts you in a non-competitive market for someone who sees the value of using a professional shop. The old cliché, is you get what you pay for, and I give them all the reasons why! It’s always easier to lower your prices than to raise them.

I know as you read this you’re asking, where is the secret to selling a wrap? There isn’t one. All you need to sell a vehicle wrap is to have the tools I listed, a wrapped vehicle to show your work, look presentable, and believe in what you’re selling to be the best of the best.

Don’t forget to smile! It’s contagious.

Mike Grillo is president of Road Rage Designs. During his college days, he worked for Modagraphics as a graphics installer, later starting his own graphics company called Action Graphics where he specialized in boat lettering and graphics. In 1999, Mike moved his company to Northern Illinois and changed the name of the company to Road Rage Kustoms, which not only did graphics but also did vehicle customizing. In 2003, he partnered with Kris Harris, vice president of Road Rage Designs. Together they changed the company name to Road Rage Designs and focused strictly on vinyl graphics and design. Grillo is also a 3M and PDAA certified installer, and Road Rage is a test facility for Avery-Dennison.