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Use the right tools to ensure perfect, vinyl-graphics positioning.
By Rob Ivers
Rob Ivers owns Rob Ivers Inc. (Raymore, MO), a vehicle-graphics company. He’s installed vinyl since 1978 and taught vinyl-graphics installation since 1993.
The word “crooked” carries what I believe to be the shortest definition in the dictionary: “not straight.” There’s no gray area, something is either straight or crooked. Every aspect of the vinyl-application process is critical to a successful installation, and proper placement deserves your full attention.
One day, the owner of a landscaping company called; he wanted me to produce graphics for his new pickup truck. I fabricated them and drove to his office for installation. I noticed his fleet of vinyl-clad trucks; he’d obviously paid another signshop for extensive work. When he came out to show me his truck, I asked why he called me instead of them.
He said he’d worked with another shop that decorated every vehicle he’d owned since he’d opened his business, and had been happy with their work. However, once, after the installer had decorated the driver-side door, the customer told him the graphics were crooked, to which he stepped back and replied, “It’s just a little bit crooked.” Unhappy, the landscaper demanded the graphics be fixed. The installer refused to correct the mistake and said the customer would have to take the graphic as is. So, he called me.
Over the next several years, I’ve completed several thousand dollars’ worth of business for this company. I’m still amazed by the other shop owner’s attitude; for a few dollars worth of vinyl and an hour of his time, he could’ve kept his customer. His unwillingness to stand behind his work lost the account.
My approach is simple: I treat each job as if I were decorating my own truck or sign. I give every job my best effort regardless of its dollar value; my customers don’t deserve any less. I’ve made mistakes over the years, and have put on graphics a “little bit crooked.” But I didn’t leave them that way and fixed them without being asked. I’ve even had customers say, “That’s okay; you don’t have to bother replacing it.” I couldn’t; it’s a poor reflection on their business and my reputation.
Be prepared
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