“Summer, summer, summertime
Time to sit back and unwind, Summertime

Here it is the groove slightly transformed
Just a bit of a break from the norm
Just a little somethin' to break the monotony”…

Ok ok, I shamelessly copied the lyrics of one of my favorite Summertime songs by Will Smith to inspire me… and you (I hope). It was a long year and I’m so excited to be outside, visiting with friends and family in person and visiting with my customers!

One of the joys of owning a small business in our community is meeting people. My team has so many fun conversations about the interesting people we meet on a daily basis. Sure, we do a lot of our work remotely with our customers. They email or call us and ask for a quote for different types of signs or marketing materials and we talk to them about their vision. It’s just so nice to have more people come into our showroom for those conversations now, post-COVID shutdowns.

In the past few months, normal business inquiries have resumed and we are busy. It feels great! And more and more people are popping in like the gentleman that got approval to put a street sign up on his corner with his name on it! And the racecar driver that needs decals on his car for the upcoming race! We’ve talked to a motorcycle owner who needs a decal on his windshield and numerous business owners needing vinyl graphics on their trucks for advertising! Club members have popped in for custom flags and property managers are dropping by to explain the sign updates they want to make all around the apartment complex.

We LOVE those conversations. My husband and I started our sign business and vowed to improve the customer experience in this industry. It is one of our core values. If you open a retail store and greet the public on a regular basis your values as the owner are quickly apparent. What you tell your team and how you train them to deal with people is a direct reflection of you. Don’t ever forget that. If you hate dealing with people, find someone who loves it and have them train your team. In most cases, anyone can offer the product you offer, but it’s the experience you create that gets people talking… either way. Maybe this summer is a chance to break from the norm and offer a new and/or improved customer experience.