Shop Software Spotlight
Download MP3Learn how to build a better sign and print shop from a few crusty sign guys who've made more mistakes than they care to admit. Conversations and advice on pricing, sales, marketing, workflow, growth, and more. You're listening to the Better Sign Shop podcast with your hosts, Peter Kurunis, Michael Reilly, and Bryant Gillespie.
Bryant:Welcome back to yet another episode of the Better Sign Shop Podcast. I'm your host, Bryant Gillespie, and I am not joined by Michael or Peter today. This is actually just going to be a quick announcement episode to catch you up on everything we've been working on and some of the new exciting things coming your way. Yes, it's been a minute. Yes, I'm sorry.
Bryant:So first off, let's just jump right in and dispel some of the rumors and answer some of the questions we've gotten. So first off, yes, we are all alive. No. Mike is not actually a burrito. And, no, the podcast is not finished.
Bryant:We're not done with this. But we have definitely been quiet over the last 6 months or so, and I apologize for that. It's it's been 6 months or so. A long sentence or so. So Mike, Peter, and I, we basically, like, we needed to take some time to focus on work and family and really just take a breather.
Bryant:Running the podcast while managing our work, our businesses, and our personal lives, it was challenging at best. And sometimes you really just need to step back and recharge a bit. We've each had a lot of things going on, which you'll probably learn about in some of the episodes that we've got coming out soon. But don't worry, we're back in the studio, which is basically each of our offices, and we're recording new episodes that dive into some of the topics you guys told us that you care about. So we've lined up some freaking awesome guests, really.
Bryant:I'm super excited about it. We've got a bunch of topics that you told us you wanted to hear about. And, you know, we're definitely gonna be helping you build a better sign business. If you are interested in being a guest, maybe you've got a killer story, you've grown your sign shop from nothing, or you, like some of our other guests, have experienced natural disaster like fire inside your shop, reach out to us. Or maybe you know someone with a killer story that we should be interviewing.
Bryant:Shoot us an email at [email protected]. We'd love to chat with you about it. And, of course, if you know Frank Fellers Frank, if you're listening, I would love to have you on the podcast. You have been at the top of the list. Let's get you on.
Bryant:If you know Frank, maybe we'll set up some kind of bounty in some of the future episodes. But alright. So second thing today, and this is the big one that I wanted to focus on, we're launching something this week called the shop spotlight series. If you've been in any sign industry Facebook group or forum, you've seen this question pop up just about every day. What software should I use to run my shop?
Bryant:Well, we've covered this before on a previous episode of the podcast, what are your options, but we're finally doing more about this. Our shop software spotlight series is basically a comprehensive demo program with all the major players in sign shop management software. But before I tell you about which vendors, let me share just a bit about why this matters. Personally, I believe that your shop's operating system, sort of like choosing the right shop management software, is absolutely critical. Right?
Bryant:It isn't just about features and price points. It's about finding that system that becomes the backbone of your operations. And I know this firsthand because I've lived it from just about every possible angle. Over the past decade, I've spent 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 of hours researching, like setting up, implementing these systems, and supporting shop management software. Like, the first that was in in my old shop, going through 5, 6 different systems before we found one that worked for us.
Bryant:And then helping 100 of other shop owners during my time as the head of customer success at Shop Hawks. And then on through our consulting practice today. But the one major thing that I've learned through all of it is that there's not really any one perfect solution. The name of the game is actually finding the right fit for your specific needs. Maybe you've got a specific budget that you're working against because your sales aren't high enough to support one of these super expensive systems.
Bryant:That's okay. Maybe you do a lot of different products. Maybe you work with apparel, promotional products, etcetera. And some of the systems aren't the best for that. So anyway, let's dive into a real world example for just a minute and then I'll give you all the details.
Bryant:Several years ago, I was working with a shop in Texas that was doing about $2,000,000 in revenue. And we spent a long time analyzing every feature of every different system, trying to find the perfect one. But yet, at the the same time, they were losing orders, they were missing deadlines, they were frustrating some of the customers because they were still using paper work orders and dry erase boards. I've been there, done that. Like, physically ran paper work orders from shop to shop at lunchtime.
Bryant:But when these guys finally chose the system, they got started. They realized one thing, that an imperfect solution was quite a bit better than no solution at all. But the importance of this series, we're trying to help you find the perfect solution for you. Again, there's no magic bullet here and every one of these software vendors will tell you the same. If they if they don't admit to that, I would be weary.
Bryant:But here's, that's exactly why we're launching this series. So here's the industry providers that we brought together. We've got Ordot, we have SineTracker, there's Onyx Align, Square Coil, Inksoft, Inkworks, and CoreBridge. So some of those you've probably heard before. Maybe there's a few new names on that list, but, you know, as far as these actual demos, I I want you to know we're not just gonna sit by passively and let the software vendors have carte blanche.
Bryant:We're not just passive hosts, we're basically going to guide these demos with a a firm hand. So if you think about it, how many times have you sat through a software demo where the sales rep shows you all the fancy features, but you're kinda just left holding the bag or wondering, how does this actually going to work for actual projects? So that's why we're doing it differently. And we've got myself, Steven Cassidy, our head of consulting, and some other rotating team members joining into these sessions to ask tough questions that you need answered. You know, probably a few that you've never actually thought of.
Bryant:And it basically, we're trying to cut through the marketing fluff to show you what actually matters. Right? We're going to see the actual software. We'll keep talking to a minimum, as far as, like, slides and intros and all of that. We wanna get you in front of the software and show you whether this is gonna be the right fit for you or not.
Bryant:So within each session, here's gonna be the breakdown. We've got a 50 minute guided demo, And we're focusing on real workflows for day to day estimating, order entry, production tracking, job management, invoicing and payments, all that. And then the back half, or it's actually less than half, we've got 30 minutes of interactive q and a. So it's total of 80 minutes. The last 30 minutes, that's your chance to get specific answers about your unique challenges, your specific requirements.
Bryant:And if you can't make it live, don't worry, we're gonna record everything, and that will be available to all the attendees that register. So, now let's just kind of address the elephant in the room. You pick one of these solutions. You've gotta go and implement it. Right?
Bryant:Couple of critical things that you need to know. 1st, don't wait for perfection. Like each one of these systems, some are maybe quicker and easier to do setup than others, but all of them have setup time. And I've seen a lot of shops delay getting started because they're trying to get everything just right. But let's start with your core processes.
Bryant:Think of the stuff that makes up 80% of your daily work. Get those things running smoothly, and then expand from there. 2nd, and this is probably absolutely the the most crucial piece. As an owner, you've got to be heavily involved in the implementation. I can't stress it enough.
Bryant:I've seen shops try to delegate this to junior employees or outside consultants, which would be us at Better Side Shop. And if you're not involved in the process, it almost always ends in frustration. And even on a consultant level, there's a lot we can do, but as an owner, you've been running that business for ever high along. It could be 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, you could be fresh. But regardless, like a lot of knowledge is inside your head and your head only, we've gotta be able to get that out and that's why you need to be involved in the process.
Bryant:3rd, I you should be realistic about what these systems can and can't do. They're basically just tools to help you run your business more efficiently. So if you have bad business practices, if you have inefficient, like, soft systems, and like you're not communicating well within your business, yes, these things may help you a little bit, but it is not a magic bullet. Like these these systems are not gonna run your business for you. They're tools to help you run your business more efficiently.
Bryant:So the best results are gonna come when you're willing to adapt some of your processes to work with the chosen software. That's just the nature of the beast. So what can we expect from each vendor in the series? We basically asked each one of them to focus on the real world scenarios that you're gonna deal with every single day. You'll see how their systems handle everything from, like, initial quotes to final invoices, real world examples of project management and job tracking, how they approach pricing complex signed projects.
Bryant:Everybody can price a banner, but, hey, can we price channel letters? Can we price vehicle wraps? Can we price things that have a lot of different variables in them? We'll cover integration capabilities with accounting, design software, APIs, Zapier, and, you know, probably some other things as well. But we've also negotiated special pricing for Better Side Shop listeners with several of the vendors.
Bryant:That sounds a little suspect, but one of the other important things to know is that we've taken steps to protect you in this case. We've made sure this is not gonna turn into any type of spam fest scenario. We will not share your contact information with the vendors. We've made this totally free on both sides, so it's free for you as a shop owner to attend. It's free for vendors to participate.
Bryant:And with that, there's no expectation of, hey, somebody is gonna get a contact list. So if you see a vendor that you like, it's up to you to follow-up. That way, you're not getting hounded. Your inbox is not getting bombarded. So the series actually kicks off Thursday, November 14th.
Bryant:We've got SignTracker up first. Joe over at SignTracker, he's been on the podcast before. Great guy. He's going to give us a demo of SignTracker. They're gonna kick things off.
Bryant:The entire series runs through December. We still got a few slots available, but it's perfect timing for making those year end investments. But you're probably, you've probably got a lot of that on your mind right now, whether that's equipment or software, and you're gonna wanna hit the ground running in January. We've set up the timing perfectly for that. We've tried to schedule these sessions to minimize disruption.
Bryant:So most of those are gonna be at noon EST. Some of them are at 3 PM. But let's run through the complete schedule as it is today recording this podcast. So first up, we have SignTracker. That is Thursday, November 14th at 12 PM EST.
Bryant:Then we have Onyx Align at Tuesday, November 19th at 12 PM Eastern. Next up, we have Square Coil the following day, Wednesday, November 20th at 12 PM Eastern, followed by Inksoft the following day, Thursday, November 21st at 12 PM Eastern. We had some scheduling conflicts there, so we jammed 3 in 1 week. Most other weeks, there's only 2. So following Inksoft is Ordot at December 3rd, on December 3rd at 3 PM Eastern.
Bryant:We have Inkworks that same week on Thursday, December 5th at 12 PM Eastern. And then, we have CoreBridge on Tuesday, December 10th at 3 pm Eastern. That's the current schedule. If you're listening to this days from now, that schedule is liable to change. So we'll keep it fluid.
Bryant:Make sure you register. You'll receive all the updates. You'll receive calendar invites and that way, you'll get all the reminders and make sure you don't miss any of these. So, here's the bottom line. The right shop management software can totally transform your business.
Bryant:I've seen it happen personally 100 of times, but choosing the wrong one. Right? We don't wanna do that. If you choose the wrong system, you implement it poorly, it can cost you 1,000 in lost time and missed opportunities. So this series is, this is your chance to make an informed decision with real feedback, real insights from our community members who have been in your shoes.
Bryant:These are live group demos. They're gonna be other sign shop owners just like you on these things. And there's no marketing fluff, no sales pressure, just, hey, here's a look at the software. Let's help you make the right choice. We are using a third party tool called Luma to manage the calendar for this thing.
Bryant:So if you're interested, here's the link. I'm gonna repeat it a couple times. It'll also be in the actual show notes here. Head to lu.ma, so that's lu.maorluma/shopdashsoftwaredashspotlight. So luma/shopsoftwarespotlight to register.
Bryant:Again, that's lu.ma/shopdashsoftwaredashspotlight. This link is gonna be at the top of the show notes. So if you're listening, just check your podcast player, whether that's Apple, Spotify, our own website, YouTube, whatever. And if you are a software vendor, you're listening to this, you'd like to participate, we do have slots still available. Shoot us an email at [email protected].
Bryant:The first session, coming up in days. So goes without saying, don't wait to sign up. This is your opportunity to finally take control of your shop's operations, your shop's workflow. Do yourself a favor, do me a favor, set yourself up for success in the new year. Now, finally, I wanted to just quickly talk about something we've been developing behind the scenes.
Bryant:We've been working on a new product, a website and marketing platform specifically built for sign shops. In the age of digital and AI, your website is pretty much the foundation for all of your marketing efforts. You know, we talk to a ton of shops that all the leads come through word-of-mouth. That's great. It's cheap.
Bryant:It's efficient. I love word-of-mouth, but word-of-mouth, sometimes, is not scalable. It's not repeatable. You can't rely on word-of-mouth to feed your family or pay your payroll. We keep seeing a lot of the same issues.
Bryant:Shops either don't have a website or the one they have isn't optimized, it's not maintained, they're not posting content regularly. And because of that, they miss out on leads and opportunities. Look, I totally get it. Been there. You're busy running your shop.
Bryant:You're dealing with customers. You're managing projects. The last thing you wanna worry about is your website. You know, we deal a lot with that shoemaker's son problem, where we make our customers look good. We handle their marketing, and our own marketing suffers.
Bryant:But in today's market, I'm just gonna tell you, a strong web presence, it's not optional anymore. So again, behind the scenes, we've been building this thing to help you solve this problem. We'll probably have some more details soon. But I kinda put in the call out. If you're interested, like you're thinking about revamping your website, you want to attract more leads, you wanna close larger accounts, if you're interested in learning more and potentially being part of our beta test, please shoot me an email directly at bryant, that's bryant, at bettersignshop.com.
Bryant:I'd love to chat with you about your marketing goals, your your current marketing efforts, and just your current website to see if you would be a good fit for this new product. So that's it for now. Thanks for listening. This is probably one of the shortest episodes we've ever done, but you know, I hope to see you at the demos for the shop software spotlight series. Thanks.
Bryant:Catch you on the next episode.
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