President’s Post – August 2025

We’ve all been there.

The phone rings. A new client – let’s call him John – has signed a lease on a little shop downtown. He’s a jeweller, breaking away from one of the big franchise brands to finally do things his own way. He’s buzzing with excitement about his new venture, full of talk about design, quality, and making the world a better place with his craft.

And you connect with that energy because it reminds you of yourself when you started. You want to do an incredible job for him. You put together a sharp design: folded ACM fascia, router-cut and painted logo, maybe even some subtle LEDs behind the logo, some rose gold accents for that real premium feel. He loves the design. So, you quote it up.

And then… silence.

Emails ignored. Calls dodged. Weeks go by.

Then one day you drive past and—there it is. The sign. If you can call it that.

White ACM, cut from a single sheet and 200mm short on each side. Tek screws through the face, unevenly spaced, Rough-sawn timber packing hanging out the bottom. The shop name stretched out of proportion in some horrible font in red vinyl. It’s bad, no – it’ tragic.

You stop in. John greets you with a smile. You ask about the sign and he tells you he went with another shop because they offered a much better price.

And in that moment, you just want to scream.

Why does this happen – and how can we prevent it?

I’ve come to realise that in many of these situations, we could save ourselves, and our clients, a lot of heartache if we start with better conversations.

We can’t stop every price shopper. But we can set expectations early. And we can protect our time and energy by asking the right questions before we pour ourselves into a project that might never go ahead.

Here are three questions I’ve found make a world of difference:

1. “What’s your budget?”
   Often clients don’t like talking about money, and often we don’t either. The thing it, most of our potential customers genuinely don’t know what signage costs. But without this conversation, we risk designing a champagne solution for a lemonade budget. Frame it with ranges:
   “We can do something really basic for around $600, something really slick for $2500 or a fascia worthy of an architecture magazine cover for $10k—where do you feel comfortable?”
   It may feel awkward at first, but they become easier conversations to have and it’s better than heartbreak later.
2. “How long does this need to last?”
   In my mind, I always want to pitch the best products with the best warranties, but some clients surprise you. “We’ve only got a two-year lease because the landlord is redeveloping this site.” Or, “This is a stepping stone—we plan to be in the mall next year.” Suddenly, a 10-year premium fascia doesn’t make sense.
3. “What does success look like for you?”
   This is the golden one. It opens the door to all sorts of insights:

• Do they just need visibility from the street?
• Do they want to impress a particular type of customer?
• Do they care about longevity, or is it all about opening week impact?

If we know their version of success, we can propose solutions that make sense to them, and avoid having our work (or theirs) end up as a cautionary tale.

I’ve been in this game long enough to know: losing a job always stings, especially when you can see the train wreck coming. But these three questions can save time, energy, and reputation, for both parties.