{"id":21355,"date":"2025-08-03T20:49:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T20:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/?p=21355"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:42:01","slug":"presidents-post-august-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/2025\/08\/03\/presidents-post-august-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"President’s Post – August 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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President's Post - August 2025<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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August already! It\u2019s still pretty darn cold some mornings, especially when you live at the bottom of a mountain. But, the days are starting to get longer, and next time I write this update, it\u2019ll be spring! I\u2019m starting to notice that little shift: the birds are a bit louder, and the sun sticks around just long enough to make the drive home.<\/p>

It was great catching up with some of you in Whanganui at the recent regional meeting, hosted by Dean from Morrie Gibbons Signs. A huge thanks to Dean for the hospitality, and to Total Supply for sponsoring the event and showing us some new products. I always love being around other passionate sign people\u2014swapping stories, chatting about new tech, and even sharing the odd grumble about some of the challenges we all face.<\/p>

As I settle into this new role as NZSDA President, I wonder as the deadline rolls around, what I\u2019ll write about. It\u2019s easy to talk about the weather or the things the Association is doing, but I really want to share something useful. Something that encourages you, or something that helps you. Not because I know it all, but because I\u2019ve made plenty of mistakes that I think could save others some pain and heartache. This month, I found myself in the middle of three very similar conversations with sign shop owners, all about the same thing: losing a job to another shop and watching the client get something\u2026 well\u2026 far less than ideal.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So, here\u2019s a familiar story - The Sign That Got Away<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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We\u2019ve all been there.<\/p>\n

The phone rings. A new client – let\u2019s call him John – has signed a lease on a little shop downtown. He\u2019s a jeweller, breaking away from one of the big franchise brands to finally do things his own way. He\u2019s buzzing with excitement about his new venture, full of talk about design, quality, and making the world a better place with his craft.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And then\u2026 silence.<\/p>\n

Emails ignored. Calls dodged. Weeks go by.<\/p>\n

Then one day you drive past and\u2014there it is. The sign. If you can call it that.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s bad, no – it\u2019 tragic.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

And in that moment, you just want to scream.<\/p>\n

Why does this happen – and how can we prevent it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Here are three questions I\u2019ve found make a world of difference:<\/p>\n

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  1. \u201cWhat\u2019s your budget?\u201d<\/strong>
    Often clients don\u2019t like talking about money, and often we don\u2019t either. The thing is, most of our potential customers genuinely don\u2019t know what signage costs. But without this conversation, we risk designing a champagne solution for a lemonade budget. Frame it with ranges:
    \u201cWe can do something really basic for around $600, something really slick for $2500 or a fascia worthy of an architecture magazine cover for $10k\u2014where do you feel comfortable?\u201d<\/em>
    It may feel awkward at first, but they become easier conversations to have and it\u2019s better than heartbreak later.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cHow long does this need to last?\u201d<\/strong>
    In my mind, I always want to pitch the best products with the best warranties, but some clients surprise you. \u201cWe\u2019ve only got a two-year lease because the landlord is redeveloping this site.\u201d<\/em> Or, \u201cThis is a stepping stone\u2014we plan to be in the mall next year.\u201d<\/em> Suddenly, a 10-year premium fascia doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cWhat does success look like for you?\u201d<\/strong>
    This is the golden one. It opens the door to all sorts of insights:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    • Do they just need visibility from the street?<\/li>\n
    • Do they want to impress a particular type of customer?<\/li>\n
    • Do they care about longevity, or is it all about opening week impact?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      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.<\/p>\n

      I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Master Sign Maker Excitement<\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      As I wrap this up for another month, I just want to mention I\u2019m thrilled to hear how many of you are starting your Master Sign Maker accreditations<\/strong>. The more people who commit to this pathway, the more meaningful and respected the accreditation will become for all of us. If you\u2019re considering it, please dive in! And as always, I want to hear your thoughts, your stories, your frustrations, your questions.<\/p>

      Have a great month team. Ask the hard questions. Have the better conversations. And remember every ugly ACM fascia you drive past is a reminder of the difference a good conversation can have.<\/p>

      See you out there,<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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      Logan Sutton
      Creative Director \u2013 Future Grafix
      President \u2013 NZ Sign & Display Association<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This month, I found myself in the middle of three very similar conversations with sign shop owners, all about the same thing: losing a job to another shop and watching the client get something\u2026 well\u2026 far less than ideal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nzsda-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21355"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21407,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21355\/revisions\/21407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nzsda.org.nz\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}