Let’s face it, design work costs money and somebody has to pay for it. Someway, somehow the designer’s wages and time spent on designs and revisions has got to be covered by the sale of the sign or it comes directly off the top of profits.
在标识公司工作的设计师与销售人员的联系是最紧密的，但是也往往是关系最不融洽的，因为设计师的很多工作都来自于销售人员。标识销售人员只要掌握了正确的销售方法，不仅可以提高成功率还可以减少设计师的工作。
One of the easiest ways to cover this cost is to get the customer to agree to pay for it up front. Easier said than done you say? Perhaps you’ve never been shown how to get a commitment from the customer on the first design revision?
不得不承认，标识设计工作的成本很高，必须有人要承担这一费用。总之，设计师的工资和时间基本都用在设计和修改方案上了，设计的时间和费用基本要覆盖标识销售的利润。最简单的方法就是说服客户提前支付设计的费用。你肯定会说，说得容易做得难。你或许不知道如何在客户第一次提出修改意见的时候让他们交定金。
For as long as I can remember, sign companies have given away their design work in order to win favor with the customer. Like they are some restaurant in a shopping mall with a booth attendant out front giving away little samples of chicken. Really? We should have enough “samples” of previous jobs to save us from creating a sign design just to win favor with the customer.
我记得，标识公司很早就放弃设计工作，他们为了赢得客户的好感一般都把设计类的工作外包出去。好像是一些大商场里的餐厅在购物中心展台前面安排服务员送鸡肉样品给顾客品尝一样。我们应该用足够多的案例打动客户，让他们相信我们的实力。
Somewhere this pattern of insanity has to stop, and learning how to finesse the “upfront design contract” will allow you to use your artwork as a tool to get one step closer to the sale. Understanding how to use the design as leverage to close the sale is critical to both maintaining control of the sales process and for limiting your time investment. If you are not using their desire for a revision as an opportunity to secure a working relationship, you probably are giving up a lot more than just control of the sale.
无论如何这种不合理的模式必须停止，“前期设计合同”策略中将你的设计方案作为一个工具引导客户与你达成合作共识。把标识设计作为销售的手段之一，这一点有利于把握销售的进度和缩减时间投入。如果你不想利用顾客修改设计的欲望建立合作关系的话，你基本就放弃了销售过程中的主动权。
Don’t let your customer use you as a tool
不要让你的客户把你当工具使用
I certain sales circles, it’s called “being tooled” by the customer. It leaves the salesperson searching for answers as to why after 10 revisions, and 10 promises to buy, the customer went with someone else for their sign.
我了解标识行业中的销售工作，有时候客户只是把你当做免费的劳动力，因为在客户十几次的修改和承诺签单之后，他们依然在寻找其他的标识供应商。
I have watched quietly from behind the design curtain as the well-meaning salesperson struggles to slow the out-of-control freight train of customer-requested revisions. “Toot-toot,” says the salesperson. “The customer promises to give a deposit once we make this one last change to the design… toot-toot.” The procession of mindless revisions has already started to take over the sale, and take on a life of its own.
经过我长期对标识公司销售部的观察，我发现每当销售人员极力想通过频繁地修改设计来俘获客户放心的话，一定是拿不到订单的。一个销售人员说：“这个顾客答应我们如果完成这最后一次的修改就会给我们定金的。”销售人员想用这些周到的修改服务拿下客户，但往往是这些持续不断地修改葬送了这个订单。
The reason this occurs, usually, is because the salesperson didn't handle the customer or the sale properly from the first five minutes of the very first conversation they had. Typically it indicates that the salesperson did not establish a strong enough trust relationship with the customer up front. Instead, they probably acquiesced to the client's requests by asking the designer to design a sign that follows the customer's exact request that obviously won't work, has clashing colors, or is just plain ugly. In these scenarios, the customer assumes that the salesperson is simply the facilitator for their unlimited use of the company’s designer to make all of their crazy sign ideas come to life, for free.
造成这种情况的原因通常是销售人员没有把握好与客户交谈的前五分钟，与客户见面的前五分钟之内销售人员没有在客户心中树立牢固的信任关系，而是勉强接受客户的请求，让设计师设计一个与他们预期相符的标识方案。这种情形之下出来的标识设计客户当然不会满意。因为客户会认为销售人员是服务方，他们可以指示设计师拿出设计方案，客户会利用这种心理榨取设计师的智慧成果。
Experienced sales people will tell you that this approach to sales becomes a giant waste of time, money and energy that immediately gives away control of the sales process. Once you give it away, you may never be able to get it back. Some salespeople are often too afraid to say to the customer, “No, unfortunately that idea won't work on your sign, but this idea will work,” and as a result they become the tool that provides the customer with designs that are used to negotiate a better deal with the other sign company.
有经验的销售人员都明白这种销售方法很浪费时间，又浪费精力。但有些销售人员还心存侥幸地说：“这个标识设计客户不喜欢，总有一个他喜欢的吧a。”结果这些人就变成了为客户提供设计方案的免费劳动力，而客户就会拿着满意的设计方案和别的标识公司合作了。
For me, regardless of how much I enjoy designing signs on the computer, it’s still work. It’s my job. So when I am speaking with a client, my goal is to close the sale with the least amount of artwork or design work time as possible. Try to think of designing in this way: If you substituted the word “Ditch Digging” for “Design,” and you were the “ditch digger,” you may very well change the way you sell, and what you agree to give away to the customer, if you were the one who had to dig a new ditch every time the customer changed their mind. Being the one who had to create the design as well as sell it, I guarded my time and I learned how important it is to “sell smarter” as a result.
对于我来说，无论我多么喜欢在电脑上设计标识，但它仍然只是我的工作。所以，当我在与客户交流的时候，我尽量用最少的设计方案尽快拿下客户。如果你用“挖沟”代替“设计”，那你就是“挖沟机”。如果你每次都都客户留有修改方案的机会，那你就是一个“挖沟机”。一个既能设计又能销售的人才不会被客户利用。
Whenever I am with a customer or client, I always present myself as a professional in the sign industry, and I never let the customer control the sale. As a designer, I do not want to design anything unnecessarily. With the very first word I speak to the customer I am working a well planned strategy of asking the right questions and getting the answers I need to close the sale with the least number of design hours. Technically speaking, every minute I spend on design is money out of my pocket. If it costs you $20 for every design revision the client asked for, how much differently would you work your sales game to prevent revisions from occurring?
每当我与客户交谈时，我首先以一个标识行业的专业人士自居，并主导此次对话。首先告知顾客，作为一个专业的设计师，我不会花时间和经历做不必要的设计。从与客户交流的第一个字开始就进入自己的策略，问有效的问题，以最少的设计时间拿下客户。
Build upon a relationship of trust
建立良好的信任关系
Trust … I can’t emphasize this concept enough. Once you have established a relationship of trust with the customer, the sale is almost made. Once your customer trusts you, you are half way to the sale. Trust is needed if you intend to convince the customer that your design idea is their best option. This is the first step in eliminating the revisions merry-go-round.
信任，我已经强调了很多次。一旦你在客户之间建立了良好的信任基础，这个客户基本就拿下了。一旦你取得客户的信任你就成功了一半。如果你想让客户明白你的标识设计是他们最理想的选择，信任是必要的。这是避免那些无休止的设计修改的第一步。
Present your first design idea – but no free revisions. What I mean by no free revisions is simply this: In order to maintain a sense of value to your designer’s work, you must be willing to assign it value by asking your customer for something in return in exchange for the revision. How many hours did your designer spend on that design? Isn’t their time worth something? Isn’t your time as a professional sign salesperson worth something? Giving it away devalues it in the customer’s eyes.
亮出你的设计理念——修改不是免费的。这里所说的没有免费的修改是指，为了维持你的设计师工作的价值，你必须让顾客为他们的设计修改付出一点成本。你知道设计师花在设计上的时间有多少吗？难道他们的时间就不宝贵吗？只有专业的标识销售人员的时间宝贵吗？杜绝客户贬低设计师价值的想法。
Agree with your customer - but still no free revisions. “Yes, Joe, I agree that we could show the monument design with larger text and a curved roof peak, not the flat one it has now.” At this point, you have just agreed with the customer that a revision would help the sign look nicer, and possibly even meet their needs better. At this very moment, you are at a fork in the sales process that will set the course for the rest of the relationship. Pay attention and speak wisely at this junction.
赞同客户的想法，但仍不提供免费的修改服务。当客户说：“是的，但是，乔，我觉得这个纪念碑标识还是应该有再大一点，然后有一个弯曲的屋顶，而不是现在这样的平平的。”这时候，你要做的就是赞同客户的观点，进一步的修改会让标识整体看起来更美观，更能符合顾客的需要。此时此刻是一个销售节点，决定你是否能掌握这个过程的主动权。小心明智地回答客户的问题。
The minute the customer wants a revision, you have the opportunity to solidify the sale and get the customer to agree to “something,” such as agreeing to do business with you and your company. This is the time to bring up the “Up Front Design Agreement” and get them to sign it. Even better, ask for a design deposit that will be credited back to the cost of the sign once they have decided upon the design and price.
顾客一旦提出修改的要求，你就有机会巩固销售机会取得顾客的信任，让他相信和你或者你们公司合作是值得的。此时，你可以拿出预先准备好的“预定设计的协议”让他们签字。或者你可以让他们为这个设计预付押金，一旦他们针对此次标识项目达成合作，定金可算作项目费用。
This is the exact moment where your customer needs to make the choice to continue to do business with you, the sign professional, or not. Period. It’s yes or no with no half-way-in relationships. Are you their new sign person, or not? Or are you just one of the many who will gladly provide more free design work without any sort of up front commitment? This is where your relationship of trust must be strong enough that the customer feels comfortable making a commitment to doing business with you, and to give you a deposit. If they hesitate or refuse, it absolutely means you have more relationship building to do.
此时顾客决定是否要与你这个专业的标识人士合作的关键时刻。你是否会成为他们的标识供应商，你是否是那些愿意免费给别人提供设计的销售人员。此时，只有强烈的信任感才能让客户很舒服地与你达成合作共识，并预付定金。如果他们犹豫不决或者当场拒绝的话，说明你还需要与他们建立更坚固的信任感。
Once they agree, you’ve made huge progress toward closing the sale. If at this point your customer agrees, then congratulate yourself because you just trial closed your customer and they have agreed to do business with you. They didn't agree to buy a sign from you yet, but that decision will be a much easier one for them to make when the time comes because they trust you.
如果他们同意付定金的话，你就成功了一大步。如果此时你的客户同意了，那你就可以在心里默默地祝贺自己了。因为此次销售基本完成了，客户心里已经决定要和你合作了。他们虽然还买决定要从你这里购买多少标识产品，但这是一个很简单的决定，当他们需要标识产品时一定会出于对你的信任来找你的。
Be the sign professional
做一个专业的标识人士
At this point, you have their trust and so they should trust in your design recommendations for a sign that will work for their needs and budget. Hence, the elimination of the back and forth revisions that can occur when your customer is allowed to dictate and control the design process. You want their input and feedback, but because you are the sign professional, they will realize that you have recommended the best sign option they can possibly obtain for the money. And, if conducted in the right way, this method of solidifying the working relationship up front will result in a much smoother sales and design process movin
