A sign salesman was speaking with the storeowner when he was asked a very pointed question: “How do you know a lighted sign will increase the number of people who visit my store?” Instead of answering with a trite, “Trust me!” the wise sales man provided an informative and thought-provoking answer to this valid question.
The salesman asked the storeowner how many people visited his store each day, and the estimate was about 100 people each business day. His next question was about the number of passersby, out on the busy downtown street, walked by the door of the store between dawn and midnight. The guess was approximately 1,000.
After observing for a few minutes, the salesman believed that figure to be low, but he decided to use that daily figure, which would add up to 6,000 passersby each week. Since many of them would pass by multiple times, he decided to use 3,000 for his calculation.
The recent census estimated that the annual income in that community was close to $50,000. He continued his discussion with the storeowner so they could establish an estimate of the percentage of a household income that would be spent in his store. After deciding on five percent a figure of $2,500 per year from each household, or $50 per week, was calculated.
When the final calculations were tallied, the 3,000 people each week multiplied by $50 per week would be a potential income of $150,000 per week that was possible in the store. Current sales calculations based on the 100 people who came in the store meant that the income per week averages $30,000. The remaining 80 percent of potential sales had to be won somehow.
Signtronix enables storeowners to communicate their offerings to the 80 percent of all potential customers on that busy street. Every year sign specialists work with business owners who are uncertain of the power of signage.
Back to our story, the salesman explained that even if he cut the potential sales figure in half, there was $75,000 in potential sales each week. While paying the same amount of rent, taxes and insurance, the business owner could more than double his sales by spending some money on a sign.
This timeless story appeared in the December 15, 1913 issue of ST. Ninety-eight years later business owners are still asking the same question. Every dollar must be stretched to its limit in these lean times, and putting up an attractive sign might be the best decision made for the New Year.
