FREDERICKSBURG USED CAR DEALERS GROUP MEETS

District 4 of the Virginia Independent Automobile Dealers Association (VIADA) gathered in Fredericksburg, VA, last night just as the Baltimore Orioles were losing their last American League Playoff game to the Kansas City Royals. The VIADA is organized with 8 chapters across Virginia, with state membership growing and nearing the 1,000 mark. Last year, the Northern Virginia District had the highest growth in membership of all the chapters.

Don Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Auto Trading, Inc. in Fredericksburg, is the President of the District 4 Chapter and he led the meeting where about 25-30 people met at Brock’s Riverside Grill in downtown Fredericksburg. The VIADA’s state President, Don Boucher, Jr., of Courtesy Auto Sales in Chesapeake, VA was present at the meeting along with past President and Chairman of the Board, Alvin Melendez, and VIADA’s Executive Director, Lois Keenan of Virginia Beach.

SIGNS OF MORE AUTO LOANS AHEAD

There are so many issues facing independent car dealers in Virginia, and the VIADA serves as a great resource for help with small business consulting and lobbying on behalf of the group’s best interests.  In last night’s meeting it was mentioned that the recent lowering of lending standards by US big banks should be a plus to the industry in that independent dealers can sell more vehicles. Not too long ago only loan applicants with Beacon Scores of greater than 700 were considered prime for credit, but now the bar has been dropped to credit scores as low as 620.

Although car dealers see this as a way to grow revenues after years of plateau sales, there are always two sides to every issue. Some are more critical about the ease in loans with single-digit interest rates now available to those with 620+ Beacon Scores, currently considered prime lending deals versus what were once sub-prime deals with double-digit rates. I’m all for better rates! Maybe I’ll go car shopping! I know a lot of good places to buy a used car in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

 

Mark Hackley is an Account Executive at Holiday Signs, 540-416-3154

 

6 BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SIGNS:

• Part 1- They Connect With The Community
• Part 2- They Can Be Paid For By Your Vendors
• Part 3- They Grab Attention of the Masses
• Part 4- They Allow You to Own the Media Channel
• Part 5- They Have a Long Track Record of Getting Attention
• Part 6- Use Them for Promoting Loss Leaders

 

 Virginia Independent Car Dealers /Used Car Dealers in VA/

Signage for Car Lots/

Electronic Message Signs for Used car Dealers in Virginia

HOLIDAY SIGNS– www.holidaysigns.com

5 COMMON LETTERING MISTAKES

As I was walking to the grocery store a few days ago I noticed a sign with a special K, but not like the breakfast cereal that I was going to the store to purchase, special because at least one of its letters was wrong. Is it just because I design and sell signs that everywhere I go in Virginia I notice these things?

It got me thinking that I should post a blog about other common lettering mistakes I have seen, and you would be surprised by the level of brands I’ve come across with problems. We use the term “FCO” that stands for “flat cut out” for non-illuminated wall letters that don’t have fabricated and welded returns (we call letter edges “returns”). We manufacture flat cut out aluminum letters in-house on our own CNC router machine. Once the letters are designed, cut, and drilled for mounting studs, they are typically primed and painted. Pre-spaced patterns are made for the lettering and our skilled installers mount them according to approved design drawings, leaving little room for errors in misspelling, wrong fonts, or any of the other font problems shown here. Internally illuminated wall letters are called channel letters, and although I’ve never seen a fabricated channel letter with any of these mistakes, I guess anything is possible depending if you use Uncle Bob or a dependable custom electric sign company to do the sign job!

By the way, not only is the “K” special on the picture above, but so is the “A” and the “S”. See if you can identify 3 common errors within the space of 4 wall letters on one sign!

#1:

 

 #2 and #3

 

#4

 

#5

 

Another thing I’ve noticed with wall letters that could pose a negative branding issue is rust lines showing up below each hidden letter stud. This is a sign that steel studs were used by the installers. To prevent unsightly discoloration, always make sure your sign contractor uses aluminum or galvanized studs and architectural-grade clear silicone adhesive. Even though the studs are concealed behind the letters, it won’t take long for ugly corrosion lines to appear on the wall.

 

If you liked this, here are some more sign tips:

 

• Effective Contrast-Color
• Effective Contrast-Type
• Sign Maintenance- Paint: How Long Should You Wait?

 

 

 

 

VIRGINIA SIGN CASE STUDIES OF AREA SIGN PROJECTS BY INDUSTRY

People are often interested in seeing examples of our signage work around Virginia. In response, here is a list of printable PDF’s of some sign project case studies sorted by many of the industries we serve: Commercial Development, Financial, Hospitality, Not-for-Profit, General Retail, Healthcare & Retirement, and Education. (Just click on the PDF Icons of the articles you would like to read/print.)

 

COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT:

   RETAIL CENTERS

 

   Rockwood Square Shopping Center

 

 

   Towne Center West

 

  

   Brookhill Azalea Shopping Center

 

OFFICE BUILDINGS

  

   MeadWestvaco

 

 

   Dominion Enterprises

 

 

   Luck Companies

 

RESIDENTIAL

 

   Harper’s Mill Subdivision

 

MUNICIPAL

 

   City of Manassas

 

 

   Roanoke Airport

 

 

   Richmond Executive Airport

 

ATHLETIC CENTERS

 

   Redskins Training Facility

 

 

   Ferrum College Hank Norton Center

 

HISTORIC RESTORATION

 

   Hotel John Marshall

 

 

  Virginia Repertory Theater

 

 

   Altria Theater

 

  SUSTAINABILITY

 

   Capital Ale House

 

 

   Augusta Health/Dominion Enterprises

 

FINANCIAL:

 

   Pioneer Bank

 

 

   Franklin Federal

 

 

   Connects Federal Credit Union

 

HOSPITALITY:

 

   Burger Bach

 

 

   Capital Ale House

 

 

   Kings Dominion

 

NOT-FOR-PROFIT:

 

   New Life Community Church

 

 

   Grace Church

 

 

   Discovery United Methodist Church

 

 

   Lifepoint Church

 

 

   Operation Smile

 

 

   Museum of the Confederacy

 

GENERAL RETAIL:

 

    ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers

 

 

   Puritan Cleaners

 

 

   Green Top Sporting Goods

 

 

   Floor & Decor

 

 

   Mobility Supercenter

 

HEALTHCARE & RETIREMENT CENTERS:

 

   Augusta Health

 

 

   Centra Health, Dawson Inn

 

 

   Lucy Corr Village

 

EDUCATION:

 

   Shenandoah University

 

 

   Ferrum College

 

 

 

(All the above Virginia sign case studies and more signage stories are available on the Holiday Signs Blog.)

Our Approach to Selling Signs

Part 2: Budgeting for Digital Signage

RESEARCH NEEDED
   Dave Elmore, the owner of Bookkeeping and Management Systems in central Virginia, says he has over 300 business clients and not a single client has a line item for signage. We often put quotation marks around “budget” when discussing the word since, more times than not, our customers have only vague ideas of what an effective custom electric sign costs. And especially one equipped with a high-tech electronic message center! The most important question sign buyers need to answer before they come up with a budget is: “What is needed to get the job done?” From this starting point one can determine the specifications for the most effective budgeting for digital signs.

 

    Once the customer has an idea of what would get the job done, cost can be determined. Then you can budget for it, and if appropriate, let any groups or departments who have to help pay for it know how much and why.

    Also, since most applications of digital signs produce revenue, you should consider the positive impact on operating budgets. Daniel Dern representing TechDecisions, addressing the business needs of management in corporate, education and worship markets, was correct when he said, “Depending on the nature of the project, the deployment of new digital signage may end up replacing, reducing, or avoiding other expenses, perhaps even costing less than previous activities, or even be a revenue generator. Or the signage may have less tangible but still valuable benefits in ways that can’t be measured in ROI.”

CREATIVE ACCOUNTING
   We have seen companies divide sign purchases across multiple budgets. A hospital client for instance considered splitting the cost of a new digital message sign between its facilities and marketing budgets to make it work. Many retail customers who advertise across multiple media channels sometimes place digital sign purchases in their operating versus capital budgets, making a purchase possible by reallocating funds from other lackluster advertising categories for better results. A good example is how clients have reallocated Yellow Pages and other non-productive advertising dollars into new digital signage for much greater ROI.

SOLUTION DRIVEN
     If an actual budget number is discussed as a max spend, our project managers usually tailor the best solution based on someone’s budget restrictions, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the best solution for the site. Don’t just look at equipment cost alone when shopping for digital signage. It’s more about what type of equipment and supporting signage and structural design fit best, based on image, visibility, usage, and many other factors. We think the best approach to purchasing a sign is making a comprehensive assessment of all the factors, designing the signage based on that assessment, and coming up with price parameters to provide the best solution possible. Don’t miss Part 3-The Sign’s Environment.

 

Miss Part 1 of this series? CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

 

*Read other articles about ELECTRONIC DIGITAL MESSAGING:

6 BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SIGNS-

• Part 1- They Connect With The Community
• Part 2- They Can Be Paid For By Your Vendors
• Part 3- They Grab Attention of the Masses
• Part 4- They Allow You to Own the Media Channel
• Part 5- They Have a Long Track Record of Getting Attention
• Part 6- Use Them for Promoting Loss Leaders

 

Author:

Mark Hackley, Account Executive

Holiday Signs

mhackley@holidaysigns.com

540-416-3154

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Build a Strong Manufacturing Team?

PLANT DIGITAL MESSAGING MAY HELP

I recently took a tour of an industrial plant with a Chamber of Commerce group. It’s always interesting to see how other manufacturers conduct business and see the unique products they manufacture.

After a short roundtable discussion about current challenges at this particular plant, we split up into groups and toured the facility, much of which has undergone upgrades that doubled production capacity over the years. Being able to constantly change and adapt to new demands and technology to meet those demands is paramount in today’s manufacturing landscape. To keep up with these challenges, this global company recently made a huge investment in capital equipment for their Virginia site. Huge changes were also made in the plant’s management staff, and many of the issues causing the most frustration revolved around the struggles of a new management team attempting to bring new vision to an existing team of employees stuck in their ways.

During the discussion, several CEO’s representing other industries in the community reflected various success stories of overcoming similar challenges, explaining how new management won the trust of existing workers. The consensus of the group thought best results happened when change was gradual and not jammed down people’s throats. But how can you adapt quickly to mandatory change yet not seem overbearing? One young, new VP who recently moved to the area from the Northeast commented that plant employees in Virginia are definitely a different breed. He noted the Virginians have a high level of self-pride in their work, but managers can lose their loyalty quickly if employees feel they have been mistreated in some way.

The company’s safety policy is simple: 100% participation in the plan. But how do you get total organizational commitment? In the past, safety was sometimes placed second to output and corner cutting practices were occasionally winked at to get the job done and out the door. Retraining employees to be 100% accountable in safety was certainly an ongoing challenge of all the companies at the discussion. During our tour I noticed many hand made safety message signs out in the plant, and several large safety charts on the wall. Perhaps upgrading to a digital safety messaging system would be one compelling way to push the safety focus to a higher level throughout all shifts. Safety data could be instantly communicated through centrally controlled RSS feeds and plant communications could be integrated into bright, easy to read, and noticeable electronic message signs (EMC’s) spread throughout the plant’s hazard areas.

Finally, as I left the meeting, I noticed the huge 300,000 square foot industrial building was “naked” from the main highway where more than 50,000 cars pass each day. There was no visible branding on a huge expanse of steel shell building… totally blank and cold. One simple way for the new management team to warm things up and build employee pride and confidence would be to label it as a positive icon in the employees’ local community.  That way when employee families pass the building on their way for groceries each week, they can tell their kids proudly every time they see the big corporate logo on the wall, “That’s where Daddy (or Mommy) works!”

How to build a strong manufacturing team ?  Signage helps.

 

Branding MeadWestvaco’s Corporate Headquarters Building, Richmond, VA

Branding Dominion Enterprises Corporate Headquarters Building, Norfolk, VA

Branding Luck Stone’s Corporate Headquarters Building, Manakin-Sabot, VA

Communication Methods for LED Digital Displays

 

VA Manufacturers Association

VA Chamber of Commerce