Hi! I am Naresh Jhajharia, Director of Admire Sign & Display, India’s oldest signage company.
In the last 3 decades, we have executed over 200 projects successfully.
Today, I am going to talk about a common problem faced by people looking to buy signage : what preparations to take before calling for price offers and quotations.
I have seen buyers facing this problem either because they may not possess Technical Knowledge about Signage, or they have never bought Signage before or they may have come from a different field and hence, face difficulty in selecting the right quality product and end up buying the wrong or poor quality product.
I would like to tell you how to prepare yourself before calling for price offers in 6 easy steps :-
Before we go ahead I want to inform you all that we have a special gift for you in this video. My team has worked to prepare a template that I personally use for all my project planning and I will be giving it away for free. Read till the end to know how!
Okay let’s get started 🙂
Step no. 1 : Appoint a Signage Designing Consultant
Depending on the size of the project, appoint a Signage Designing Consultant.
For large projects, like Metro and railway stations, airport terminals and shopping malls which require a mix of wayfinding as well as advertising signages, appoint a professional agency who has experience in similar work.
If the project size is small, a freelance consultant can be hired to undertake the designing job.
Here’s a list of popular freelance websites (take 3 second pause)
The designer’s portfolio can be checked for suitability to handle your project. To get the best results explain your requirements clearly so that they can prepare designs keeping in mind your budget, aesthetics and required life.
Step no. 2 : Get Technical Drawings and Material Specifications sheet
Once the consultant finishes Signage designing, make sure you collect all the following relevant documents- Engineering or Fabrication Drawings which can be used by the vendor to understand exactly what are your requirements and suggest the best suitable product for you.
Material Specifications like make, model, product & Colour Codes, etc. This is very important to ensure quality standards are maintained and your signages enjoy a long life.
Graphic designs for jobs where you have specific artworks for your ads or set standards for your wayfinding and statutory signs. Designs should include details like font name, font size, artworks, etc.
Ensure all documents are easily accessible in a soft copy. The designs and drawings should ideally be in high resolution PDFs so that the vendor can easily use them.
A professional design preparation will ensure you get a product which meets your needs and also conforms to statutory requirements.
Step no. 3 : Get Signage mapping or GAD
General Arrangement Drawings i.e. GAD preparation is crucial to understand the location of each signage and quantity needed of each type. The GAD will make it easy to identify locations for installation of each idea and give a visual representation of your entire layout. This way you can place your signage strategically in enough quantity so that it is neither crowding nor spread too far apart.
Signage mapping is also useful to check whether the suggested signage for each location is actually viable because as the project progresses there may be infrastructure restrictions requiring some signage sizes to be changed or the mounting systems to be modified.
For large projects, there will be a common GAD as well as separate ones for each level or area and also for each type of signage like statutory, wayfinding and advertising.
Step no. 4 : Prepare Bill Of Quantity
After completing all designing and site checks you should have a BOQ ready with Signage details like Size and Quantity.
The BOQ covers your entire requirement and is the tool you will use for asking price offers. This exercise will eliminate confusions and you will get price offers in standard formats which will be easily comparable. As such, you will be in a better position to select a vendor of your liking.
BOQ preparation is the most important step in your preparation for price offers and is required in all sizes of projects.
Step no. 5 : Set a Fair Price
Ask your consulting designer to workout rough costs of raw material and suggest a fair price.
This price should be calculated considering the raw material and other input costs and adding a fair margin for the vendor.
This way you will be able to know what should be it’s fair price and select the offer closest to it.
You will then also have the liberty of excluding or seeking justification from offers which are way below your fair price or are way above it.
Step no. 6 : Float enquiry to Multiple Vendors
Float your enquiry to at least 3 vendors so that you have a range of offers to select from.
If you find it hard to locate vendors and wish to know where to find Vendors, you may search on google, IndiaMart, JustDial, Alibaba and such similar portals.
Locate a Vendor who seems credible, has the capacity and experience in similar projects and float your inquiry only to them.
Follow these six steps and you will be well prepared to call for price offers and get maximum benefit out of it.
It’s time to reveal your special gift.
We have decided to share with you, for free, our very own BOQ template that you can use for floating all your price offers and preparing project budgets. All you need to do is subscribe to our YouTube channel and visit the link in the description below and the most important tool for price offers will be yours.
Hope I have been able to add value to your signage purchase process.
Let’s build a better future, together.
Namaste.
