Interior laminate signage is a classy yet cost-effective solution for customers that seek to convey a professional, sophisticated image. For signage shops, interior laminate signage offers a fool-proof opportunity to drive more profits.
Quality interior signage tells customers exactly who they’re dealing with.
Imagine, if you will, walking into a business for the very first time, maybe a doctor’s office, a dental firm or even a wellness spa. Being a new customer, you look around for cues about the kind of space you are in, the people who are there, and the quality of work that is to be provided.
Then you see high quality signage mounted on the wall next to the receptionist’s desk – an impactful visual of the business’s brand. Instantly, your skepticism comes down a notch, or two or three. The sign instantly conveys a sense of professionalism.
Having clean and professional interior signage instills genuine faith in customers and reassures them of a business’ credibility – and interior laminate signage is the perfect place to start. For signage shops – it’s a must to offer – both in terms of your ability to better serve your customers, and to generate additional revenue for your growing operation.
“Laminate signage is an excellent bridge, when you're looking to maintain a high-quality look while fitting into your customer's budget,” said Sara Sachs, Associate Product Manager at Gemini, a leading manufacturer of interior laminate signage. “Some customers want the metal look, but will turn to laminate, because they can achieve the depth, and a clean, sharp look, without the heavy weight or expense behind those more costly materials.”
Versatile by definition, interior laminate signage offers all of the unique components of signage at a lower cost to the end-user, making it an ideal entry point into interior signage for customers who seek a high-impact, sophisticated look without breaking the bank. Interior laminate is the perfect solution for professional service firms – law firms, dental offices, accounting firms, hair salons, wellness spas, and more – as well as retailers, where there is a fair amount of in-person interaction.
For B2B operations, such as call centers, data firms, insurance processing operations – interior laminate provides that sense of professionalism to employees, which can be extremely useful in attracting and retaining employees.
The vast range of options in the world of laminate signage types and styles is immense plus and it can be overwhelming for sign shops to take on projects with so many different variables.
To get you going on the right path, signage experts at Gemini, offer eight tips for signage shops on how to better serve their customers with interior laminate signage:
1. Environment Matters
Signs are built to make a statement, not blend into the background. When deciding on the logistics of a new sign, consider the environment in which you want the sign to hang. If you don’t, at best, your sign's colors might clash with your wall color. At worst, you physically won’t be able to mount the sign on your preferred surface. (More on how to safely install your sign, here.)
The wall’s color, texture, material, size, and lighting in the room all factor into how your laminate sign will look when it is finally mounted.
“When it comes down to the technical aspects, the last thing that you want to do is sell a concept to a client and then realize there's no way that you're going to be able to use double face tape on a rock wall, for example,” said Kerri Eady, General Manager and Director of Sales at Gemini Canada. “It is important to have those conversations with the client very early in the process.”
Bonus Tip: Sometimes it is hard to get the full picture of a material based on an online rendering. Don’t fret – Gemini encourages signage shops to offer free physical samples to customers to let them see – firsthand – how a surface’s color and texture, in combination with lighting will look when mounted – to make absolutely sure it meets (or exceeds!) a customer’s expectations.
2. Making it Easier to Get to “Yes”
For signage shops to make the process of selling interior laminate signage easier for the customer, it’s important to signage shop sales staff to become intimately knowledgeable with the vast array of options available to their customers. To enhance the credibility of their sales staff, Gemini has your back with an extensive assortment of sales tools.
“Gemini offers an online essentials guide that many signage shops have found to be an amazing resource when presenting options to a customer,” said Sachs. “The guide details your finish options, walks through the basic pricing, what your return edges can be, and more. Our website also features customer installed images that new clients can reference for inspiration.”
3. Know your customer
Laminate signage exudes a sophisticated feel at a lower cost, making it an exceptional product to offer professional service firms such as law firms, dental firms, accounting firms, and more.
“A law office, for example, wants a perceived appearance that is high-end, and extremely classy, but they're not always willing to pay the amount that goes into a more expensive material such as copper, for example. Laminate is the perfect solution for those kinds of customers,” said Sachs. “If signage shops are aware of this, they can make those recommendations to customers and capitalize on that advice.”
Bonus Tip: Sometimes it is hard to get the full picture of a material based on an online rendering. Don’t fret – Gemini encourages signage shops to offer free physical samples to customers to let them see – firsthand – how a surface’s color and texture, in combination with lighting will look when mounted – to make absolutely sure it meets (or exceeds!) a customer’s expectations.
4. Consider Workspace Applications
As more workplaces are transitioning back to in-person, many HR professionals and office managers alike will take one step in their time-capsule-esque office building (that hasn’t been touched in two years), have a brief moment of horror, and immediately sense that some T.L.C. will be necessary to entice employees to make the commute to the office. Similar to professional service firms, laminate signage is perfect for these customers.
“Employees don't want to go back to an office that's dreary and think, ‘Why am I leaving my nice home office that I've made this comfortable space, just to come into a cookie-cutter corporate world?’ They want their workspaces to be welcoming,” said Sachs. “I think there is so much opportunity for signage shops to build a customer base in this space, considering all of the design opportunities to make a business seem fresh, new, more exciting, and more modern.”
5. Consider a 10% - 30% laminate signage business ratio
So how does laminate signage fit into your overall business sales? Eady and Sachs recommend that between 10% to 15% of a smaller signage shop’s dimensional, unlit product sales should be laminate signage. However, the experts also note that customers who are doing a lot of wayfinding and reception work have the potential to reach 30%.
“Laminate signage is also the perfect solution for wayfinding signs that are needed in many workplaces – signage such as for restrooms, conference room names, directional signage, etc.,” said Sachs.
6. Embrace Thinking Outside the Box
Laminate signage is versatile by nature, so don’t be afraid to let your creativity flow, and really push the envelope with your design.
“Never underestimate the opportunity for that ‘wow factor’ available with laminate,” said Eady. “One of our customers required a series of wayfinding signs for a hotel complex, and they needed a very unique wood finish. Because of the volumes, they were able to digitally produce the wood finish that they wanted. We then produced the finish in sheet form, which allowed us to laminate it to the surface of acrylics and create all the custom work that they wanted to do. The imagery on it was just fantastic. It looks great.”
Bonus Tip: If you are looking for an extra unique edge to your laminate design, Sachs recommends implementing a combination of materials. “For example, if you have laminate and acrylic in the same design, the materials really accent and play off of each other, to bring that extra dimension to the sign,” said Sachs.
7. Look to the Future
Laminate signage is continuing to grow and expand – new colors, new textures, and new applications. Gemini is at the forefront of defining what’s next. Eady and Sachs have identified two main trends that they predict will dominate the laminate sign industry in the coming years:
- Social responsibility – A core value for customers that will continue to grow in the coming years is environmental stewardship. A company’s sustainability efforts can be a dealbreaker for some customers. Consider working with companies such as Gemini who share this value, so environmentally conscious customers seek you out.
- Expanding interior possibilities – “There are so many design opportunities for laminate signs, that we have hardly scratched the surface of possibility,” said Eady. “In the coming years, Gemini is interested to learn how we can better support this trend and offer laminate solutions for more refacing opportunities in office spaces, reception areas and interior designs.”
Keep an eye on these trends as they progress, so you can stay ahead of the game and not lose out on any business due to lack of preparation.
8. Seek Out Expert Help
Not sure where to start? No worries. Just ask. The interior laminate experts at Gemini can help signage shops get up to speed fast in selling and servicing interior laminate customers. If you already do offer laminate signage, Gemini can help signage shops understand what’s new and offer sage advice on how to generate more revenues based on what they’re seeing being installed across North America.
“Many signage shops know they want to offer laminate signage, but they also have no idea the extent of what is possible to do with that medium,” said Eady. “It’s our commitment at Gemini to serve as a guidebook and decision tree for signage shops so they can sell more signage that their customers absolutely love.”
Drive Profits and Exude Professionalism with the Help of Gemini Sign Experts
Whether you’re well-versed in the land of laminate signage, or you’re as green as they come, Gemini can get you where you want to go. Explore laminate signage offerings and connect with genuine experts in the craft, here.
