Mark Gowen
Billy Runyan
There on the dashboard of Mark Gowen’s car is printed his commitment to placing a Model 48 every day. Matter of fact, according to his Steel City Eagles D.M., Brad Whistler, the card actually says, “A 48 EVERYDAY I AM BUDDY SWISSHELM” Pretty bold words from a dealer who has only been on board since August.
Mark and teammate Billy Runyan stopped by a notary office, which doubles as a used car lot. The owner wasn’t in, but they took a few minutes getting to know the receptionist, who practically runs the business. When the owner walked in, the four of them went out for pizza, during which they got to the S.C. Eagles’ Step 3 – find the pain. Over pizza, they learned that the notary business is going great, but the used car sales are dragging them down. Easy to fix … with a beautiful Model 36 flush mount. When they returned to the office, the owner told the receptionist to write the check. He had to pick up his child and he would be back soon.
As they finished up the paperwork, the owner walked back in and said, “I need something bigger for the pole out front.” WHAM! “A 48 Every Day.”
Brad gives lots of credit to the second line on the card that yells out from the dashboard: the part that says, “I am Buddy Swisshelm.” That is a tremendous confidence-builder for Mark. He knows that no one can stop him from writing the contract, because he truly believes that no one can stop Buddy Swisshelm from writing the contract.
R.M. Buddy Swisshelm asks dealers to look to sell panels every day, and Brad emphasizes that for his district — never drive by a Signtronix sign without stopping. This is the customer that will be the panel sale to pay for your gas and lodging for the week. This is the customer that is THRILLED with his sign and anxious to pass along the names of his friends. This is the customer that has enjoyed his lighted sign and now wants to add digitals, or a marquee, or a second location, etc. …
This is what Mark and Billy did with this advice: First stop of the morning for Mark and Billy was at an auto center, where they saw two LM-400s on a pole by the road. It was obvious that the sign had been there for a number of years so, needless-to-say, they went in. The owner was excited about the new idea for a graphic they talked about with him, but with the picture he had in his head for new panels, there just wasn’t any room on his sign, new or not. Mark then made the obvious suggestion: “I really think that a 4×6 is what you need out here. Let me just show you what that’s gonna look like.” About 30 minutes later, the owner was happy to shake their hands and hand over a check .
Good start to the day! Their next stop was at the zoning office of the historic town they were visiting, which was a very important stop, because, right across the street was a cell phone dealership, which is changing locations on December 1. Lynn, the owner, was quick to invite them in and told them, “I have to get a sign for over there (the new location), but I haven’t had any time.” After taking Mark and Billy on “a grand tour” to her new location, artwork was easy. Another beautiful 4×6, but this time with a Headliner as well. The pay on this was worth more than just the check , because Lynn kindly offered the information of all of her friends who own businesses in town, which includes just about all of the businesses in town.
Then, on Friday, heading back to the same town to cash the check from the day before, they met the owner of an automotive electronics and performance store who had been shopping for E.M.C.s for over five years. The business owner was having a tough time rationalizing the price, even with an R.O.I. in front of him, so the guys made a call to one of Brad Whistler’s clients. That customer had just written a reference letter, so they put him on speaker phone. After hearing that very satisfied customers say that there was “no way it couldn’t make him money,” the new owner was convinced. Mark and Billy walked away with the deposit for a set of 8-foot E.M.C.s. Another trip to the bank …
For those of you who are counting, the duo placed over 30,000 in signs for the week. And one more Steel City Eagles story. Several months ago Brad was talking to a local sign company, asking about installing the signs he had just placed. He asked them if they would be interested in the referral business if one of my clients needed installation. The owner was a bit rude when he informed Brad that he did not need charity work and that he will ONLY be putting up his own signs, not those from Signtronix. This was all based on the fact that Signtronix was “TAKING” business from him by working in HIS town and talking to HIS clients. Brad said he noticed there was another gentleman waiting to talk to the owner of the sign company, but I never gave it a second thought.”
Brad was back in the town and made a call on a business that had one of our signs. The owner had retired and the building was being taken over by a church. One of our 48s was already in place just asking for a panel replacement. Brad said, “As I started to introduce myself, the pastor of the new church nearly yelled, ‘I KNOW YOU! YOU’RE THE SIGN GUY!’ He went on to explain that he was the guy standing in the other sign shop months back. He said that after Brad left the sign shop that day, Pastor Dan proceeded to tell the owner that he was there to buy a sign but after what he just saw he wouldn’t buy a sign there even if it was only 5.00.
Brad continued, “After we were done with the paperwork on the sign he wanted, I was also told that he had just received a quote from a different local sign company to create a new sign for 600. After investing in new panels from Signtronix, he told me that the 600 quote for metal faces with vinyl letters was still a total outrage.
