Watchfire® Case Study: Watch What Happens.
CATEGORY :: PDQ Doors - Milford,Ohio
Background
Since 1983 PDQ Doors of Milford, Ohio, has been
selling, installing and repairing garage doors and pole buildings.
They are located just outside of Cincinnati on propery that borders
I-275 - the major thoroughfare around the city that commuters
travel every day.
About twelve years ago, they decided to take advantage of their location and put up a highway sign. At that time, there were strict zoning laws that didn't allow for signs larger than 100 square feet, not nearly large enough to effectively reach motorists on the highway. Then in 2008, they were thrilled when the city loosened the zoning restrictions for signage.
Results
Casey McCreadie, PDQ's general manager, had been shopping around
for an LED sign for quite some time, which included taking road
trips to see how other LED signs had held up over the years. He
wanted an LED sign from the start, and he chose a Watchfire sign
because he'd seen firsthand how durable their signs are in
comparison to the competitors' LED signs.
When Watchfire said they would have no problem working with him to create a double-faced sign that could display two different ads on each side simultaneously, the decision was made and PDQ chose Watchfire Signs. Now that the sign is up, McCreadie says they're getting close to 500 sales per year that can be directly attributed to the sign. Their revenue attributed to the sign is well over 6 figures annually.
"We typically allocate about 10 percent of our projected sales revenue for advertising, and in the case of our Watchfire sign, it was well worth the money."
-- Casey McCreadie, General Manager of PDQ Doors
:: SIGN SPECS ::
25mm Color LED
Matrix: 160 x 352
16 Lines x 83 Characters
14' High x 29'8" Wide
Case Study
PDQ Doors knows the value of advertising dollars, so they never really questioned whether building a highway sign on their property was the right thing to do. It wasn't a small expense, but they felt it was a necessary one. "We typically allocate about 10 percent of our projected sales revenue for advertising," said McCreadie, "and in the case of our Watchfire sign, it was well worth the money."
Upon learning they were in the market for a sign, a local heating and air company (who also owns a Watchfire LED sign) recommended Klusty Sign Associates - a sign dealer that designs and builds the structures that hold the Watchfire LED signs. "As soon as we had our sign variance approved by the city, Vince from Klusty was ready to get to work," said McCreadie. When asked how the entire process went, McCreadie said, "The process was amazing. Klusty Signs was incredibly efficient, and everything went quickly and smoothly. Everyone at PDQ was impressed by the Watchfire sign and by the professional nature of the entire process."
McCreadie had heard that they might not notice an increase in calls right away. "Even though I'd been warned, I was still nervous when the phones didn't ring off the hook the first day we had the sign up," recalled McCreadie. "Although I knew the cost would eventually pay off, I started thinking I'd just put us out of business by purchasing the sign."
He did not put them out of business - quite the opposite. Since the sign went up, their business has been thriving. "I believe that the sign will pay for itself, if not twofold, long before the end of its useful life," McCreadie said. "In 2010, we got 471 service, installation, and material sales in which the customer specifically, directly stated that they learned about us from the sign. Even if customers aren't calling because they saw the sign, they recognize our name because of the sign, and they will often mention it. The biggest thing the sign has done is create name recognition and reinforce our other advertising."
McCreadie feels great about the decision to purchase the sign.
When asked what it was like working with Watchfire Signs, he said
"Watchfire Signs had to build and program the double-faced sign
differently than the typical master/slave unit of most signs. We
wanted a master/master sign to display two different ads on each
side simultaneously, and there were never any complications. We
just told Klusty what we wanted, and Watchfire got it done. It was
a seamless process. I'd definitely recommend Watchfire to others
considering an LED sign."
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON YOUR LOCAL SIGN DEALER,
CONTACT US.
