How to be a less annoying client…

Jean Dubow, Hadley Exhibits, Buffalo

It still happens that I’m asked who is our cousin in the trade show business, cousin being a trusted vendor or counsel that we know personally and can provide advice and service that will make us look good. For the past twenty-five years my cousin in the trade show business has been Jean DuBow. Jean was particularly adept at advising clients on how to get the most out of their trade show booth—and their budget.

I’ve never written a blog post before, but I am prompted to write this one because of an incident that happened today.

It’s about holidays.  We all know when they are coming.  I can tell you after being in this business for 25 years—many—most businesses close down for 4^th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.  And often for extended periods. If you have a long weekend, I can almost guarantee that your vendors are closed as well.  If they aren’t closed – it’s likely there is only a skeleton staff on duty.

MANUFACTURERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS CLOSE FOR THE HOLIDAYS !  These are the vendors that bend metal, print graphics, edit video, etc.  They are on vacation with their families. I’ve had clients drop off files on their way to vacation and expect the work to be done when they returned.   We who have clients will do our best to accommodate your needs, but we all are only as good as our vendors.

It is up to you, the client, to make sure that you manage the expectations of upper management—it makes you better and smarter to be able to say that it can’t be done if a vendor’s vacation week is in the way of your really important project.  Please understand when we say it takes 10 days—that’s 10 work days—does not include weekends.

If you send a print ready file, make sure you send everything—the font, the background—anything you think someone may need to modify your file.

Be a savvy client.  The best clients are those that understand not only the objectives and concepts, but also know how long it takes to order paper and have the ink dry. They know what it takes to get a great final product from their vendor.