Too many businesses make the mistake of thinking that the cost of signage is simply what you pay to have it created and installed. In fact, signage also requires the additional cost of ongoing maintenance to keep it in good order. Signage maintenance is far better than letting signage fall into disrepair to the point where you have to replace it entirely.
Below are some of the best reasons that properly maintaining your signage is of crucial importance:
1. Great-Looking Signs Have More Impact
It’s not enough for signage to simply be legible. It has to be attractive in order to have the right kind of impact on people. When signs are properly maintained, they are always looking their best, and that attracts attention. If we’re talking about commercial signage, then that impact is critical, especially if that signage sits in a veritable sea of competition.
How well signage attracts visitors and customers can make or break a business. There’s no point designing beautiful and attractive signage if you’re not going to maintain it!
2. Many Signs Endure the Effects of the Elements
Signs that are placed outside have to endure the effects of intense sunlight and UV radiation, not to mention wind, rain, sleet, sometimes snow. Nature is constantly laying siege to your outdoor signage, and without maintenance it will quickly fall into an unattractive state of disrepair.
In Australia, where sunlight and UV is intense, proper measures to protect signs from discoloration and extreme heat are particularly important.
3. Perception Matters
Whether you’re putting up signage to attract new customers, or installing it to direct people toward services they require such as in a hospital, it all creates a certain perception in the eyes of those who behold it.
Customers will see clean, well-maintained signs as an indication of a level of care and attention to detail that hopefully translates to a good customer experience. Those using a public service such as a hospital can know that if a hospital gets basics right like good, clear and well-placed signage, then other areas of their work are likely done very competently, too.
4. Damaged Signage Can Make Work Environments Unsafe
Signage isn’t just in place to inform customers about the location of a certain store, or to show new products arriving on the market. Signage is also there as a protection against risk and liabilities that exist in many workplaces. Therefore, when signs are poorly maintained, perhaps dirty, broken, or illegible after too much wear and tear, can create serious problems for businesses and other organisations.
For instance, signs warning against dangers and risks will lose their visibility when they fall into disrepair. If someone were to injure themselves as a result of being unaware of present risks, then the liability would fall to that company or organisation that didn’t adequately warn them with proper signage.
5. Signage is Part of Your Overall Brand
The signs that you put up on the outside and inside of your store, office building, or other premises, are all an extension of your wider brand. They will likely be made in the same colours and styles that fit with your brand, and any signs of disrepair, damage, discoloration or other problems all come back to a weakened perception of that brand.
Nobody would want to walk into an Apple store with the grand and beloved Apple logo hanging crooked on the wall with a buzzing, flickering light. Equally, no one would appreciate walking into your office space to see tatty and unkempt signage. What it potentially says about your brand doesn’t bear repeating!
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/people-crowd-men-women-walking-2603782/
