Have you ever noticed a contractor’s sign in a front yard before? My guess is that you probably have. That’s because contractors see an ongoing project as an opportunity to get some free marketing exposure. What simpler way could there be to let interested neighbours know who you are and what you do?
The only problem with contractors putting up lawn signs is that they almost always go up without the homeowner’s explicit permission. Some contractors bury language about yard signs deep in the fine print of their contract, and others don’t bother asking at all. At Blue Jay Exterior Renovations, we’ve always made an effort to clear lawn sign placements with our customers, but we’ve fallen short of 100%. So why is this such a priority for us in 2020?
This fall, one of my neighbours hired a contractor to replace their windows (I won’t reveal name of the company, but you’ve almost certainly seen their signs.) The day the contract was signed, one of those “Windows Coming Soon” signs went up on the front lawn. About 3 months later, the window installers came and completed the work, and the sign stayed up for another month or so. One day while I was out walking with my 3 year old, I saw these neighbours and asked them about their experience with the window company. It turned out they were extremely frustrated with the communication and service from the window installers. The crew had left a huge mess in their home, and the installation was not completed in the promised timeline.
It strikes us as unfair that the window company was promoting their brand to my neighbourhood for months and then delivered a crappy experience. This is simply disrespectful to their customers. It’s natural to assume that a contractor’s sign is up because their customer is satisfied, but sometimes it’s just that the contractor put the sign up and the homeowner is not comfortable taking it down.
If you see a Blue Jay Exterior Renovations sign in someone’s yard, count on the fact that the homeowner has authorized us to place it there.