Like me, you’ve probably asked yourself; “if the sticky stuff sticks how many sticky stickers should sticky sticker stick?” Confused? Lets talk about crossover markets with signage that involve other complimentary self adhesive films you could be offering your customers.

It only takes a quick google search to find a bunch of sign companies who are already offering services into complimentary markets. I hesitate to even call them complimentary, as from what we are seeing these types of products are our market.

For example, as a distributor within sign and graphics and also within window film, we know that a large portion of our sales of window film go to sign companies. So, this crossover is already happening. Companies are either doing it themselves or outsourcing it to a 3M Window Film Network professional. And equally, you can also find window tinters who offer signage, automotive tint guys who wrap cars, and car wrappers who install tint. The general premise is, if it’s self adhesive and you know how to apply it, you are almost there (well, almost…). Call it a convergence if you will, and it’s already happening in the print industry. You can read more about that here.

So, what are the opportunities out there for add-on products for signage companies, and how hard is it to implement?

1.    Paint Protection Films

Probably the easiest to implement is Paint Protection Film because, if you’re already doing vehicle wraps, these products give you the opportunity to make a little bit extra on top by offering it as an add-on package. The customer is, after all, already there spending quite a large amount on a vehicle wrap, so it’s a no brainer that they may want to protect it, too. 

Paint Protection Films today are super advanced and are relatively easy to install if we compare them to the products of old. Hexis Bodyfence, for example, is installed using a gel (to help it slip and float easier) and hot water, to make conformability a breeze. They’re also practically invisible and some are self-healing and self-cleaning, so they have a lot of great sell-in features that your customers would love.

A starting point is offering paint protection over the whole vehicle, and if that’s not in their budget you drop it back to a simple wear and tear kit that just covers the door cups, boot ledge, and door edges. Once you’re underway and doing it on a regular basis, there are subscription based softwares that allow you to easily cut these areas based on the vehicle make and model. Both Hexis and 3M have paint protection pre-cut software that give you access to a huge database of vehicles and allows you to cut every template for easy installation. 

2.    Safety Films

Every window should have safety film on it, so that’s a lot of glass. Safety and security films are huge right now, you just need to look at the ‘smash and grabs’ on service stations for cigarettes to see that protecting employees and products is big business. If you are not offering this to your customers who are schools, retail stores, petrol stations and supermarkets, you are missing out on a great opportunity.

Safety & security films perform simple tasks like making regular glass, safety glass, which is required by law. They hold the glass together and prevent flying fragments. They also make windows harder to penetrate, increasing the time it might take for an intruder to enter a building. 

You can even take safety films next level with the inclusion of 3M Impact Protection Attachment Systems, so that not only does the glass stay together on impact, it also holds the glass in the frame too.

You apply these films with water just like you would a frosted film, but they are a lot thicker, so managing customer expectations up front is important. For example, it takes up to 60 days for a safety film to dry, which means that it’s not going to look as good after the initial installation as it will once it’s completely cured. 

3.    Window Tint Films

Window Films are a great product to have in your stable, especially for commercial signage customers who might need to solve a problem like excessive glare, heat or cold, energy costs, or simply for privacy. You can generally find this out and drive these sales at the same time you are dealing with their branding requirements. The trouble with window film is many people don’t know how bad their problem is until the film is on, solving it, so actively including it on sales pitches helps customer understand possible solutions.

Window Tint films however, do not behave like PVC based films. In fact, a huge part of applying them is knowing what you can and cannot do on a window based on the type of glass. Whether it is already tinted, double-glazed, and the type and size of the glass all play a factor into whether the installation will be successful. If you don’t take these factors into account you could end up with a cracked pane, and as you have usually tinted multiple panes, that’s a lot of glass to replace if it goes wrong. 

3M have a great programme called the 3M Glass Checklist, where you input all these differing factors to get a yes or a no, but it’s not foolproof, and at the end of the day it’s down to the installer to ensure the correct product is used. That’s where a qualified and experienced window tint professional really show their true genius, because they just know what you can stick and where. The good news is it’s not that hard to learn if you have the right training. Even if you don’t want to do it inhouse, the 3M network can provide a great list of qualified installers to outsource to. 

4.    Automotive Tint

If you want to get into offering Automotive Tint, you must be prepared to pay $2-3000 to learn from a master tinter, and then you have to be dedicated to practice practice practice. Or, hire someone bloody good at it! There are currently only a small number of sign and wrap shops offering automotive tint. It’s a highly technical installation, and a tough market to make money in if you’re trying to compete against other automotive tinters who might bring in cheaper, Chinese made product. The good news is there definitely is a market for those who want to be at the premium end with a brand like 3M, and it’s an easy upsell to your vehicle wrap package. If they're there for a wrap, they generally don't shop around on price.

It’s not a huge outlay (the average retail price ranges from $3-500 a vehicle) and if you can get good enough to knock it out in an hour it can be a nice profitable add-on. If not, you can offer it anyway, then talk to a qualified 3M window film installer because those guys are pros.

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Arlette Farland is a Director at Computaleta Group and has a post-graduate degree in Journalism.  She has a strong interest in the future of the industry and is passionate about strategic direction, customer experience and marketing.

Connect with her here.