Office Sign Company: Signs of the

SIGNS OF

By Kaley Stremick, Sales Director at Office Sign Company the Time

One sure sign of the times? More signage! Office Sign Company has been working hard to ensure local businesses have all the new signage they need to stay open during these changing times.

ike many other businesses in our community, our team and operations at Office Sign Company were noticeably impacted by COVID-19. Through this time, we learned how to adapt, come together as a team and strengthen connections with our community partners. As we transition into this new normal, here is a glimpse into how Office Sign Company has been navigating through this time and how we have come together to move forward!

Rallying Together

As we navigated this difficult time, our team continually had to shift to put our best foot forward. We were forced to cut back on our hours, halt production and, unfortunately, have fewer employees now than when the virus started. Although the adjustments were less than ideal, we remained steadfast in meeting our customers’ changing needs and ensured our vibrant culture would survive this COVID storm. As our OSC team adjusted, collaboration became more important than ever and workloads changed for each department. We had our artists blogging, our web specialist answering national phone lines, the production team getting involved in all departments, and even our accountant was out in the community campaigning. Everyone chipped in to help, bringing our whole team closer together. We have found that the little things, such as our daily Clorox wipe down chants and individual shoutouts, made the difference with morale and helped bolster our culture. Hey, who knew team cheers about cleaning could help bring you closer!

Focusing on Community

We didn’t just come together internally but also focused on how we could help the Fargo-Moorhead community. We wrote blogs featuring how to support local businesses while social distancing, had our artists design stickers that were included with every order, offered unlimited free shipping and created new gift card deals. All of these efforts were to ensure we were assisting our community and clients both locally and nationally. We were inspired by our community's response to these past trying months and we were on a mission to keep our community shining in any way that we could!

One of our favorite examples was the #AWorldOfHearts movement, which was seen in nearly every direction you looked in Fargo-Moorhead, as well as across the country. Along with our own #AWorldOfHearts display at our storefront on Northern Pacific Ave, we helped facilitate others’ contributions to this movement, including City Hall’s display in Downtown Fargo and Dakota Business Lending in South Fargo. We worked to help local businesses liven up the streets with colorful garage wraps, utility box wraps and the massive West Acres floral window graphics. Putting a spin on some of our standard offerings helped us keep up with the ever-changing demands around us, while brightening up our community.

Uncertainty Creates Innovation

Market industry trends were changing and our product development had to pivot to meet those trends. This uncertain time has required different products to be necessary for businesses to keep doors open and all those involved safe. Products like sneeze guards, curbside pickup signage, "wash your hands" signs, custom masks, social distancing graphics, sidewalk signs and mounting hardware have all been in high demand. We began our product development process and had multiple new products going live every day to fill the need! With these new products, we also wanted to ensure customers could customize our products to their exact needs.

We found, specifically related to COVID-19, that displaying accurate business hours, safety requirements, and “we’re open” signs were some of the first signs customers looked for upon arriving at a destination. But, it doesn’t stop there. Once inside, the new normal includes floor graphics indicating six-feet distance guidelines, graphics directing traffic, signs indicating closed tables or maximum capacity, and updated rules/ regulations. Keeping all of this signage consistent and matching brand guidelines will make an impact on your business. The bottom line is that effective signage can make your business run smoothly while ensuring your team and customers feel safe and comfortable. And we’re here to help you do it well!

Not only did we have new products going live left and right, but we had to shift the content we were sharing through social platforms, email blasts and blogs. Throughout the last few months, we focused our social content on sharing new products being offered, our work and installs throughout the community and our team culture and positive energy. This shift provided us a platform to highlight our products, educate community partners on innovative practices and continue to build relationships with our local neighbors and national partners. This approach allowed us to share components that were working for us, as well as connecting with customers to learn how we could improve our support.

Moving Forward

As we continue to pivot in our day to day lifestyles, our Office Sign Company family is here to provide innovative solutions and support in our ever-changing environment. We recognize we will be dealing with change for the foreseeable future, and our focus is to continue to help businesses in the area –and across the globe – reopen and adjust successfully.

A special thanks to all of our wonderful customers who trust us with their signage needs and to the many who have supported us through this uncertain time. We could not have done it without you. At the end of the day, we are continually striving to make our community better by looking to the future and honing in on community relationships. We are excited and optimistic about what lies ahead and know we will be here for our community and customers every step of the way.