Yard signs are pretty common in the construction and renovation industry. You take a job, you put up a sign out front and people in the neighborhood can see who’s working on the property. The sign is usually covered in the contract with the customer, with some contractors making it mandatory while others leave it up to the property owner. In the latter case, there’s usually a small discount involved to help sweeten the deal. For most contractors, this is pretty standard.

Sometimes, though, you might ask yourself if it’s really worth the hassle of messing with signs when you’re on the job. Do the signs really help your business? Are they worth the trouble of installing and removing? Is it time for you to ditch yard signs altogether? Though it may be tempting at times, here are a few things to think about before you get rid of your signs.

How Effective Are Yard Signs?

There are a lot of factors that go into how effective yard signs are at bringing in new business. The location of the property, the affluence of the neighborhood and even the location of the work that you’re doing (interior vs exterior) can all play a part. Even if your signs don’t always bring in a lot of business, though, they can still be useful.

For one thing, yard signs let neighbors know that there’s construction going on around the property; this can alert them to the fact that trucks and other work vehicles will be coming and going throughout the workday. The signs can also help your company project professionalism, which can improve relations with your customers and may make the customer more likely to leave a positive review on Yelp or other sites. Every little thing that improves your image can help.

Yard Sign Installation

Another issue with yard signs comes from how they’re installed. Some contractors use big, heavy mountings that take a while to install and remove; this wastes time and leaves you with more cleanup to do after the job. Metal posts that are easy to install and remove are best for yard signs, especially if they’re decorative or otherwise pleasing to the eye. You want your yard signs to go in quickly, hold up to the weather and reflect the strength of your brand. If your existing signs take more than one person or more than a few minutes to install, you may want to rethink your implementation.

When to Remove Signs

There should be a clause in your contract that deals with the signs and when they’ll be removed. Some contractors leave the signs for a few weeks after a job is done, while others leave them for months. You’ll even see some contractors that use cheaper signs and leave them until the homeowner themselves remove them. Decide how long you want your signs in place and stick to it and explain to your customers how long they can expect them there. Just ensure that when the promised time comes to take them down, you have someone there to get them so that customers will be able to tell referrals that you kept your word.

Are They Worth It?

Whether yard signs are worth it or not depends a lot on your personal preferences. They do help your company’s exposure, though there are a lot of factors that influence how much. If used correctly they aren’t too much of a hassle, but it’s important that you choose signs and hardware based on what’s most efficient on the job. Just remember that even if you don’t see a huge influx of business from your yard signs, even a single customer brought in by a sign is a customer you might not have had otherwise.

Do you use yard signs? If so, have they ever brought in new business for your company?