When a general contractor, subcontractor, or interior designer comes to you for a bid on wall wraps, typically, you will not have all the information you need for an accurate quote because these are typically new construction projects and some time out from being built. Do your best to extract all the general measurements you need for an estimate. Be sure to create realistic expectations with your client. Be very clear that this is an estimate, and you will need to have a count and final measurements of the walls to give a firm quote. Many times the number of walls and size of the walls change throughout the construction process. Be careful not to pigeonhole yourself to an exact number until the final site survey is complete.
Artwork will play a major role in the process of the project. If the client is supplying the artwork, many times, it will not be a print-ready, high-resolution file at full scale. If you have graphic designers on staff, they will need to communicate to the client what is recommended to make sure that the final product is exactly what they imagined. Providing an “Artwork Guidelines” page to your customers is always helpful.
If the client is not able to provide the necessary art files, this gives your team an opportunity to upsell the project and increase the ticket size of the job. We always recommend that our in-house designers do the creative. Since my team has a very high level of understanding of production, installation, and scale, it helps this part of the process and the entire project go much smoother.
The waiting game
Your initial bid has been accepted. You are either in the process of finalizing creative or it has already been finalized. Now you wait! These projects take time. That is why it is always important to have a steady stream of small and mid-sized projects to keep a steady flow in the shop. Once the construction is complete, it is time to go in and do a comprehensive site survey with photos and accurate measurements. In construction, nothing is ever built at the exact size shown in the plan.
Never assume or guess. Measure everything and do not assume two walls that look the same size are the same size. I guarantee they are not! Once your site survey is complete, you can present a final quote.
And if you’re needing some additional guidance, read Do’s and Don’ts of Designing Murals.
