From client consultations and design work to printing and installation, running a sign business or vehicle wrap shop involves a lot of moving parts. To-do lists always seem to grow, and no matter how organized you are, you can be absolutely sure you forgot something. Fortunately, digital project management tools like Trello can bring order to the chaos. In this article, we’ll explore how Trello can help streamline your sign and vehicle wrap workflow and make managing your shop a whole lot easier. First of all though…

What is Trello?

Imagine a giant virtual board covered in Post-It notes, each representing a task, project, or idea. That’s Trello. It’s a digital project management app that helps you organize and track everything from customer details to project deadlines. Whether you’re managing a team or working solo, it keeps everything in one place and on track.

Trello is especially helpful if you’ve ever found yourself scrambling to remember details of a project, client, or deadline. It’s a way to get all those details out of your head and onto a system that everyone can access. Trello is easy to use and highly customizable—a great tool for any shop looking to grow its business or just get more organized.

Trello vs. CRM – what’s the difference?

Trello is often compared to CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools, however, they serve different purposes. While CRMs help you manage customer relationships and communications, Trello focuses on organizing tasks and projects. Think of Trello as the task manager for your business, while a CRM keeps track of customer interactions, emails, and follow-ups.

How to Use Trello for Your Sign or Vehicle Wrap Shop

Trello is a free tool with plenty of functionality right out of the box, and it’s a great starting point for small businesses.

Trello boards: organizing by department

In Trello, you set up ‘Boards’ to represent different parts of your business. Each board acts like a department, and inside each board, you’ll have lists to organize various tasks. For example, you might create boards for “Design”, “Printing”, “Installation”, and “Admin.” This separation helps you visually track tasks and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Trello lists: breaking down the work

Within each board, you’ll have ‘Lists’, which are digital filing cabinets that organize tasks. For instance, under the “Design” board, you could have lists like “Needs Estimate,” “In Progress,” and “Completed.” If you’re running a wrap shop, in the “Wrap Installation” board, you might use “Pre-Install,” “In Progress,” and “Done.”

Trello cards: the tasks

Each individual task needing doing lives inside a ‘Card’. A card could represent a customer’s order, a specific aim (like designing the sign or wrap), or an important deadline. Cards are where the real power of the system lies, allowing you to add customer details, project scope, and even upload images of the design or work orders. You can also create templates for recurring tasks to save time further down the road.

Setting up Trello boards for maximum efficiency

It’s important to think about each department as its own separate board. Create boards like “Admin,” “Design,” “Print,” “Install,” and “Completed” to help you track the progress of each project.

Once your boards are in place, you can move cards between them to reflect the project’s progress. For example, once a customer approves the design, you can move the card from “Design” to “Printing,” keeping everyone in the loop and reducing the chances of something being forgotten.

Trello also allows you to add custom fields to your cards, which is perfect for tracking customer-specific information. For example, you can create fields for customer name, phone number, email, estimate, and even the material used for the wrap. These fields help keep everything organized and make it easier for your team to access important information quickly.

Once customer details are set up, you can create an estimate and start moving the card through the various stages of your workflow, such as “Needs Deposit,” “Design,” “Printing,” and “Install.” This allows you to easily track each customer’s progress and follow up accordingly.