Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International, will be on the Undercover Boss TV show

MARK THIS DATE/TIME ON YOUR CALENDAR!

Date: Friday, May 4^th

Time: 8:00 pm ET/PT

TV Channel: your local CBS station

Fastsigns CEO, Catherine Monson. 'Uncovers' Keys To Franchise Company Evolution Through "Undercover Boss" Adventure

Catherine Monson is the CEO of FASTSIGNS International. She took over the helm of FastSigns from Gary Salamon, FASTSIGNS’ founder and former CEO.

Since her appointment as CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc. in early 2009, Catherine Monson has been on a mission to advance the brand, from that of a sign and banner provider, to a visual ideas company for all kinds of businesses. Her personal and professional journey will unfold on national television as she investigates the inner workings of FASTSIGNS in the CBS hit series "Undercover Boss," Friday, May 4 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"Going undercover allowed me to step into the shoes of our employees and franchise partners to better learn the ins and outs of what makes our company successful, as well as where there is room for improvement. We've solidified FASTSIGNS as the top sign and graphics company in the country, but that doesn't mean we stop looking for ways to evolve and improve," said Monson." This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to share my story and hopefully inspire young women to become leaders in their industries, despite any obstacles they have had in their lives."

Blog Publisher’s comments:

Owners of reprographics companies - - - when was the last time you (or, have you ever) “shopped” your own company? The only way you will ever know how your team truly performs – how your company truly performs – for customers and, very importantly, for prospects – and from the perspective of “their eyes” - is to “shop” your company. Having some experience with that – at both of my former companies and at two different companies I did consulting work for – it is a very revealing exercise …. and doing it is worth the time and effort. Definitely!

One exercise we did while I was at NGI (and we did this more than once) was to contact all of our production centers for quotes. To each production center, we provided the same exact job-specifications and asked each for a written quote. (I think we had 8 production centers in operation the last time we did this.) How many quotes do you think were the same? How many quotes do you think were different? What would a prospect think (about your company and about your company’s pricing) if he/she ended up with 8 different quotes …. for the same job?!

When you were a small company and YOU (personally) manned the phone and the front counter, did you show an “attitude of gratitude” to customers and prospects who called and visited your store? Now that you’re a much bigger company and you, personally, no longer answer the phone or man the front counter, do those who’ve replaced you have the same attitude you had?! Competence goes a long way. But, smiles and thank you’s will always be very important.

Not in your eyes, but in the eyes of a prospect, what does a prospect experience when he/she first attempts to do business with your company?

I’m very much looking forward to watching Catherine “undercover” at FASTSIGNS. Years ago, when I worked for E.C. Technologies (Express Color), we provided large-format color printing services to several FASTSIGNS franchisees. I got to know a couple of those franchisees personally. Great people, hard workers. Today, at least two people from the reprographics industry are owners of FASTSIGNS franchises - Jeff Youngblood, ex of Thomas Reprographics, owns a FASTSIGNS franchise in the Dallas, TX area. Andy Keaton, owner of Tampa Blueprint & Supply, owns a FASTSIGNS franchise in the Tampa Bay, FL area.

Don’t forget to mark the date and watch Catherine’s experience!