Impressions - October/November 2012 - (Page 52)

you’d like to try the new “death by chocolate brownie” or the Strawberry Margarita Fruitista Freeze. So replace the symbolic “fries” with a pop-up box on your website, a showroom sign over a rack of new styles or a prepared list of add-on suggestions by the phone as a constant reminder of additional merchandise to mention. Let’s say a customer is buying tank tops for an upcoming 10K race. Why not suggest a visor or a cap? You can’t use exactly the same artwork for a front chest as a visor, but you can easily include the name of the race and a date. Customers usually come to you with tunnel vision. They are only thinking: “I’m on the T-shirt committee and I’m supposed to get T-shirts.” It’s your job to make them aware of the additional possibilities available and make them realize that their race could benefit from offering water bottles for goodie bags or a nice gym bag for each of the winners. It’s important to have a proactive attitude. Amazon.com is a great example of this concept. If you’ve ever purchased merchandise on this website, you know that before you place your order, a screen pops up that shows you other books or merchandise that were purchased by people who bought the same item. Or it shows accessories or similar products that are a good match with your purchase. And upselling isn’t just about adding more merchandise, but also upgrading to a higher quality, more colors or more personalization. Another upsell strategy is to see if your clients would have any interest in also putting the design on infant or youth sizes. For parents with kids, they might be interested in having matching shirts for their kids. Once an order is placed for adult sizes, suggest ordering some additional pieces in smaller sizes, assuming the artwork can easily be reduced in size. Photo courtesy of Mind’s Eye Graphics, Decatur, Ind. Sometimes clients will come to you with tunnel vision. They are only focused on the fact that they need a polo shirt for their trade show. You, as the salesperson, should be opening up their eyes, and hopefully their pocketbooks, by tempting them with other merchandise that is a good fit. Tote bags, water bottles, etc. all come in handy at a trade show, for example. Photo courtesy of Mind’s Eye Graphics, Decatur, Ind. For example, back to the race analogy, let’s say the customer comes in wanting a traditional T-shirt with a one-color design. Right off the bat — since it’s for an athletic activity where people are going to sweat — you may suggest upgrading to a performance shirt. After taking a look at the artwork, you may say, “This design looks really great. I know you’re concerned about managing the cost, but if you add a second or third color, it will cost only $0.20 more per shirt, and you’ll be surprised at how much better the shirt will look. Why don’t I have my artist create a comp for you to look at?” Or if you are not talking to a customer in person, when you submit the quote and proof for the one-color design, you also can submit a comp for two extra colors along with the added cost. I have found that almost every time I make an improvement suggestion, the customer says, “yes” if he sees the artwork. If he doesn’t see the artwork, he’ll go back to the original order. So seeing is believing. Enhancing the artwork of any order gives a shop the opportunity to show a customer “the wow.” This is part of the sales process. It’s recognizing the client’s hot button and drawing that person into the sales process. Natural salespeople understand this, and the good news is this approach can be taught — though not everyone will enjoy it. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS You start the upsell process by collecting as much information as you can about the purpose and goal of the shirt. Good questions to ask are: When is your event? How many people are going to be there? Is this annual or a repeat event? Is this is a commemorative event? Are there support people? Would you want to thank your volunteers by giving them a special color? Point out that by offering a bright yellow shirt for volunteers, everybody knows who to go to with questions if they need assistance. All of these questions will lead your customer into thinking how to make the merchandise special, and this is where you add real profitability. Adding a second or a third color is a small cost to the customer and almost no cost to the decorator. If you are printing on an automatic press, it requires a little more setup and screenmaking time. For manual shops, adding a second and third color is the most profitable thing that can be done. However, when adding a fourth, fifth or sixth color, setup and screen making is less profitable. If you are embroidering, added colors won’t matter. Sales staffs need to know that for screen printing orders, second and third colors are very profitable and should always be pursued as a way to reach sales goals. A third color often gives the design more dimension by having a foreground, middle ground and background. When selling extra colors, you don’t have to show customers their own art, but you should always have examples. Or when you present them with the proof, also have a version with the extra colors. This is what I like to call “guided discovery” or “suggestive selling.” Many times, even if the customer originally said “no,” he will change his mind when he sees the proof. In figuring out what kinds of extras to suggest to a customer, asking questions impressionsmag.com 52 Impressions | October/November 2012 http://www.Amazon.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - October/November 2012

Impressions - October/November 2012
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
Product Gallery
ISS Conference
Embracing Digital Technologies
DTG vs. Dye Sublimation
Digital Products Preview
High-Performance Fashion Yields a Technical Edge
How To Sell More With Every Order
Shop Spotlight
Embroidery Production
Screen Printing Production
Online Directory
Screen Printing Technique
Digital Decorating
Business to Business
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - October/November 2012