In today’s world of information overload, it is so hard to make yourself stand out. And let’s face it, decorated apparel is no less of a commodity than promotional products.
Every other promotional products distributor is out there talking to the same customers that you are, hoping to win that next job. You cannot succeed against them if your only edge is the fact that you are willing to give up a few more pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters or dollars than the next distributor. In this environment, the only person that comes out ahead is the customer. Not only that, we are teaching the customers that we will cut prices to win business, and that our custom, logoed stuff is only worth what they are willing to pay for it. And then we have the gall to lament about the state of the industry, how hard it is to win business, how tough the market is, and how rough we have it banging on doors as we struggle to find the next customer and close the next sale.
What if I told you there was a way to change the environment in which you are competing? That there is a way to set yourself apart, to make doing business with you different from doing business with the other promotional products distributors in your area? What if you had an advantage?
Let’s call this advantage your “tilt,” a term from the marketing realm. I was reminded about the importance of tilt by Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute, at a presentation he gave recently about the six steps to successful content marketing.
I propose that by partnering with the right embroidery professionals, you can create a compelling tilt, something that makes you and your apparel solutions unique as well as better. When you offer something unique or something better, it propels you far beyond the reach of your competition. Sure any embroidery shop can drop a logo on a shirt for you – that is an everyday need and result.
An embroiderer who has elevated his/her business, and yours, may offer multimedia applications such as sublimating images on top of the embroidery threads, to create an entirely new look for your customer’s staff at its upcoming tradeshow. He or she can recommend new color combinations that look current in today’s fashion palette, and also may have an idea about how incorporating an applique into a logo could reduce the stitch count and cost, while creating a new, modern look for a long-term client.
By their very nature, embroidery professionals tend to be creative people. We purchase the equipment to make stuff as the base of our business model, which is different than you. You jumped in the sales side of the business because you are comfortable with the people and sales side of the equation. When sales people connect with and really understand the capabilities of the production people, just about anything is possible.
And yet… you sell a basic logo on a basic shirt, you need it yesterday for a dollar less than you paid us last time. See the problem here? We are all in a losing storyline! And we look and sound the same as our competition, with the only distinguishing fact being price.
In order for a change for the better to occur, it has to start with you and the conversation you are willing to have with your embroidery professionals. Take the time to find out what they can do, what they want to do, what they are really hoping to do, and what they hate to do.
There are embroidery shops that hate to embroider caps, yet they take on those jobs. There are other embroidery businesses that would prefer to work on caps all day long, every single day. It makes sense to send your cap jobs to the cap shop, as it is likely they will do the best possible job at a competitive price. You may find that you end up with a few embroidery shops as your “go to” production solutions.
Once you have a more robust idea of what is possible from your embroidery professionals, the next conversation that matters is the one you have with your customers. You can position yourself as their hero when it comes to their decorated apparel needs simply by offering the most on-point solutions. If you suggest an applique, or a trendy color combination or a new style of shirt with a fresh design placement, you will not be lost in the pile of possibilities presented by the competition.
When you offer suggestions that are different, the customer is more likely to remember you and the entire conversation, even if the client opts to go with a more traditional design, placement or garment color. The fact that you had unique, interesting suggestions based on your understanding of your embroiderers’ capabilities is enough to make you more valuable as their decorated apparel supplier.
I advise to find the time to meet with your embroidery professionals. Tell them that you are interested in becoming better at selling to their strengths, so that you both can win more business. Get yourself up to speed with the work your embroiderers can produce. That will become your tilt: the way to offer more, and become different and more valuable to your clients. When your clients know they can come to you for the best, fresh looks in decorated apparel, the competition fades away.
Jennifer Cox is president of the National Network of Embroidery Professionals. NNEP members receive personalized marketing consulting designed specifically for their business. To join NNEP today, visit NNEP.net, email Jennifer at hooper@nnep.net, or call 800-866-7396.