# Going out and getting new sales...



## FatboyGraphics (Sep 20, 2009)

So, I have never been a "Sales Guy". I have always had sales come to me. But I'm tired of being a slow shop, and I want to build and grow my business...i'm looking to expand my business from just rec team sports, and start going after the schools for their sports or other departments and also look for business that need tshirts or embroidery.

So how should I go about doing that?
Design flyers and mail them?
Design flyers and visit places face to face?


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Schools are a tough nut to crack. You have to be juiced in or they have to have a bad experience to move. 

Put some marketing material together and star cold calling local businesses. 

Nothing can replace the hustle of the sales call


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

Don't forget social media. You can set up accounts for your business and start strategically following local people and businesses. Use your account to show what you can do and to connect with businesses and business owners in your community. Social media is also a good way to keep up on what events might be happening that you could capitalize on for your business.


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## wormil (Jan 7, 2008)

My advice is forget about public schools for now and look at private schools.


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## Printavo (Oct 7, 2007)

-Print out postcards from vistaprint.com with a 20% coupon on them. Distribute these all over college campuses
-Invite Friends to your Twitter and Facebook company profiles. Make sure everyone you know knows you print (email your address book too)
-Print a few shirts for yourself to wear around a lot. Something like "Ask me about custom t-shirts"
-Advertise the coupons online too for free on Twitter/FB

Those should help you get started. I'm fixing my blog and have a post there that'll help


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## avaross09 (Dec 5, 2013)

In sales even if you make 10 sales in a month the next month you need to start from Zero ,so what i need to say is sales is about no. so in god we believe and rest all matters is numbers.So try making maximum sales out and make sure it works out quite pretty as well.


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## BidsMaven (Sep 23, 2011)

Go to your public library and talk to the librarian about how to get information on the companies in your area. They should have access to directories of businesses. In particular, ask them about an online database called Reference USA and ask them to show you how to do a "Custom Search" on your area and how to download the results into a spreadsheet. Next start calling the companies. For the smaller companies, ask to speak to the owner. For the larger companies, as to speak to someone in the marketing department. Decide how much time (or how may calls) you are willing to make every business day, and commit to doing it. Keep brief records on your calls in an informational field in your spreadsheet and use it to start building your in house database for future emails to stay in touch. 

Also, contact the wholesale apparel vendor that you use and order several cases of their catalogs with your business name imprinted on the back of them. Deliver these to the companies that expressed interest when you called them. Most vendors will get these to you for darn near free.

If you are concerned about what to say on the phone calls, get a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling by Keith Rosen. It's actually pretty good.

Finally, if you'd rather walk across broken glass than cold call companies, consider hiring someone who has the time and energy and appetite to do this and have them do it for you. Be prepared to pay them a commission. Once they get started, it may just look like they're sitting around yakking on the phone and driving around having a good time, but effective outside sales takes commitment and determination. Trust me, they will earn every penny.


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## codyjoe (May 6, 2013)

Another note on getting into schools, it helps to find who's actually printing for the schools. I recently found a local print shop that was supplying for some schools in our section of the state. Your best bet would be to try and undercut their prices or offer a completely separate product for schools to take advantage of.


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## Inkognito (May 5, 2012)

codyjoe said:


> Your best bet would be to try and undercut their prices


i disagree. under cutting your competitors pricing is not a sound strategy for success. all you're doing is devaluing your services AND the services of every other printer in your region. you might get a foot in the door, but then its a race to the bottom, first one out of business wins. no wonder no one wants to pay more than $2 for a custom printed tshirt. no thanks.


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## OmniPrint Int. (Feb 24, 2010)

Businesses are constantly getting flyers and advertisements, and most of them end up in the trash. You need to do something that makes yourself stand out.

If you can afford it, I would recommend designing a shirt for each of the schools you want to market to and print a demo shirt to give them. This will show them your commitment to earning their business and they will have something tangible to look at. Make sure you print your business name and contact info somewhere on the shirt as well. A decision like this will have to go through several different channels for approval...They may lose your business card, but a shirt is easier to keep track of. 

I would also recommend starting some social media sites if you don't already have them. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram would be especially helpful to your business.


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## BidsMaven (Sep 23, 2011)

Inkognito said:


> i disagree. under cutting your competitors pricing is not a sound strategy for success. all you're doing is devaluing your services AND the services of every other printer in your region. you might get a foot in the door, but then its a race to the bottom, first one out of business wins. no wonder no one wants to pay more than $2 for a custom printed tshirt. no thanks.


I so agree with these comments. Also, think how you'll feel when you've worked hard all month and the result is that after you pay your bills for electricity, employees and whatever else, you don't have anything left over yourself and for taking care of your family. 

Do good work and get paid for what you do. How would you rather be known, as the cheapest place in town, or as the place that may not be the cheapest but the one that does really good work and provides great service?


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## johnny1958 (May 10, 2012)

Cold call, every business is a customer


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## johnny1958 (May 10, 2012)

I agree do not undercut anybody. Be the most expensive. I would rather go broke doing nothing than go broke working my tail off. But every business is a customer. I have paid a designer to design a cool shirt for a night club in Nashville and printed it without having any commitment, gave it to the manager with my card and three days later had a order if 200 shirts, I could have lost and I have lost doing that, but that's the price of advertising. I'm going to start giving 10% of every dollar to charity. My favorite is St. Jude's hospital. 


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## johnconvoy (Nov 29, 2013)

Yeah, do NOT undercut...Competiting on price is a trip to the bottom


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

We don't match or undercut but we price based on our expected margin so on some items we are lower and others we are the high priced vendor. That is just the way it works out.


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

johnny1958 said:


> Cold call, every business is a customer



When everyone is your customer no one is your customer. Look at your existing customer base. See any patterns? Are you doing more work for landscapers or churches or little league teams? 

If you don't have a segment you're already printing to then figure out which market you can sell into that needs what you're selling. 

There is nothing worse than trying to convince someone to buy what you're selling when they don't even think they need it. 

Pick a market, call into just that market so you learn the lingo and figure out what your story and solution are. Never sell a product, sell a solution.


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## MarStephenson761 (Sep 19, 2011)

Hi FatBoy,

Just a few suggestions from a career sales and marketing guy :

Leads Groups: Most towns have at least a handful of leads groups that get together on a weekly or monthly basis. Most are Insurance, Copier, or Realestate sales. They exchange leads when they meet, discuss new businesses in town, etc. You would really stand out in this crowd. Join a few, go to some meetings and see what you can find.

Chamber Events: It's cliche, but you really should show up at every chamber of commerce event you can find. Wear your product and bring samples to hand out. 

Drive: Take some sample shirts or hats or whatever and go meet people in the businesses closest to you. Just drop in, be friendly, say you've got a business nearby that creates custom _______, do you know anyone who needs? 

Good Luck and feel free to message me directly.

Mark


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

I totally agree with Patrick no matter where you are trying to sell. Pick and target a specific type of customer with your brochures, handouts, business cards or cold sales pitch. You can make a handout aimed towards Landscapers or one aimed at churches but you cannot make one that would appeal to both at the same time. They have different needs and wants and a generic sales pitch looses customers in both groups. Once you have picked a target group explain why your product or service would be better for them then what they are currently using.

Think of it this way. There are Hip-hop radio stations, Rock radio station and Country radio stations. Each one targets a specific listener group. Now if the Rock station tried to play Hop-hop, Rock and Country to gain more listeners they would actually start loosing listeners. You cannot be everything to everyone, at least not at the same time.

I also totally agree with Mark if you are looking for local customers.


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## Printavo (Oct 7, 2007)

Another blog post we wrote about it 5 Ways to Drive More Sales to Your Print Shop « Printavo - Manage your screen-printing shop easily.


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## terzdesign (Mar 8, 2010)

I'm sorta in the same boat as the OP is, but then again who ISN"T looking to expand their client base. 

One thing I found useful was to compile a list of all the local what-have-you's into a single excel file. For example, I located all of the elementary, middle school and high schools in a two county area near me and found out their addresses, mascots, colors, etc. I plan on individually mailing something to each of them in the not so distant future. I bet a get a few bites. I'll probobably target the PTO's


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

jcterzin said:


> ... For example, I located all of the elementary, middle school and high schools in a two county area near me and found out their addresses, mascots, colors, etc. I plan on individually mailing something to each of them in the not so distant future. I bet a get a few bites. I'll probobably target the PTO's


That is a start but you have to really follow up on these. We found this market to be filled with insiders and it is near impossible to break in without some sort of connection. Once you have that connection the flood gates will open. 

Nothing beats just walking in though. You really need to cold call in person with your marketing materials. That alone will get you more business than just about anything else.


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## phantomracinggea (Feb 22, 2013)

In case you didn't know most schools use purchase orders and net 30. This means you have to give them a bill when you deliver the shirts and they pay you usually within thirty days. This could be a big deal to you if you do not have the cash on hand for the blanks and supplies and can wait for the payment


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

phantomracinggea said:


> In case you didn't know most schools use purchase orders and net 30. This means you have to give them a bill when you deliver the shirts and they pay you usually within thirty days. This could be a big deal to you if you do not have the cash on hand for the blanks and supplies and can wait for the payment


Schools do, but booster clubs to do not. Most of the low hanging fruit in this space is with the boosters clubs


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## T Shirt Time (Mar 18, 2013)

I've learned over the last 3 years you need to have a set profit (percentage) you make, this keeps the doors open. When you lower your margin you might get the customer but you might not be able to keep the doors open.


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## johnny1958 (May 10, 2012)

Every business, group, or event is a customer. I'm a printer not a fashion designer. My only target market is a need for screen printing. From T-shirts to floor mats for auto dealers. 
I do not mess with $4.25 t-shirts. If a problem arises I have no room for customer satisfaction. Everybody I meet knows I print T-shirts. Every business I give a dollar to has my business card. I've seen printers print for other businesses but have never printed for their business. Short of church and a funeral I wear our T-shirts where every I go. It gets business.


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