Get a Head-Start on Holiday Sales

xmasSure, it may just be September, but stores are already parading out their Christmas decorations ahead of Halloween candy and before you know it, the busiest time of the year will be here.

 

If your business operates anything like Coastal, you begin planning for your holiday rush months in advance. In the personalization industry, timing is everything. Many customers don’t start planning their gift giving soon enough to allow for anything more than a 2-3 day production time, despite the time and attention that personalized products might require. In order to help make your holiday sales more successful, we’ve compiled a list of important dates and products you’ll want to keep in mind as the season creeps up on us.

 

HOTTEST SELLERS:

  1. Mobile Device Cases: It’s a given that someone is going to get a Kindle or iPad or new iPhone for the holidays. Make sure your customers realize how important (and easy) it is to make those gifts extra special by including personalized cases. Names, photos, quotes – these types of things make a great gift into an unforgettable gift. Plus, Coastal carries a HUGE variety of phone and tablet cases/covers (most are even sold individually), so you can easily make sure you have one or two of everything available so your customers don’t have extended wait times.
  2. Jewelry: Though television commercials will tell you that women want diamonds or pearls for special holidays, I would bet that most women would prefer accessories from the heart. A gift is going to mean that much more when it’s something that their loved one has actually put thought into instead of just picking up at the local jewelry store. Consider some of our newer jewelry options, like cuff bracelets, tear-drop earrings and necklaces, and even hair clips – these basic accessories become cherished mementos when personalized with photos, initials or more.
  3. Ornaments:  Everybody wants a personalized ornament. Whether it’s “Baby’s First Christmas,” “50th Wedding Anniversary” or a photo of a newly-wedded couple, ornaments commemorate the passing years and add to the sweet memories on Christmas trees everywhere. Help your customers build on these traditions with one of our dozens of types of ornaments to choose from.
  4. DTG: If you’ve been extra good this year, go ahead and give yourself the most-wanted gift – the Epson SureColor F2000 Direct to Garment printer.

 

Coastal also offers a Gift Guide to help you discover the best and most popular products for everyone on you (and your customer’s) list!

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Aaron’s Skype Chat with A&E Magazine

Skype Chat with A&E MagazineRecently I was ask to do a Skype interview with the folks over at A&E Magazine and they had some really great questions laid out for me. I went ahead and wrote out all of my answers to best be prepared and I thought I would share my answers with all of you. We did not have time to get to all of these things in the interview so some of this will be “Bonus” material. Check out all of the Q and A items below and at the end check out the video.

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Sales Tip – Basing your sales call goals on getting told NO!

So you have read the title of this blog and you must be thinking I have lost my mind, but this is not a new sales technique. Throughout my career in sales and marketing, I have heard this strategy in several different variations. I am not sure who originally coined it and definitely not taking credit for its invention, but think it is very beneficial technique to generate business. Personally, I compare this approach to a similar strategy for playing Blackjack. Side note, I’m a horrible Blackjack player and seem to be the guy who can have a 20 with the dealer showing a 6 and inevitably the dealer will pull a 5 card for 21! But…I am not crazy; this really is a good technique. I have heard it from other professionals and it makes sense. Continue reading “Sales Tip – Basing your sales call goals on getting told NO!”