sales – Coastal Business Current

Get a Head-Start on Holiday Sales

Sure, 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:

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.
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.
Ornaments: Everybody wants a personalized ornament. Whether it’s “Baby’s First Christmas,” “50^th 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.
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!

Continue reading “Get a Head-Start on Holiday Sales”

Growing Sublimation Sales with Spec Samples

What is more likely to influence your purchase decision at the grocery store? A picture of a bread loaf or the actual loaf? As a savvy consumer, you will want to examine your potential purchase for quality before committing any of your hard-earned money.

The same holds true when you’re trying to sell your sublimated goods. The allure of sublimation is in the outstanding print quality it produces. That can’t be captured in a catalog or Web image. Potential customers need to see and feel the product to determine whether it’s right for them – and that you’re the right one to make it.

This is where spec samples come into play. A spec sample is a pre-made version of a particular product that you use to show a customer, client or prospect what that product could look like with their customization added. They can touch the item, test its quality and see just how amazing sublimation looks on a finished product.

Providing spec samples helps you to drive excitement in both existing and potential customers, which you can then turn into sublimation sales. It just takes some creativity and good sales strategy. Continue reading “Growing Sublimation Sales with Spec Samples”

Top 3 Things Every Small Business Must Do

When talking to people about how things are going in their business, I have discovered some common tasks. People who have successful businesses are doing certain things on a regular basis that appear to be similar. Also, it seems those who are struggling are not doing these things. In addition, I have noticed that sometimes small businesses believe that the normal business principles that work for larger companies do not apply to them because they are a small company. At times, small business operators are not necessarily formally trained in business, rather, just nice people with a great idea trying to figure out how to make it work. That got me thinking about what key elements that I feel make businesses successful to avoid potential pitfalls. Below are the three things that I feel are critical for every small business to ensure success. Continue reading “Top 3 Things Every Small Business Must Do”