Retro trends are back, and decorators are embracing them with open arms – and wallets. “We’ve seen a growing trend in events themed toward ’50s sock hops or even trade show uniforms leaning toward a diner or more retro motif,” says Tim Coggeshall, vice president of sales for Cruisin’ USA (asi/47743). “And that’s a great opportunity for decorators to increase sales and bring something new to their clients.”

For companies like Cruisin’ USA, which sells retro apparel year-round, business has picked up greatly. End-users are looking to stand out among the crowd and wear colorful, fun clothing, so decorators are doing more to target all audiences by designing apparel to appeal to a wide range of customers. “I don’t see any one particular demographic suddenly turning from three-piece suits to retro-style bowling shirts,” Coggeshall says. “We’ve added two new items to our bowling-shirt line, one of which we specifically designed with generic school colors to help it reach from colleges to high schools to grade schools, as well as to professional sports teams.”

Oftentimes, decorators coordinate specific athletic fundraisers at a bowling alley for relaxed, low-maintenance fun, and they call on companies like Cruisin’ USA for shirts, shoes and accessories. “We also will have a decorator call us up and say they have a customer doing a trade show,” Coggeshall says. “And the customer is looking for something different. They mention camp shirt, colorblock, panel shirt – all those names are used to describe our retro-style bowling shirt with contrasting colors.”

Decorator Mike Wagman of Topton, PA-based Rockland Embroidery Inc. (asi/34150), says he has seen the retro trend among schools and sports teams, too. The distressed Abercrombie and Fitch look appeals to a younger crowd, making them the most common end-users of the retro apparel Rockland decorates.

Wagman recalls one order from a high school sporting team that wanted to stand out during its annual Spirit War. “I had the client send me their logo and we did a spec sample in the distressed appliqué, and they loved it,” he says. “The distressed appliqué isn’t something they had in mind, but once they saw that, they wanted it – and they ordered 144 pieces.”

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Wondering how to add new clients to your base? It’s easy: Generate new leads. Or maybe, it’s not so easy. “I advertised at first, but it was fruitless,” says Joyce Jagger, owner of TheEmbroideryTrainingResourceCenter.com.“The easiest and most effective way I found to get new leads was to always give my existing customers business cards and brochures so they could refer me to others.”

According to a new business-to-business Marketing Benchmark Survey, 69% of the more than 2,600 professionals surveyed said that generating high-quality leads was their top concern. In an increasingly competitive market, successful decorators have found ways to target their leads and expand them, making for a significant rise in customers and sales.

Tip 1: Tuck business cards and brochures into packed orders for referrals. “When a customer comes in to pick up their items or if you’re mailing an order out, put a brochure about your referral program and a business card in their bag,” Jagger says. “Flyers, brochures, anything – as long as there’s info about your program, such as that they get 10% off their next order if a person they refer buys from you.”

Jagger’s advice for a referral program is simple: Give your clients your business card or business flyer. Advise them to sign their names on the back and distribute them to their friends, family and acquaintances. When the person who was referred comes into the shop, store the business card and keep track of who referred the new customer. When the original customer returns, they can receive a discount on their next purchase for spreading the word about the company. “I never had to advertise because this brought me more customers,” Jagger says. “It can’t get any better for you than people telling other people about your business. It’s by far the best way to get new leads.”

Tip 2: Ask for a referral after a customer has placed their order. “Ask if they have a friend or acquaintance who may be in the market for your services,” Jagger says. “You can then call that referral and let them know that Mr. or Mrs. [your customer] was in your shop looking for a special gift and you thought maybe they’d also be in the market for a special gift for a loved one.” She notes that holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and Christmas, plus special occasions such as anniversaries and weddings, are easy times to generate more customers through this system.

Tip 3: Target PR departments. Howard Potter, owner of Yorkville, NY-based A & P Master Images and a four-year student of Jagger’s, says, “We do everything for public relations at St. Luke’s Hospital – their golf tournaments and all their little events there. And individually we’ve then networked through PR to every head director at the hospital.” He says that the PR department is the starting point for working your way into the company and reaching out to as many employees as possible. He began conducting inside sales directly with the staff, and A & P Master Images was one of the first companies to come into the hospital and sell logoed apparel to the staff through payroll deductions.

Tip 4: Include free products with large orders. “The hospital with 3,500 staff members placed an initial $2,000 order with us for basic embroidery,” Potter says. “When I brought them their embroidered polos, I included a free tote bag, a laptop bag, a duffel bag, and gave them maybe $100 at my cost of free stuff to show them what we can do on other items.” People are thrilled to receive free products, and it gives them an incentive to continue buying and to build a relationship with a decorating company.

Tip 5: Always, always, always promote more products. “While we were selling the hospital apparel, I also had two tables set up with other products, because we also do sublimation, promotional products, screen printing and embroidering, so we showed two tables’ worth of products that we had done for other people,” Potter says. “We brought in catalogs, free tote bags, sticky notes and pens to give out with all of our information on them.”

Each month when Potter goes to visit his hospital client, he rotates the freebies that he brings so as to always introduce new products to the market and watch how the employees respond, hoping that they’ll pass the product onto their friends and family. “The employees themselves know people and have kids on sports teams,” he says. “And, that’s really networked us on a really low cost to generate an extra $20,000 to $40,000 in sales just off of that.”

Affinity Express Inc. has announced that David Kang joined the company as executive vice president and chief digital officer, and will establish an interactive business segment and expand the company’s digital services products offered to all clients.

Aurum Organic offers an infant one-piece bodysuit (product 2323) as part of its line of 100% organic apparel. Offered in natural, petal (pink), light blue and olive, the bodysuit features a lap-shoulder neck, short sleeves and has the traditional three-snap crotch.

Barudan America introduces the Elite Pro II with VT2 Automat and the C01 BEVT-Z1501CII Servo machine. The VT-2 has a USB port to transfer designs, eliminating the CF card/slot, and the C01 has servo motors vs. stepper motors. Maximum sewing speed has been increased from 1,000 spm to 1,300 spm on flats and from 800 spm to 1,000 spm on caps.

Boxercraft (asi/41325) has introduced a new promotion, offering its perfect-fit T-shirt (product T15) and boyfriend tank top (product T85) for $1.99 with the purchase of any regular-priced bottom. Mention code TEE2010 at time of purchase to receive the discount. The offer is good until August 30, 2010.

Chouinard offers a hooded sweatshirt (product 8755) in youth sizes: small (6/8), medium (10/12), large (14-16) and extra large (18/20). It’s made of 80% cotton/20% polyester 10-oz. fleece and is available in blue, blue jean, crimson, burnt orange, denim, red orange, blue spruce, citrus, white and kiwi.

Great Dane Graphics offers new Wildlife Stock Art designed for screen printing, digital direct-to-garment printing, transfers and graphics printing, for use on apparel, signs, brochures and ad presentations.

WEBINAR CALENDAR

Apparel Sourcing:
Find the Right Partners
June 10, 2-3 p.m. ET
Learn to source apparel in the most efficient way possible, so you can deliver to clients the decorated apparel they need by their event deadlines – every time.
Register here.


Top 15 Ways Small Businesses Can Save Money
June 15, 2-3 p.m. ET
Savvy distributorship owners share their best ideas for cutting costs – and reinvesting those dollars back into their business in ways that grow their bottom lines.
Register here.

EMBROIDERY TERMS

Inspired by Green
Freshen up your clients’ green garments with some classic idioms for slogan inspiration:

"Give the green light” has positive connotations, as it means that approval has been given to move ahead with an action. Dub the customer service staff the “Go Team,” outfitting them in logoed green shirts to send the message, “Give us the green light and we’re at your service.”

“Green stuff” is money, making green apparel the perfect uniform for accountants, financial advisors, bankers and the like. Show that these professionals live to make money for their clients by imprinting: “Green is a state of mind.”

CALENDAR

June 18-19, Louisville, KY
Embroidery and Direct to Garment Extravaganza
(813) 846-6031; www.swfeast.com

Printa Systems is offering a new patented key frame athletic numbering system. There are 10 solid-color number screens and 10 outline number screens. Pre-imaged numbers are available in 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-inch sizes to accommodate a variety of team sports.