Retail Techniques & Management: Part III  Embroidery Project

Photo courtesy of The Pink Petunia – Wrightsville Beach, NC

Time is money! In the world of retail embroidery the key is to make the process, quick, simple, painless and fun. It begins by placing limits on what you offer. If you have 50 fonts, pick out the top 10 and only show them. (I’ve been known to reduce that to 4.) If none of those 10 will suffice, then and only then will you show them the rest.

Second and this is the most important of all, lead the customer through the process rather than asking questions. If you ask open-ended questions, you are handing over control of the process to the customer, which can be a very dangerous thing.

Consider these examples:

	Photo courtesy of The Pink Petunia – Wrightsville Beach, NC

Example #1 – Choosing Stock Designs

WRONG: “Look through our stock design catalog and see if there is anything that catches your eye.”
A. The customer will spend 30 minutes or more doing it.
B. They customer will pick out something that doesn’t fit the application.

RIGHT: “What type of design are you looking for?” (Wait for answer.) “A football, great, let me show you what we have.” (Turn to the correct section and point out the best designs.) “Either of these two football designs will fit on your shirt and they all sew great.”
A. You are shortening the process drastically.
B. You are controlling the design selection, ensuring the best choice is made.

Example #2 – Choosing Fonts

WRONG: “We have 50 great fonts to choose from, which one do you like the best?”
A. The customer will spend 30 minutes or more doing it.
B. The customer will want to see text created with different fonts for comparison.

: “Here are our 10 standard fonts. I suggest that you go with Brush Script in this situation as it will really complement your stock design nicely.”
A. You have shortened the process, again.
B. You have controlled the process by choosing the font for them, based on how it will be used. Be thinking ahead about size limitations and readability.

Example #3 – Choosing Text Size

WRONG: “What size would you like your lettering and/or monogram?
A. This is the most dangerous question of all. You have opened the door to Pandora’s Box. Most customers don’t understand the size limitations of embroidery as well as the limitations of individual fonts. They are quite likely to ask for Old English in 1/8” letters.
B. The customer will want to see examples of multiple heights.

RIGHT: “I suggest that you make the lettering “X” height.” – or – “5 inches is our standard height for single letter monograms on bath towels.”
A. You have controlled and shortened the process once again.
B. You have lead the customer right to the best possible solution from a sewing and possibly a pricing standpoint.

This same process applies to the rest of the order-taking process. Keep it short and simple, lead the customer as much as possible and avoid too many choices. I once had a customer take 30 minutes to decide between three shades of yellow. (A mistake on my part since I asked her which shade she preferred.) I learned to say “I suggest yellow thread for that design.” If they asked which shade, I replied that we would choose the best match. Most agreed to this remedy.