SGIA Journal Garment Edition Spring 2016 - 15

It doesn't matter how much time
it takes because it's the client who is
investing the time, not an employee.
There also are studies that have shown
that when someone creates his or her
own design, there is a greater sense of
satisfaction in the final product.
Some people may not want to use
an online designer. For this group,
software can be used to send a client a
link showing a specific design category
of stock art. The customer can review
this art to see if there is something he/
she likes, and the process is accelerated
by having a core piece of stock art and a
template to start with.
Artwork Approval

For customers using an online designer,
art approval is automatic as they do not
stop designing until they have created a
graphic they are satisfied with.
But the rest of the time, companies
will either be presenting concepts for
feedback, creating original art, or taking
a customers' provided art and cleaning it
up and putting it into the format needed
for producing the job. In these cases,
you always want the customer to view
the graphic and get approval before the
job begins.
The two most common ways this is
accomplished is to either send an email
with an attachment that can be opened
and viewed or a link where the customer
can click and review the design. In either
case, the customer either approves the art
as is, or responds with changes needed.
There are software programs that will
automatically send out the art approval
email and track its process until it's
approved.

Social Media Marketing

While not every print shop is yet convinced
of the need to do any type of marketing,
yet alone using social media, this is a task
where automation plays a significant role.
W hile many experts recommend
posting once a day or more often, it is not
practical or efficient to post every single
day manually.
With automation, you can create
content and schedule it for a future date.
This allows you to automatically post once
or more every day of the month, but you
only need to devote one session a month to
create and schedule it. Social media apps
like Hootsuite and Buffer allow you to
schedule across all social media accounts.
So a single post can be scheduled to post
simultaneously to Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and Pinterest, etc.
You also can create a monthly or yearly
marketing calendar with local events,
specific client happenings, and other dates.
The software will automatically remind
you that these dates are approaching and
it's time to start sending out reminders to
clients or promotion. This type of software
also can be used to track when coupon
codes expire.
Shipping

Many software programs today can be
integrated with the most popular freight
companies such as FedEx, USPS, UPS,
Purolator and others.
Oftentimes, these carrier companies
offer discounts for using their systems,
and the software tracks usage data that is
helpful in keeping shipping costs as low
as possible and ensuring that packages
are delivered with the greatest speed and
highest accuracy.
Another perk is automatic generation
Production Scheduling
of shipping labels. For e-commerce sites,
While there are still shops that use a white customers can be told what shipping costs
board or paper for scheduling jobs, there will be at the time of placing an order, and
are several benefits to automating this the money collected.
part of the production process. One big
advantage is the ability to instantly look at Getting Started
numerous jobs simultaneously produced. The first step in automating your business
The bigger your shop is, the greater the is to start collecting data from your staff
advantage to using software to manage.
and customers. Interview both and ask,
Another plus of automating is the ability what causes you the most frustration?
to organize jobs by due date. The program What are the most common mistakes?
also can assign each step of a job to a If you could change one thing about the
specific individual. Each employee must company, what would it be?
input in the computer when he is done with
You also will want to set future goals.
relevant data, and this serves as a great way For example, let's say your company spent
of holding individuals accountable.
$23,000 in correcting orders last year. This
Employees can log in each morning year, you want to lower that amount to
and have a handy to-do list to view $5,000 or less.
saving time trying to figure out what
Once you have determined all this,
needs to be done.
then you analyze your processes and
Visit SGIA at SGIA.org/Garment

There are many ways to automate customer service
that save a company time and money while increasing
client satisfaction. Two examples include a website
where order status can be checked 24/7 and a way to
easily submit reorders. Image courtesy of InkSoft

While automating is a good thing with lots of
benefits, make sure you always offer clients the
option of personal communication for times when
the automated options don't cover customers' needs.
Always have a phone number, live chat and/or an
email address for those who want to talk to someone.
Image courtesy of InkSoft

One of the biggest bottlenecks in any decorated
apparel or signage business is the creation of the art.
Clients often don't know what they want and they
don't know what format it needs to be in. With the
use of an online design program, they can take as
long as they like creating a design that meets their
needs. Image courtesy of InkSoft

SGIA Journal ■ Spring 2016 | 13
SGIA Journal Garment Edition Spring 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SGIA Journal Garment Edition Spring 2016
