Bottom Line Up Front: The pandemic has forced apparel decorators to get used to operating in new ways. Here are some strategies for efficient, productive remote & digital operations, and how to get them in place for your team.

When the pandemic struck, every business in the world was affected. In-office operations were put on hold. In-person sales meetings were put off indefinitely. And professionals in every industry, in every city, were left wondering how on earth they were going to adapt to a market that seemingly changed overnight.

But the good news is, many did. Many saw the need to figure out remote working and digital selling as a need that wasn’t going away — and so they pivoted.

Gearing up offerings to make sales online. Starting or revamping social media accounts to connect with consumers. Zeroing in on the digital buying experience — and getting their digital presence right.

Because the truth is, the whole market was taking place online. With social distancing rules and full or partial lockdowns the norm, and with communities clouded with panic and boredom at the same time, everyone was on the web. And everyone was using it for all of their day-to-day operations — business-related or not.

That meant that a well-established, well-defined digital presence had the potential to be seen by everybody. And that in turn meant that businesses started putting their digital capabilities first.

But everything happened so fast. There was hardly any time to stop, take notes, and reassess what the perfect approach could be. Well, now we’ve all had a handful of months to take stock — and we at InkSoft have compiled a list of markers that your business, newly positioned, should be aiming to hit.

Because breaking into the digital world in a standout way is vital. But combining a rock-solid digital presence with the right tools and strategies to drive long-term results? That’s the difference between making a one-off splash and causing waves for years to come.

Selling in the Remote Age

Outside selling, or the utilization of in-person pitches, meetings, and demos to generate interest and close sales, used to be commonplace. In the months before the pandemic, it was still a heavily-leaned-on selling strategy — because the thought was that in-person interaction generated higher degrees of perceived personalization.

In other words: that prospects equated in-person meetings and demos with how greatly they’d be valued, as an individual client, by the seller. 

The bottom line for customers everywhere — regardless of what industry they’re buying from — is the level of care they’re getting throughout their buying experience and beyond. In fact, in one recent HubSpot study, consumers pinpointed “˜customer care’ as being their biggest motivating factor when deciding how they feel about any given company.

So obviously, outside selling offered salespeople a way to personalize their presentations — and convey appreciation by taking the time to travel to prospects. But less obviously, inside selling comes with that same power — when it’s done right.

Simply put, inside selling is the practice of selling your product from wherever you are — inside your office, while you’re working remotely, or anywhere else. It makes use of technology in ways that outside selling can’t, and it works to play the long-game in ways that are more efficient — and productive — for all parties.

How?

Let’s look at InkSoft’s inside selling capabilities, for example. 

The Online Pitch Store

One of the (many, many) specialized uses of InkSoft’s Online Store platform is the ability to create and customize Online Pitch Stores — often in under a few minutes’ time. 

These stores are — as the name suggests — completely online, which means you can send them to your prospects from wherever you are, and they can receive them from wherever they are, instantaneously. And since these stores are meant to be hyper-customized for each individual prospect, including a specially curated selection of example offerings, they’ll be receiving a “demo” that’s just as focused on their needs as they would’ve received if you’d made the demo in person.

In fact — maybe more.

Because these Online Pitch Stores do more than just tell prospects about what your business can do for them. They actually show them what’s on the table. As soon as a prospect receives the pitch store link, they’re able to click into the same (or, at least, extremely similar) e-commerce experience that their end-users will have.

They get to see the technology at work. They get to truly understand how it’ll impact the buying journey — by being immersed in it firsthand.

That’s a personalized demo to end all personalized demos. And since you’re not in an in-person meeting with the prospect, they don’t feel pressured to make a decision on the spot. They don’t feel stressed about needing time to think about it, or do their own research, or ask for a colleague’s advice.

They have all the time — and all the resources — they need to make an informed decision. To decide that your offerings, and your capabilities, are the key to them offering their end-users more. Online Pitch Stores give them that insight — but they also give you something.

Time. The time to reach out to other prospects, connect with other customers, and focus on growing your business — in the hours you could’ve otherwise spent commuting to and from sales pitches, answering repetitive questions, and talking about, instead of showing, the value you can offer.

Marketing in the Remote Age

Okay, so we already know that digital marketing is absolutely required if you’re a business looking to survive in 2020. The marketplace, the advertisements, and the consumers are all one place and one place only: online. Which means all of — or at least the vast majority of — your marketing attention should be going there too.

So let’s discuss how you focus your sights onto the digital marketing scene, given your current capabilities: Online Stores.

With InkSoft’s Online Stores, you have the power to use your own technology as your marketing strategy. No more spending money and time creating extensive marketing assets — now, all you need to do is create social media posts and emails that speak to your audience about what you’re selling.

Convey the value. Include a striking visual. And apply the urgency.

And then add a link to your Online Store at the end. By giving your audience something clear, valuable, and easy to click through to — something that gives them a direct way into a simple buying journey — they’ll have no reason not to click. And your digital marketing effort will be proven effective, time and time again.

But the best part? The best part isn’t that you already have access to this powerful digital marketing strategy right there in your capabilities. The best part is you can use the strategy in your pitches to new prospects. You can explain to them how they can use their custom Online Store in their digital marketing so that they can reach more consumers — and achieve better results.

Every business knows how integral digital marketing is today, so if you can offer your prospective customers a tool that’ll increase their reach, their brand exposure, and their sales, you’ll be offering them the holy grail.

So use the digital marketing capabilities that are already built into Online Stores to your advantage — and tell your customers, new and old, to do the same. It might just revolutionize your whole approach to marketing.

Customer Support in the Remote Age

With a clear-cut change in how consumers are consuming these days — in that the whole buying experience tends to take place online — how they’re getting the assistance, they need throughout their buying journey has changed too.

One thing is clear: that modern-day consumers like to be in control. They like to have access to the things that they want to buy when they want to buy them, they like to be able to choose and track the delivery, and they like to be able to browse for however long it takes them to make a decision.

Knowing that many businesses have shifted their customer support model to be one that the consumer has full control over. Instead of having one general support line for customers to call into, many have opted to have digital chat services on the site. Instead of providing minimal info upfront and waiting for customers to ask for more, many businesses have come through with meticulous FAQ pages that provide all the necessary, and commonly asked about, details.

At InkSoft, we believe that all of those techniques — to make consumers feel in control, valued, and cared about — are beneficial. We encourage you to include them in your site if you think it fits with your digital presence — but we also encourage you to go a step further.

That’s why we created our Online Designer: to give your customers the control they desire, to make them feel like they’re the captain of their own project ship, and to save you a bit of time along the way.

With the Online Designer, your customers (and prospects) are able to digitally design exactly what they’re looking for in a product. Based on the blanks you’ve made available for them, they can upload custom graphics, insert text, and visually play around with the overall look. For as long as they’d like.

You only get notified when they’ve saved their design, which lets you know exactly when they’re ready to get serious. Not only does this save you back-and-forth with them in the earlier stages, but it also saves you time by having them take the first swing at their product. You can obviously go in later and amend as needed, but at least you have a clear starting point that’s already gotten their approval. (Because… it came from them.)

We’re all about giving customers as much control as we can — in support, in the design process, and in their products’ marketing. That’s why we encourage you to encourage them, as much as you can, to share their Online Store. The more they further their own digital marketing, the more sales they’ll see — and that’s a symbol of control in real-time.

Productivity in the Remote Age

With offices operating remotely — or needing to be able to if the switch happens again — it feels like the golden age for new technologies. Companies are popping up left and right, promising to offer solutions for your workflow that you didn’t even know you had a need for.

The idea of innovation, especially as it relates to your day to day productivity, is a good one. A great one. But only when it’s used intentionally — not when it’s just another buzzword that catches you at the right time, and before you know it, you have 14 different software applications running concurrently on your monitor.

It can be easy to get convinced — especially by apt salespeople and marketing materials — that every new software tool is the tool you need now. But here’s the thing: if you get all of them, and it takes you longer to learn how to use them, how to integrate them with each other, and how to implement them into your workflow than it would’ve taken you to just do the dang thing your old way…

Then what’s the point?

As a boundary-pushing tech company ourselves, we believe in the benefits that finding the right software tool can have on your productivity — don’t get us wrong, we are pro-technology! But we’re only advocates for it insofar as it’s actually helping your team achieve more.

Not less. Not clouding up your day with confusion and disorganization, and not making your people feel inadequate for not knowing how to utilize the tools properly.

The right software should increase your efficiency, enhance your output, and promote cooperation — among your own in-house team and with your clients. When you have a platform that organizes, streamlines processes, and offers your customers more end-value? Well, isn’t that the whole goal?

That’s why we created InkSoft — not just to wow you with innovative tech, although we are pleased if we hit that mark — but to make your life, and your daily operations, easier.

All of our platform features are compatible with each other, which means that you can have your business’s Online Store up and running, with an Online Designer right there on the site. You can create an Online Pitch Store for a prospect, and then when they’re wowed and sign on the dotted line, you can turn it into an Online Store in minutes.

Our view is always on the big picture. We’re persistently trying to reduce time spent on the backend and mundane processes, so you can spend that time on finding and securing new customers, and keeping old ones happy.

Beyond our platform’s internal cooperation, we’re always generating new content to give you the behind-the-scenes look at how to use our technology like a pro. We have tutorials, new feature breakdowns, and sales & marketing strategies that are released on an almost daily basis — so if you have a question or need a piece of advice to inspire you, be sure to check out our blog.

We know that this time, these past few months, have been difficult and confusing — and a real, straight-up adjustment — for many of us. But we believe that with all of the ways the decorated apparel industry and market has changed, it’s also made room for new opportunities. New ways to offer customers value, new ways to connect with audiences, and new ways to uplevel your business — that you wouldn’t have even begun to think about in 2019.

So take this time to adapt. Take this time to examine how you want to position your business in the new world, and take this time to take the steps you need in order to get there.

Remember that InkSoft’s always in your corner — and we can’t wait to see how you grow.

You’ve got this! (And we can help)

Apparel Decorators, promotional product distributors, and print shops that embrace these new strategies AND technologies are the ones most likely to navigate these times and thrive in the post-pandemic market. InkSoft is the industry’s leading e-commerce platform built to help you sell custom branded and personalized products. Schedule a product tour today and our industry experts can share how you can use InkSoft to grow sales and gain a competitive edge.