ImagesMagUK_November_2021

Whether some part of your service makes the process of ordering easier, or they prefer the look and feel provided by your novel approach to decoration and apparel selection, or perhaps they just get a good feeling from your image and attitude, being a creative consultant rather than ‘just’ a decorator means you can charge prices that push beyond simple mark-up calculations. Value is a feeling; and although you could create it through the measurable value of a higher-end product or a larger or more detailed decoration scheme, you don’t have to rely on working exponentially more to make it so. Small additions and refinements can give your work the sense of being more worthwhile to a customer, even though similar problems are solved by your competitors. If you can help your customers and show care, consideration and creativity in the way that you serve them, they’ll feel the value – and you’ll find yourself less frequently on the defensive about price. type, or style uncommon in your space. Something as simple as decorating in an uncommon area on even the most common garments can stir things up. Show your customer a multimedia treatment; if they usually screen print, show them something layered with embroidered logo, or add reflective or textured heat printing, add a woven tag to a hem, or a small PVC patch to a sleeve. Remember, your treatment doesn’t have to be new to the world, just new to your customer. In fact, the best way to present novel treatments to reticent customers is at the junction between something trusted and familiar with something that changes the paradigm. Find and show an updated version of a common garment, or one with a special feature or function like moisture-wicking or reflective properties. Show a colour scheme or dye pattern that the customer may not have previously considered. Show coordinating caps, bags and accessories in addition to their usual shirts to create retail-styled outfit collections. Add accessories and promotional products to a garment pitch or show outerwear to someone ordering tees. Using their standard logo, add an element in metallic, reflective, glow-in- the-dark, or any other speciality thread. Take a loud logo and render it tone-on- tone or vice versa. Mash up styles, genres and trends with classic, corporate brands. Find a decorating trend and mock-up the latest hot garment with your customer’s branding rendered in the new style. These attempts show your ability both to stay abreast of industry trends and your creative versatility, creating products that feel ‘special’ without necessarily changing anything about labour or cost. Even when customers return to standard staples, the effort can add to your reputation with customers as a consultant rather than a commodity and open doors for future, less standard orders or referrals. Become a creative consultant No matter the method you employ, all you need to do is remember the critical concept: if you can create the feeling in your customer that your work is valuable, it will be. Ask questions, learn about your client’s brand and culture, and look for the problems your unique abilities can solve. Your treatment doesn’t have to be new to the world, just new to your customer Relatively small, single-colour embroidery on an interesting dyed hoodie gets a huge value boost from the brand and popularity of the content creator behind it. This decoration doesn’t require high stitch counts or design complexity to make its profitable price possible. Though we can’t all benefit from massive followings, this should help you understand that price doesn’t necessarily need to be pegged to added costs or effort on your part – increased price doesn’t have to equal more decoration or harder labour [Accessed at shopmrbeast.com] Large fields of colour can be a bit ‘blah’ without any textural contrast or play of light from varied stitch angles, whereas drawing a few discrete shapes and using an array of satin stitches makes graphical logos take on a life of their own KB BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT www.images-magazine.com 76 images NOVEMBER 2021 Erich Campbell is an award-winning digitiser, embroidery columnist and educator, with more than 20 years’ experience both in production and the management of ecommerce properties. He is the programme manager for the commercial division of BriTon Leap. www.erichcampbell.com