I remember my first “real” job. I was beyond excited to not only have a job but motivated for a new challenge. I received a few welcome emails and was grateful to have a branded polo on my desk when I showed up on the first day. The experience was fine, not having anything to compare it to.

Have you noticed the difference between a well-made jacket that sells for $250 compared to a $50 jacket? Sure, they both accomplish the same functional objective, but the $250 jacket just has small, thoughtful details that make it fashionable.

Obviously, I’m not giving formal speeches every day; but I am conducting meetings, making phone calls, writing articles, motivating my team, working with customers, writing sales orders, being interviewed for podcasts, etc. In all I do, I use this lesson, and prepare, deliver, reflect.

In today’s marketplace where customers expect items and services faster than ever, sales wins are awarded to the most agile and responsive companies – the firms that respond quickly with solutions tailored specifically to a customer’s unique situations.

Come to find out the “ITs” are not teachable or trainable – they are simply parts of their personality, underlying work ethic, and learned experiences that embody their human nature.

Here are the 5 “ITs” ScreenBroidery team members have, and all employees should have:

As a business owner and marketer, it’s a common reaction to spend as little as possible on shirts and swag. However, the marketing budget should be optimized like all other expenses. When done well, a comfortable, well-designed shirt can deliver tens of thousands of impressions worth thousands of dollars.

As a business owner and marketer, it’s a common reaction to spend as little as possible on shirts and swag. However, the marketing budget should be optimized like all other expenses. When done well, a comfortable, well-designed shirt can deliver tens of thousands of impressions worth thousands of dollars.

How do you take elements of the Thigh Master’s success and use them to sell your own products and services? Here is what the makers of the Thigh Master did, and the lessons we can learn.

If we are going to reboot this economy, we have to find solutions to problems caused by COVID and stop letting the situation be the reason why jobs are not completed in time.

With the chaos of COVID, companies have been posting temporary signs of changes in their operating hours, forced shutdowns, and that employees are working from home. The sign I ran into this morning read, “Due to COVID, we are closed Sunday and Monday.” Another temporary business poster read, “Our offices are closed, and our employees are working remotely.” Yesterday, bars were mandated to close with no set opening date, and I saw several signs with the message, “We are closed until further notice.” The phrasing of these messages subconsciously tells customers you do not want their business. These posted signs are sending the wrong message.

The tangible things don’t make the culture, the people do. A great organizational leader will know what it is that his/her employee does that’s good, what makes them happy, and what their passions are; and they will do all they can to highlight and encourage those things. Many raves about their video games, ping pong ball tables, number of vacation days, and catered lunches on Friday. The truth is you do not need any of it and can still be the best place to work.

The New Normal – are you annoyed with the term yet? We are hearing it tossed around everywhere we go (when we can go places). The term is describing our current life as we know it from making changes to adapt to the recent pandemic. As relevant and common as the term is, it’s premature to assume the changes we are making will become norms as historically it takes a major incident for American’s to drastically change.

In periods of prosperity, marketers and sales reps forget that rising sales are NOT caused by clever ads, appealing products, and unique sales pitches – but they are caused by disposable income and feeling confident that the purchases made won’t put them in a bad spot but rather are an investment for the future.

Fulfillment is simply the process of accepting an order, picking it (or in ScreenBroidery’s case, producing it on demand), slapping a label on it, and shipping it with a carrier. Everyone knows this process. But here are some ins and outs that make it more efficient and services that ScreenBroidery does in the fulfillment that goes beyond the pack and pick process.

At ScreenBroidery we build true eCommerce systems and develop them in-house so we can control the functionality, interface, and integrations… and we have been doing so for a while.

Regardless of the use and the end objective – branded products are a representation of you and your company – they set the stage for a customer to positively react and think of your products and services. Marketing products are powerful as they serve both “customer getting” and “customer keeping.”

Now that the country is opening back up for business, you are preparing to do the things needed to ensure your place of work is safe for your customers and employees. Each business will have a specific set of guidelines, but common themes are emerging – don’t touch things, face masks are the new fashion trend, stay 6 feet apart, and communication is paramount!

Right before the stay at home mandates came into play Gabe Peters, our COO, was approached by one of our clients about running a t-shirt fundraising campaign. That’s when she told him the story about her cousins’ son, Paul, an 11-year-old kid who LOVES his cat, Garfield.

In this stressful, uncertain, and short-tempered COVID-19 time; protect your company’s culture, your employee’s respect, your supplier’s hard work, and your customer’s business. Write those nasty emails and then hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Like many innovative startups, Tom founded ScreenBroidery in his living room in 2008. It has since grown it to a multimillion-dollar enterprise with multiple locations and fortune 500 customers from coast to coast. In 2012 the company was named Counselor Magazines’ fastest-growing company and in 2018 one of the industry’s best places to work. ScreenBroidery is now headquartered in a 15,000 square foot building designed to build teams through culture, collaboration, and creative thinking. Tom also manages a successful real estate investment company, a medical education company, and invests in several local startups.