Question

Topic: Strategy

T-shirt Company Strategy Needed

Posted by Anonymous on 3/5/2010 at 11:00 PM ET 250 Points
QUESTION
How do we break the larger companies stronghold on these consumers? In other words, what would be a great way to market and reach these customers so that we can steal them away and keep them from these larger companies?

STORY
I own a t-shirt screen printing/graphic design company which targets high school sports/clubs, college sports/greek/clubs, church groups/camps. My company is about a year old and has made great strides in winning over some clients (which many now are repeat clients). The problem is that there are three other very large and established companies in this area that push their money and incentives (that we can't afford yet) at the customers.

We always beat the larger companies prices and quality of work (because they always overcharge and use template designs) but they will hear our quote and go way under our quote, because they can and because they can afford to, just to keep the client. I started this company to combat these three companies because I had to use them for so long and knew I could offer better service, design and prices...which I honestly do and have many customer reviews raving on our service.

I have been using guerrilla advertising/marketing such as taking gourmet brownies, donuts, etc.. with our cards attached to the box to the teachers/coaches lounges. I've sent out postcards that have reached the churches and schools in the area. I've tried cold calls to the schools/churches/clubs along with going to conventions to get our name out there too. It seems to work to an extent but the main problem is that these customers feel safe with these big companies that they have used for years. WHEN the customer finally does use us they LOVE us and rave on our service to where we usually get a few more word of mouth from that one. How do we break that hold?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Red Plume on 3/5/2010 at 11:19 PM Accepted
    Hi,

    Congratulations on building a great product in the face of tough competition. In a market like that, it is important to hold on to and accentuate your strength that the others cannot match - a high-quality product. And it seems that you trump them in heart, as well.

    Some thoughts:
    ~ use the testimonials from raving customers on your website, brochure and postcard. As word gets out locally that their neighbor was excited about your product, they may jump on board as well.
    ~ make up one free Tshirt for the target company as your introduction. Once they see the quality, and the personal design you made for them, they will be impressed. (Spending a little $ to gain clients is good, but of course don't go this route if it's really really expensive!)
    ~ offer a discount for new clients
    ~ set up a referral program so raving clients who send in a friend will get extra special treatment - and rave more
    ~ if you don't already, wear your company Tshirt everywhere and attend events where your target groups are. The more creative the design, the more questions you'll get
    ~ hold a Tshirt design contest pitting teams against each other. The winner will get shirts for free, the losers will get discounts, and you get your name out there.

    These are just some examples that I hope sparked a good idea in you. Gaining clients takes time but hang in there because you have what it takes to succeed.

    Best regards,
    Karen
  • Posted on 3/6/2010 at 4:06 PM Moderator
    You could afford more aggressive marketing if you had higher margins, and it sounds like your service and designs are better than those of competitors. So why is your price lower? Usually a premium price is a signal of higher quality and/or better service.

    My suggestion: Go back to the drawing board on your overall marketing strategy. You're doing a lot of things right (obviously), but the pricing component sounds like it could be holding you back.

    The lower price is in conflict with your "better designs, better service" message, and it's restricting the funds you have available for marketing your product.
  • Posted on 3/9/2010 at 4:22 PM Author
    Thank you so much for everyone who has posted. I am crazy busy right now and promise that I will get back to this and reply to your threads. Again thank you so much.
  • Posted on 3/10/2010 at 5:19 PM Accepted
    Here's some insights on both Strategy and Execution as such a consumer. Recently I used two such companies to have printed a medium quantity of T-shirts for my company, Virginia Web App.

    The "things" that I was looking for:
    1. Respond quickly to my inquiry and answering all the questions.
    2. Give me some assurance of quality (time first customer). If you're local all the better I can stop by to see some sample work.
    3. Price has to be competitive
    4. Got to be Flexible for my need may change

    Outcome:
    I like one of them better upon delivery (both are local).
    Now you know who's going to be my next supplier.

  • Posted on 3/12/2010 at 10:57 AM Author
    Thank you so much for everyone responding with these great ideas. There are some of the things on here that we already do to offer a better service but some are definitely new ideas. What are some good incentives that we could offer them to refer us to other businesses?

    The worst thing is when we offer better services, prices, designs and free hand delivery to the clients and they STILL stay with the more expensive, good quality designs but recycled for years, bad service, no delivery without paying shipping (even though they are in the same city) and additional fees such as art set up...even if you already have the art done for them. These clients for some reason still hang on to these 3 companies. I don't know if it is fear of switching to another company and them messing something up.

    We actually won a huge client over this week from one of them because we offered to make them a free website for their event. Just a basic setup but they haven't ever had one before and it seemed to sway them to us.
  • Posted on 3/18/2010 at 6:48 PM Member
    "because we offered to make them a free website for their event.", that's very Creative, so, creativity edges up an advantage and congrats!
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