Fourth quarter can be the busiest time of year for your business but it does take some preparation. Yes, we are already in October but it is not too late to take some key steps to increase your success. Here are a few things we are doing that may help you too!
1. Be aware of key dates that are important to your customers and target audience. As you know there are many different holidays that are celebrated over the next few months. Be aware of who your customers are and what they want. Make a list of the key dates and plan out when to begin marketing for each of these dates. Here are a few that we are focused on:
Halloween October 31
Thanksgiving November 24
Black Friday November 25
Cyber Monday November 28
December 12 Green Monday
Hanukkah December 18-26
Christmas December 25
January 1 New Year’s Day
2. Plan out your sales/discounts and how you will communicate them to your audience. Do you plan to offer any sales to your customers and/or prospects? Determine what they will be and set goals on what you want to achieve (a certain dollar amount, number of sales, increase your customer base or something else).
Determine the best way to communicate your sales and start to develop the content now. Don’t wait till the last minute. Are your customers on Facebook, Instagram, do you have an email list or all of the above? Develop messages and graphics based on what will work best for your audience.
3. Know your process and timelines and communicate them to your customers upfront. This one is simple but often missed. My motto is to under promise and over deliver. If you know it will take you 3 days to complete an order for a customer, you may want to set your production time (the time to make/complete an order) at 3-5 business days. Don’t box yourself in so tight that you have no room for error. If your process is dependent on others, make sure you understand their timelines as well. Anticipate longer production and shipping times during Q4 to be on the safe side.
Communication with your customers is key. Let them know about the key steps in your process and the dates of when decisions need to be made in order for you to deliver their order on time. Remember, you are the expert in your field. Many times people will make assumptions and are often wrong. Your customer may not realize that you don’t stock every color, every size and every style of shirt known to man and that it could take several days for you to receive the shirt to complete their order.
Here are a couple things to keep in mind when working with us for your shirt transfers. It is very important these TWO checkout options are fully understood.
- 1. Choose your PRODUCTION time. Our normal production time (the time between receiving your order and actually printing and shipping it out of our office) is 5-7 business days. The first business day is the next business day after your order is received, weekends and holidays do not count). If you need your order produced faster, we have several rush options that will remain available until our print capacity is full.
- 2. Choose your SHIPPING method. Standard/ground shipping is free on orders over $55. We ship out of Spring Hill, Florida. There is no guarantee of the delivery date for this service by the carriers. We typically use UPS and USPS depending on the size of your package and where you are located. Depending on where you are in the country this can be 1-7 business days. The closer you are to Florida, the faster delivery you will typically receive. You can also choose an expedited shipping method for faster delivery. We offer UPS Overnight and UPS 2 Day air. In most areas, UPS does not deliver on the weekend so be sure to keep this in mind when choosing your shipping method.
Here is an example: If you place an order with us today, Saturday October 15th, the first business day will be Monday, October 17th. Standard production will mean it will ship out of our office by Tuesday, October 25th at the latest (unless you upgrade your production time). The package is then passed to UPS or USPS, a tracking number will be emailed or texted to you depending on how you opt in, and will travel to you within 1-7 business days depending on how far away you are from Florida.
If you need that package in your hands by Friday, October 21, I recommend you consider the PRODUCTION and/or SHIPPING options presented to you at checkout.
PLEASE NOTE: ONCE YOUR PACKAGE IS WITH THE DELIVERY SERVICE WE ARE BOTH DEPENDING ON THEM TO DELIVER YOUR PACKAGE. WE WILL DO WHAT WE CAN WHEN PACKAGES GO MISSING BUT THE BEST ACTION IS FOR YOU TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DELIVERY PERSON AND HUB AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, THEN SEND US AN EMAIL. MOST TIMES DELIVERY ISSUES ARE RESOLVED AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
Our goal is to always provide and excellent product with excellent customer service. I have an amazing team at We Print U Press. We have many steps in place to try to prevent mistakes from happening. The reality is, we are human and mistakes will and do happen from time to time. If you have an issue with your order, please send an email to hello@weprintupress.com with details of the issue and pictures (if possible) as soon as it is discovered. We will work with you to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
We are excited to help you have an amazingly successful 4th quarter!!
