Wholesale Selling Tips: 4 Audiences for School Sales

As a screen printer, it’s incredibly important to find new and creative ways to increase your business. While word of mouth and repeat customers are wonderful, to really grow your business you need to be on the lookout for new clients at every turn. Check out these wholesale selling tips to help get you in the game.

The ol’ college try

If you’re located near a college town, then consider yourself in a goldmine! Colleges are chock full of student groups, sororities and fraternities, and intramural-athletic teams that are likely to need print t-shirts during the semester.

Typically, when school starts in August, most colleges host a welcome back festival that makes the transition to college life a bit easier for students. This is also where those aforementioned groups gather to encourage and recruit new students to join in.

Get a booth and share your information, market your services, be a recognizable face, and ensure that you’re the first person they think of when it’s time to order a themed-print shirt.

Back to school

Schools – high school, middle school, grade school – have long been a great business partner for screen printers. These schools typically print shirts each year to showcase their team pride, to support athletic boosters, or just to build camaraderie among classrooms and student groups.

Contact the local school secretary who is the “keeper of the key” of sorts. He/she is likely to know the right person for you to contact to market your business to so that both you and the school benefit.

Keep in mind that getting your foot in the door at local schools can be quite difficult. These schools usually have someone they’ve been working with for years, so it will likely require time and patience on your part.

However, with that time and patience, you can push to become the face, the go-to source, the business name that people know and look to when it comes to custom-print t-shirts for the school.

If you find yourself having trouble cracking that egg, look to private schools in your area. Sometimes they can be easier to solicit business from than public schools.

Another great, often overlooked potential clientele are nursery schools and daycare centers. But be sure you have the capability to print on those much smaller size shirts.

Look to the leaders

Finally, look to PTAs (parent-teacher associations) and PTOs (parent-teacher organizations) which typically purchase a lot of custom-printed t-shirts for their various functions and fundraisers. Contact the school’s principal or secretary to obtain the PTA/PTA’s contact information for their president.

As you begin searching for school sales, print several samples of your work with the school’s logo to give away, and which will help show potential clients the quality of your work and in turn, generate business.

Be patient, persistent, and professional, and in no time, you’ll see those school sales start rolling in.

And when you’re ready to shop for t-shirts, Augusta Sportswear’s new website consolidates all three of our brands – Augusta Sportswear, Holloway and High Five – allowing quicker shipping and volume discounts. Get started today.

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