Stop reacting, start converting: Smarter sales for garment decoration pros

Sure, you can rest on your laurels and hope the business rolls through the door due to previous strategies, but as Colin Sinclair McDermott, The Online Printing Coach, explains, it is you who may need to make first contact.

Most people I come across in this industry aren’t lazy. They’re just far too reactive.

That’s the truth bomb I dropped in one of my latest Print Mastermind Sessions, and it hit home because everyone in the room had felt it. The constant inbox firefighting. The never-ending quote chases. The gut feeling that the business should be growing faster, if only we weren’t so bogged down.

Here’s the thing: being reactive is costing you. And no, the fix isn’t to work longer hours. Its structure.

The shift to proactive sales starts with workflow

If you’re waiting for the customer to chase you, you’re already behind. Proactive sales teams don’t just answer emails; they anticipate needs, follow up with purpose, and build conversations before the brief lands.

That doesn’t mean hiring more people. It means rethinking how your current team works.

I coach garment decorators to build workflows that cue the right behaviours: prompts to check in, reminders to follow up, tools that surface old quotes before they die in the CRM graveyard.

You can’t wing your way to consistency. Proactive selling requires a system.

Tiny optimisations equal big impact

Let’s talk time. I recently worked with someone who was sending 1,400 emails a month. That’s 20+ hours gone, every single month, just typing.

We didn’t reinvent their role; we simplified it. Templated replies. Smarter batching. AI tools that summarise threads so you’re not rereading the same 12 emails to write a two-line reply.

You’re not too busy to improve. You’re too busy not to.

Ask yourself: Where’s the friction? Where are you duplicating effort? Fix that. Not next year, this week.

Your CRM isn’t a dumping ground

Let’s be blunt: data doesn’t close deals. But bad data definitely loses them.

One of my clients had a killer direct mail piece. Beautifully written, spot-on offer, well executed. But their prospect list? A total mess. Bounces, dead ends, and contacts who left the company in 2018. You know how many calls they got? One.

Good marketing is wasted on bad data.

So, before you rewrite your sales emails or invest in another glossy brochure, ask yourself: Do I trust the list I’m sending this to? If not, fix that first.

Want to get noticed? Get physical

Here’s a favourite: one of our clients landed a call with a ghosting prospect by sending them a doughnut box.

It was empty. Branded. Cleverly messaged. He basically apologised as he had planned to have the doughnuts with the prospect of celebrating their first job together, but as he hadn’t heard back, he ate them himself. Believe it or not, it worked. Genius!

Direct mail is underused, especially by decorators who already understand physical branding. You don’t have to be flashy. Just be thoughtful. A fabric swatch. A handwritten note. A small sample with a “thinking of you” tag. Tangible creates traction.

From support staff to sales drivers

If your team spends all day replying to emails, they’re not selling, they’re simply surviving.

Want real growth? Coach them to think differently. Give them systems that drive proactivity. Help them reclaim time so they can focus on connection, not just communication, because the decorators who thrive in this industry aren’t just busy. They’re bold.

They know that sometimes, the biggest wins come not from a revolution, but from asking a better question: Is there a smarter way to do this? Then act on the answer.