GraphicsFlow Customer Spotlight: Graphic Connection
12 August, 2021
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: By using GraphicsFlow for client artwork, Scott Creagan and his team could secure and deliver a 500-piece shirt order that sold out in two weeks.
How does the biggest print shop in New Mexico find ways to stand out from the competition? For Scott Creagan, owner of Albuquerque-based Graphic Connection, that means creating high-quality artwork quickly and efficiently. “A t-shirt is just a t-shirt. It’s a great design that will sell the t-shirt,” Creagan says. “GraphicsFlow gives us the best artwork and helps us sell more shirts.”
Outstanding designs for a new client
Graphic Connection was bidding on a new project for the retail store of a popular tourist destination in Albuquerque. The prospect needed new apparel designs to sell at their store and price-shopped for the best local printer. Graphics Connection saw a golden opportunity, so they stepped up to the plate.
Creagan’s design team started brainstorming ideas for the perfect balance between high-quality artwork and cost-effectiveness for their client. That’s when Creagan says the team decided to utilize GraphicsFlow and over-deliver with a presentation of multiple design options.
Design Variety in No Time Flat
From there, Graphics Connection’s internal team quickly used graphics from the GraphicsFlow design library. They dropped in lettering and changed the coloring to meet the client’s branding. In just hours, they had a set of mockups ready to present to the client.
“The team created about 7-10 designs, and the customer loved every one of them,” Creagan says. “They told me it was the best artwork they’d ever seen.”
Graphics Connection locked in the purchase order with the approved artwork in hand and started printing off shirts for their new customer. The store was happy to get their hands on the newly made shirts quickly at a great price point.
Booming Sales
Within two weeks of Graphic Connection delivering a 500-piece order, the customer’s retail shop sold out of its initial supply of newly designed shirts. And, the store’s customers were also raving about the design!
“They’re already reordering more of the product we produced for them,” Creagan says. He notes that Graphic Connection wants its customers to have success because “if they have success moving their product, we’re going to get more orders.”
Thanks to that initial quick turnaround of high-quality artwork, the shop has a new, happy customer.
Using the right tools
Creagan says using GraphicsFlow benefited his business in three critical ways with this specific job:
- Staffing: Instead of the job for the client requiring multiple artists to tackle the design, Graphic Connection built the mockups with GraphicsFlow. It did not bring additional staff on to complete the work. Working with less is a constant theme for many business owners, with a shortage in the current skilled labor market.
- Labor hours: Creagan estimates that he saved his shop about $1,000 in hourly labor costs using ready-made designs. While Graphic Connection is a large shop, those savings make a huge difference for them. And, that savings certainly matters when it comes to small to medium-sized decorators.
- Reduced lead costs: Outside of the artwork approval process moving faster, the regular operation of obtaining a customer moved quicker. Instead of the sales department jumping through hoops with follow-up calls, emails, and job quotes, they landed the sale in one fell swoop.
Advice from a Pro
Thanks to Graphic Connection’s success with the platform, Creagan encourages other shops to sign up with GraphicsFlow for similar results. He covered the cost of his subscription with one account and believes other shops can do the same.
“Artwork truly is where shops will land big clients and secure that long-term business relationship,” Creagan says.
About the business: Graphic Connection is a business started in 1995 that has grown over time into a 10,000 square-foot facility. It features two print shops, multiple embroidery machines, and a Kornit digital printer for printing 1,200 dpi images onto apparel. Graphic Connection churns out the whole gamut of services, including apparel decoration, posters, business cards, and flyers.
Check out Graphic Connection’s website and learn more about their services here.
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