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Hey — you. Yeah, you. We’ve got news.

Theme parks are opening. Season passes are selling. 83% of travelers are comfortable enough to take a road trip as soon as June, and RV rental bookings have the stats to prove it. (They’re up 114% year over year.) 

Reservations for campsites across North America have increased by 150%. And there’s been a 300% increase in those travelers booking multiple trips. 42% of individuals asked are already looking to book a cruise vacation, and airlines are finally seeing ticket purchases tick up with a vengeance. 

50% of Americans are planning to take a trip in the next 3 months. Everyone is striving for a return to normal.

That means that it’s time you started paying attention. To your audience, yes, but also to your operations. Because the truth is — there are infinite sales opportunities coming your way. And they will show up, demanding your very best, at the exact same time. 

If you don’t have the wherewithal to meet all of that demand, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone else will. The decorator down the street. The print shop in the next town over. Whoever it is, one thing’s certain: it’s only the businesses that have the foresight to get prepared ahead of time that will come out victorious. 

We can’t overstate it. There’s a ton of earning potential on the table. If you do the work to prepare for it, you’ll earn yourself a piece of the pie. But don’t worry — we’re not leaving you to do it alone. For the next two minutes, we’re breaking down exactly what you need to do to equip yourself for Summer 2021’s record-setting stream of sales. 

So you can capitalize on the opportunities and leave your competition in the dust.

The Context

There’s no question that people are ready to shake things up. They’re ready to visit new places, see new things, and commemorate being with new people. (As in, anyone who hasn’t been an immediate roommate for the past 12+ months.) 

Travelers are ramping up to get out there. Families are ramping up to reunite. There’s so much pent up excitement, energy, and need — and that’s exactly where you come in.

Because there’s no better way to commemorate anything than with branded merchandise. There’s no better way to heighten experiences, reconnect with enthusiasm, or nail an “altogether-now” photo than with the sparkle of custom gear.

They might have their flights, their RV’s, and their itineraries. But what they’re missing is you. And guess what? If you don’t let them know it, they won’t. It’s as simple as that.

But it’s not just about promising that you can deliver. It’s not just about promoting your offerings and it’s not just about convincing your audience that you’re the right fit for the job. Your ability to win big here comes down to your capabilities. 

Are you able to tackle dozens of orders at a time, producing high-value, high-style, relevant designs for each? Are you able to turn prospect needs into expertly crafted art approvals in minutes — without tying up your in-house art staff to do it?

Your capacity to sell is directly linked to your capacity to produce. The first step to capturing the summertime sales boom is getting your operations into prime shape for action. Here’s how. 

The Implementing

The fact that there are hundreds of thousands of sales opportunities coming in hot for our industry to latch onto is no secret. With the burst of travel and urgency to reunite with loved ones, every one of your competitors is gearing up to impress. 

So how do you stand out? How do you ensure that you’re not just convincing your prospects you have what it takes to meet their expectations — but you’re also up-leveling your own operations to meet demand with ease?

It really comes down to two factors: setting yourself up with the right operations-facing tool, and setting yourself up with the right customer-facing tool. Don’t worry — we’ll explain:

• Operational Power: The key to engaging your prospects right off the bat, impressing them through the design process, and leaving them wowed with the final product is simple. You need a way to provide consistently exceptional, thematically aligned graphics for any project need — and you need a way to provide them quickly.
  
  That’s where GraphicsFlow comes into the picture. A digital tool that gives you 25,000+ expertly crafted vector-based design templates, clip art, and fonts, a user-friendly, always-organized workspace, and the ability to create, send, and manage online art approvals — it’s your triple threat solution to the competition. Let’s look at it in practice:
  
  You have a dozen interested prospects come in at the same time. Some need custom merch for a Hawaii beach vacation; others need basic t-shirts for a family reunion in Montana. Some are bachelorette parties. Some are excursions to celebrate Grandma’s 98th. You need intentional designs that speak to each prospect’s needs — and you need them quickly if you want to hold their focus.
  
  This is the tool that lets you do all of that — with ease. GraphicsFlow increases your options for stunning, relevant designs while stretching your capacity for taking on new orders. You won’t just be wowing your customers with the designs they want; you’ll be wowing them with the expedited process they deserve. And catching every last sales opportunity while you do it.
  
• Selling Power: So you’ve armed yourself with the in-house power you need to produce immaculately. Next up is improving the way you sell. And we don’t just mean the way you sell to your point-of-contact customer — we mean the way you sell every product to every end-consumer. In other words: the buying experience as a whole.
  
  Looking at Family Vacation & Reunion orders, your prospects don’t want a process that requires any additional effort, time, or stress than what they’ve already given to their trip planning. They don’t want to be hustling to collect payment from Cousin Jim, and they don’t want to be responsible for ponying up the initial bulk-order payment (with bated breath). What they do want is ease. And simplicity.
  
  Meet Online Stores — your comprehensive solution. Our friends at InkSoft have created the ultimate e-commerce platform for decorators and print shops, empowering you to offer your customers something better: their own Online Store. With seamless purchasing power, limitless customization potential, and the ability to offer them a truly end-to-end fulfillment service, its e-commerce made… special.
  
  For your Vacation & Reunion customers, that looks like a custom-made, family-wide Online Store that’s just the beginning of their time together. A precursor to the vacation/reunion — that actually works to up the excitement for what’s to come — it’s less of a tedious transaction and more of an experience in itself.
  
  With Online Stores, you can reframe the process, take the weight of coordinating off of your customers’ shoulders, and stand out from the competition. It’s a win-win-win. So leverage it.

The Wrap Up

Like it or not, these sales opportunities are coming. You can either be prepared to catch them — or miss out on the rewards they’re ready to dole out.

And being prepared is truly all about your capabilities. The tools you have dictate your capacity to win sales — and the smartest businesses in our industry know that increasing capacity doesn’t necessarily mean hiring more staff or working more hours. What it does mean is working smarter. Leaning into technology. Leaning into creativity. And being open to the notion that there might just be a better way.

GraphicsFlow allows you to cater to every customer need with the expertise, wow-factor, and speed your audience expects. InkSoft’s Online Stores empowers you to give your prospects more than just a product — but an experience.

Those are your superpowers. When you leverage them, you will get your prospects’ attention. You will stand out from your competitors, and you will see tangible results.

But most importantly, you’ll be setting yourself up to catch all of the Family Vacation & Reunion sales opportunities with the confidence of someone who knows they can handle it. All of it. 

Don’t miss out on profitability because your operations were stuck in the past. Level up in 2021 — and give your audience something to get excited about.

And if you’re sitting there thinking, I don’t have GraphicsFlow or Online Stores in my wheelhouse yet, here’s where we tell you: don’t fret. It’s not too late to offer your customers the ease, efficiency, and customization power that these tools bring to the table. So get to know them. Explore what they can do for your business. And then get embracing. Because in 2021, technology is everything — and we don’t want to see you left behind.