Team Insight

September 2018

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Its 25-person sales team works with coaches, athletic directors and parent groups to build those sites. And besides using the school's social media and email contacts, Sports Addix has more than 77,000 followers just on Facebook. Team stores do more than just increase rev- enue. Kargbo says these online stores reduce labor, allowing Sports Addix to marshal resources in its other operations, especially selling and servicing accounts. Its error rate is way down, so customer satisfaction continues to climb. And the integration with its internal systems helps in everything from inventory management to cutting, sewing and decorating the uniforms and other apparel. Every customer can also track their order thanks to TUO's ties to Shipstore, which also prints off the shipping labels. The old axiom "less is more" rings true with those online stores, he notes. Some coaches may want 15 items after the uniform package. But Kargbo and his sales team prefer to keep it around five to seven. "The more options, the less they buy," he says. That's important with fundraising sites and the dealer is upfront with minimums on quantities, knowing from experience that if too many items are available that one customer who orders that one shirt simply can't afford the screenprinting or embroidery charge for one item. "You always steer them in the right direction, but let them know it's ultimately their choice," he explains. Kargbo also says dealers simply must limit the buying window, with one to two weeks preferred. "The longer you have it open, the more people may wait until the last minute," he says. High tech never trumps high touch, either. Kargbo cautions that you still have to pay atten- tion and maintain a dialogue with the customer. "We have a unique way of selling with a sales- person that maintains contact every eight weeks," he points out. Those account managers also depend on a support staff to make sure the customer keeps coming back. Making a Kelling Online In business for more than 60 years, Skeeter Kell Sporting Goods has seen all the changes. And it embraced online team stores about four years ago to ensure that it stayed up with the times. "We have seen great results with these team stores and it's an area of our business we are look- ing to grow," says Chris Sledge, one of the family members that owns the full-service team dealer. Serving an eight-state territory from its base in Kennett, MO, not far from the Kentucky and Tennessee borders, Skeeter Kell has done so by reaching out to all of its customers — schools, rec leagues, select teams, you name it. And it runs every manner of store to target teams with spirit packs, fans with spirit wear and booster clubs to raise funds. "We normally let the coach or person in charge of the organization do the promoting of the online store since they are tied directly to those being targeted," Sledge adds. Like other team dealers, Sledge sees the benefit of the improved cash flow, better margins than direct sales to schools and extended sales. "Our overall company sales have grown since we are getting business that we wouldn't have been able to get in the past. We can offer the teams options of ordering items that they might have bought at a mall or local store in the past," Sledge notes. Successful stores narrow the field on selec- tion and offer items that are in demand, Sledge notes. As an example, he points to screenprinted T-shirts, which are always big sellers. But you can't offer those shirts in five or six colors. Been there, done that, Sledge says, only to find that it gums up the works and increases back orders. Too few orders of a shirt in one of those five colors also don't meet the minimums necessary to make it affordable. Now, his roadmen suggest a school with red and black colors only offer it on a white and a black shirt. No need to throw in options. "We like to offer one to two color choices and then make sure they are available from our supplier. If planned correctly, there isn't much that can't be sold on these stores as long as it's addressing the targeted audience," Sledge says. What Sledge tries to avoid is putting uniforms on the online stores. "Mom or dad can screw up and put the wrong number, wrong size, etc., and we are left holding the bag. I like for a coach to be in charge of uniforms. That way if there is an issue that arises, I deal with that coach and not 80 parents." Any other items depend on the coach. A foot- ball coach may not want a T-shirt on a site, for example, if he knows the booster club already wants to do that. The stores take work, though, especially pack- aging the orders. Plus, there are the eventual problems with back orders and wrong sizes. Roadmen can eat up time handling details rather selling if you're not careful. It takes the right team devoted to ensuring the orders and problems are handled, he notes. Over time, Skeeter Kell has learned better ways to handle these packages and how to increase efficiency. Working with a good platform partner helps, he adds. "Companies such as OrderMyGear are doing a great job of trying to streamline this process for dealers and they become a one-stop-shop so they handle these stores from point A to Z, making sure the items get to the customer without dealers ever having to touch them," Sledge says. "This is huge for the online store business and its growth." n 28 Team Insight / September 2018 teaminsightmag.com IDEAS TECH Dean Wegner wants to do more for America's veterans and workers. The West Point graduate served seven years as an aviator and heli- copter pilot, and attended the Army's Ranger School. He then went into the business world, working in business development, marketing and strategy with KPMG Consulting, Procter & Gamble, Mars and, most recently, as president and CEO at Omega Apparel. But he wanted to do more for those who served and for a once- thriving American industry in apparel. Last year, he launched Authentically American, a veteran-owned and staunchly American-made partner for businesses, schools, fundraisers, politicians, musicians and more who want to fly the flag on their apparel. Yes, the nascent company only sells apparel Made in the USA on its stores set up for a variety of clients. Wegner notes in his marketing materials that America once pro- duced 75 percent of its apparel as recently as 30 years ago. Today, the Made in the USA tag is found on less than three percent of clothing. He's working to change that by reaching out to a variety of customers with everything from T-shirts to medical scrubs. His message has been heard, with more than 100 customers, rang- ing from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits, from small businesses to several universities, opening up stores with his American-made apparel. Of course, several military schools now use his sites — West Point, along with the Air Force, Coast Guard and Naval academies among them. He also attracted attention from investors, including NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip. Authentically American teamed up with TeamUniformOrders to run its platform for its sites. Those sites prescribe to the "less is more" phi- losophy, Wegner notes. "We have had as few as two items and we try to keep it to 12 maximum. We prefer to run the stores more frequently, generally quarterly, with a new mix of items." To supply his growing list of customers, Wegner and his team rely on production partners in six states. Every item proudly displays the Authentically American vintage USA flag logo. So far, so good, but he still wants to move the needle on bringing jobs back to the United States. "We are early, only one year into our startup journey," he says, "so there's no true measurable impact yet. But our focus is building the brand and growing our business in year two so we can deliver on our mission to 'create American jobs.'" And while it plans to boost produc- tion of American apparel and jobs, it also remains committed to veterans. "Part of our mission is giving back to this great country, enriching the communities in which we live and work and supporting our veterans," Wegner explains. Ten percent of its revenue goes to veteran organizations such as The Folded Flag Foundation and Reboot Combat Recovery. n USA ALL THE WAY

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