Team Insight

APPAREL TEAM SOCKS pieces of their uniforms. "If we quote baseball uniforms, we just include socks on the quote," says Dunaway, who points out that this is common practice. Rather than waiting for coaches to add socks on later, he quotes them with the uniform to help mitigate any delays or issues with fulfilling an entire order. Rediscovering the Brands Being trendy may not be top of mind for coaches and players this year, but the affinity towards name brand recognition has resurfaced as options become less limited. Last year, brands that were capable of de- livering their socks on time became favorites for stressed-out coaches and dealers. Now, big-name brands seem to be top of mind for some of the newer coaches who are more interested in having their desired logo paired up with their uniforms. "Newer coaches are sometimes focused on the bigger name brands," admits Dunaway, who tries to steer them away from focusing solely on name brands, especially when it isn't feasible budget- or inventory-wise. Budgets should remain important when choosing which vendors to order from as price increases have affected nearly every industry between 2022 and 2023, including team socks. "Prices have to be raised because inven- tory has jumped in price," says Frey, who noted that price jumps have been shocking to both her and her customers during the past year. So, while name brands might be attractive, Dunaway emphasizes that they might not always be the most effective option. For him, sticking with the vendors that are reliable and have what his teams are looking for are the ones he will choose to work with every single time. n 32 • Team Insight ~ May/June 2023 teaminsightmag.com Drymax Team Socks have a top- of-foot venting system to help feet breathe better. The white Player Patch is designed with quick sorting on laundry day in mind and it provides an area for jersey numbers to be written with indelible ink markers. "To sell more socks, sell different socks. Get away from fashion trends — you won't win that battle against big-box stores. Provide a functional solution to fix blisters and other foot issues. Don't sell the cheapest socks, as they may not last a season and your customer won't be satisfied and won't buy from you again." — Bob MacGillivray, Executive Vice President Wilson Brown's Pro Feet Spectator Crew is made with a soft acrylic body and is completely customizable and knit for players' school, team, club, or group's logo, name and/or mascot. The Spectator Crew was designed with fundraising in mind. "To put it bluntly, focus on selling. We find the most successful team dealers are the ones that focus on providing great service to their customers. The lure of chasing price is enticing, because a cheaper price may lead to an immediate impact to the bottom line, but lost opportunity costs need to be recognized, too. All of us only have so many hours in our day and now more than ever it's important to focus on what will be most impactful to our businesses." — Callum Brown, President PearSox Custom Crew is a fully customizable, high-performance knit crew sock with performance features such as a padded footbed, ventilated footbridge for increased b re at h a b i l i t y, a rc h s u p p o rt , seamless toe and welt top finish for durability. "The best way to sell socks is to keep them in your daily sales engagements and conversations. Socks are an absolutely essential part of almost all on-field and on-court sport uniforms. In many instances, the only reason an end user leaves their local sporting goods dealer without a new pair of socks to start their season is because they simply forgot. So keep socks in your everyday dialogue and, more often than not, necessity alone will close this sale for you." — Jesse Baldwin, National Sales Twin City's new Over-Knee Dugout sock has all the same design and features of its dugout series, but now designed to fit over the knee. "Selling more socks is as simple as presenting them with every uniform presentation. It's an easy add-on and an inexpensive item for the coach or club to include. I would also encourage dealers to sell-up. Once the additional benefits are shared, it's a no-brainer." — Brad Davis, VP of Sales

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