Impressions - March 2025 - 39

certainly serves as a good starting point. That
said, be aware that asking your team to step
up this way typically only lasts so long before
it gets old, and burnout sets in. I recommend
using this option sparingly.
Taking a look at your schedule as a whole
and working with the sales team to make
room and move whatever other deadlines you
have to accommodate the unexpected rush
represents a much better starting place. It's
a fine balance, but managing your way out of
these situations is far better in the long term
than working your way out of them. Wearing
out your team should be the last option.
This is the new normal. Running down your
employees over and over again won't last.
Another situation I often encounter is a
band that will initially order just enough to
get it through the first week of its tour, and
then use the sales from those first few dates
as a projection of what it will sell for the remainder
of the tour. Basically, they are guaranteeing
there will be a rush reorder of an
unknown size coming your way.
The most important thing to do in this
case is block out your schedule, anticipate
it and document every single thing you did
to produce that first run so the reorder goes
promptly and accurately. Bands have a terrible
habit of underestimating their sales. As a
general rule, expect the reorder to be at least
60 percent of the initial one.
Then there's the question of inventory. We
once had a client order so many tour shirts
using natural discharge that we depleted our
regional distributor's entire stock before we
were finished with the run. Inventory is incredibly
important when dealing with high-volume
fast turnaround times. It's easy to get
caught up in the rush and forget to check
if you have enough pigment to make that
specific shade of red. It sounds trivial, but it
can't be understated how important this is.
While you're at it, package and present
each order as if it's going to be processed by
the customer in the dark, in a hurry while
on a truck going down the highway and 70
miles per hours. Because that's exactly what's
going to happen. Labeling the outside of your
boxes clearly and accurately is one of the
most important things you can do to keep a
client happy. They move fast, rely on accuracy
and are always working under pressure.
Most bands will depend on the counts you
give them when they submit their own counts
to the vendor. If your numbers are off, they
look like fools, and it makes their lives that
much more difficult. There's no sooner way
to lose a good client than to mess this up. If
a box says it has 72 size-medium T-shirts
inside, it better not be 71.
It's also worth considering providing your
own internal delivery service for your clients.
Being able to control delivery times is huge.
When a band is on the move and playing its
most valuable shows on weekends, cutting
out third-party shipping services and adding
an extra layer of control can go a long
way for everyone involved. Clients appreciate
direct delivery, because it avoids them having
to hunt down a bunch of packages that
were, say, received by the venue's cooking staff
via some back-alley kitchen entrance. Who
knows where those boxes ended up? Having
a service that can bring the order straight
to the client, at a specific time and place is
invaluable and will only serve to strengthen
your relationship and reputation.
You can't go
home again
Being able to meet the demands of the music
industry will ensure you have a long line of
customers seeking the services you provide.
Mastering these difficult processes will make
you the company the industry wants to work
with. It's easy for bands to find shops willing
to print for them, but long-term satisfaction
can be very hard for them to come by. If you
can provide that, it becomes the marketing
message in and of itself.
In a grand sense, screen printing can sometimes
to feel like a thankless endeavor, jumping
through endless hoops just to get a quality
shirt on someone's back. When it comes to
printing for bands, though, knowing you're
printing a shirt that has a higher likelihood
of becoming a person's favorite can provide
a tremendous feeling of satisfaction. People
often associate the tour shirts they buy with
a great night out with friends, a first date or
a band they've always loved and finally got to
see. As printers for the music industry, we get
to indirectly tap into the allure of the rock 'n'
roll gods in all their glory.
Enjoying what you're doing by creating products
that are symbolic to a customer makes for
a truly more meaningful experience. It takes
a lot of focus and risk, but it's a win-win to
work on orders that both make sense to the
bottom line and are satisfying for your team
to produce. 
Dennis Condusta currently serves as the production
manager at Axelrad Screen Printing in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania (axelradarmy.com). In addition to
screen-printing, Axelrad provides a host of other
services,
including embroidery and design.
Condusta is also a regular Impressions conference
series presenter.
The magic of the
rock 'n' roll gods makes
us do crazy things.
For those willing and able, the thrill of being a part
of the magic that is rock 'n' roll makes it all worth it.
Image by Mariia Petrakova - stock.adobe.com
March 2025
P.39
http://www.axelradarmy.com http://stock.adobe.com
Impressions - March 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - March 2025
