July/August 2021

IMPRINT CANADA THE MARKETING AND INFORMATION SOURCE FOR IMPRINTABLE PRODUCTS AUGUST 2021

A Tristan Communications Ltd. Publication

INSIDE THIS ISSUE SUPPLIER NEWS

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Want to make sure your sales and prospecting emails are being opened, read and responded to? We highlight key actionable steps to help you maximize your email engagement efforts.

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HOW TO BOOST YOUR WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING RESULTS

Marketing expert Marc Gordon breaks down what you need to do to generate more word of mouth marketing.

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Leading suppliers showcase their newest product offerings.

It’s Time to Re-Assess Your Strategic Assumptions

By Jill J. Johnson, MBA

SIX TIPS ON HOW TO GENERATE FIRST-CLASS EMAIL ENGAGEMENT

NEW PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS

Volume 28, Issue 4

18

Today’s business climate is exceptionally volatile and complex. In this type of uncertain environment, it is essential to reassess all of the strategic assumptions that have been the foundation of your planning efforts.

We no longer have the luxury of being able to take for granted that shifting trends will be easy to see or that customer needs will be stable.

As so many external forces influence the on-going value of your company, it has become more essential to challenge the assumptions you use for your Demand for core promotional products has gradually ramped up from the early days of the pandemic strategic planning purposes.

Going forward, success requires detailed scrutiny to determine how much risk you really face. This scrutiny will also help you to better anticipate the changing needs of your customers.

Strategy, continued on Page 10

Why Relationship Building Is The Top Leadership Skill You Need for the Next Decade

By Andrew Sobel

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Strong relationships are the essence of any healthy career. When we can’t make real connections with our employees or manager and executives in the workplace, they won’t feel loyal to us and we become tradable commodities. When times get tough, we may be the first ones pushed out the door.

On the other hand, when we have a small group of close professional relationships we’re able to get our ideas recognized and supported. We’re able to be successful leaders. We’re able to collaborate and innovate effectively and serve our clients in the way they deserve.

Trust is the foundation of strong relationships, yet it’s noticeably absent from our culture. Over the last few decThe normalizing of digital relationships has masked the weakness ades, nearly every measure of trust has declined. This trust of many professionals’ face-to-face relationship-building skills. deficit and our professional relationship woes have grown in tandem with the rise of the internet, and they’ve crept in so insidiously we may not have realized it was happening.

Relationship Building, continued on Page 14

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AUGUST 2021 a pandemic election was not in their plans.

Control The Narrative Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canadians will be heading to the polls on September 20.

The federal campaign will be 36 days, the shortest possible election period under federal law.

When asked why an election was called while Canada is still in the middle of a pandemic, Trudeau responded to reporters as follows: “The decisions your government makes right now will define the future your kids and grandkids grow up in. So in this pivotal, consequential moment, who wouldn’t want a say? Who wouldn’t want their chance to help decide where our country goes from here? Canadians need to choose how we finish the fight against COVID-19 and build back better.”

After announcing the call for an early election, Trudeau faced a series of questions from reporters about why he called the vote after he and his caucus stated multiple times

“Canadians deserve their say, and that’s exactly what we are going to give them. After making it through 17 months of nothing like we’ve ever experienced, Canadians deserve to choose what the next 17 months, what the next 17 years and beyond, will look like. And I know that we have the right plan, the right team, and the proven leadership to meet that moment. So to the other parties: Please explain why you don’t think Canadians should have the choice? Why you don’t think that this is a pivotal moment?”

Loaded questions indeed. While Canadian businesses and individuals grapple with the still-present challenges brought on by Covid, the Liberals felt the time was now to try to seize a majority.

Just weeks earlier, the Canadian government announced it extended its pandemic recovery benefits until October 23, 2021. The following programs are still ongoing: 1. The Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) 2. The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).

3. The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) 4. The Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) 5. The Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) In the same week these measures were extended, the Consumer Price Index posted that inflation rose above of three per cent, prompting the Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem to write an opinion piece in The Financial Post.

Macklem reminded Canadians he remains firmly committed to keeping inflation under control, citing higher inflation on base effects and supply chain issues, “All these factors have driven prices up, but none of them are likely to last. So, we shouldn’t overreact to these temporary price increases,” he noted.

Macklem concluded, “The message I want to leave with you is this: The Bank of Canada remains firmly committed to keeping inflation low, stable and predictable. Even with the gyrations caused by the pandemic, inflation has averaged pretty close to target through the past few years to today.

You can be confident that we will keep the cost of living under control as the economy reopens.”

It’s a bit of a tone-deaf comment given home prices have accelerated nationally by 24 per cent over the past 12 months, which happens to be the quickest pace of home price inflation ever. More concerning is why the head of our central bank is writing opinion pieces in major newspapers telling everyone that inflation is nothing to worry about.

Control the narrative, control the people. Inflation expectations remain a key threat to the central bank’s spending, and losing control severely jeopardizes the federal governments ambitious future spending plans.

Maybe this is why an early election was called.

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We’re social: August 2021 | IMPRINT CANADA

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IMPRINT CANADA

Supplier News

THE MARKETINGJuly/August AND INFORMATION SOURCE FOR IMPRINTABLE PRODUCTS 2021 - Volume 28, Issue 4

S&S Canada Consolidates Warehousing Operations in Toronto Through New Distribution Centre Perpetuating its initial strategy to offer deeper product offering to its customers across the country, S&S Canada opened its brand-new 280,000 square foot distribution centre in Toronto on August 16, 2021. This new warehouse combines S&S operations previously based in both Montreal and an older facility in Toronto, offering three times more space and the latest technologies in just one building.

“Because of Toronto’s central location, we’ve been working hard to group our eastern warehousing operations in the city,” said S&S Chief Operating Officer Frank Myers. “With this new building, we will more than double the amount of inventory we can distribute across our Canadian network while also extending our one-day shipping zone throughout all of Eastern Canada. Customers can also expect a more streamlined ordering experience as this expansion will allow us to improve our inventory stocking rates, significantly increase our brand and SKU offering, reduce split shipments and improve order accuracy.”

Located in the north of Toronto, just a few kilometres away from the existing facility, the new building features

LED lighting, automated conveyance, and wire guidance for forklifts. It was also chosen with S&S’s continued growth in mind: 75 new jobs will be created with this opening, bringing the total Eastern warehouse workforce to 200 employees.

The company’s corporate headquarters remains in Montreal, but will be relocated to a new office in a more dynamic part of the neighbourhood. All 25 corporate employees will be making the move, including the customer service, marketing, accounting, and sales divisions. This space was chosen to ensure S&S Canada’s long-term expansion, since the building could welcome up to 50 more employees.

“Taken together, these moves represent an exciting period of development for S&S Canada and our valued clients,” said Myers. “We really feel like we’re nicely positioned for the future.”

The company’s new addresses are as follows: New Toronto Distribution Centre: 6675 Langstaff Road, Woodbridge, ON L4H 4WP New Montreal Headquarters: 7400 Boulevard des Galeries d’Anjou, Anjou, QC H1M 3M2

Canada Sportswear Gifts 200,000 Reusable Masks to GTA Charities Canada Sportswear Corp. has gifted 200,000 washable, reusable masks to charitable organizations across the Greater Toronto Area in the fight against Covid-19.

The Canadian-owned and operated company has sold 14 million masks since the onset of the pandemic and wanted to share this vital personal protective equipment with those in vulnerable environments.

Four agencies will benefit from this donation: Eastview

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IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

Neighbourhood Community Centre, Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter, Sandgate Women’s Shelter of York Region, and Seeds of Hope Foundation.

This initiative is another example of Canada Sportswear’s commitment to helping the community, guided by the company’s principle of “Proudly Canadian, serving Canadians – We are here for you.”

ONLINE EDITION

www.imprintcanada.com/magazine

NEWS 1

RE-ASSES YOUR STRATIGIC ASSUMPTIONS CONTʼD PG 10

1

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING FOR LEADERSHIP CONTʼD PG 14

4

SUPPLIER NEWS

6

HOW TO GENERATE EMAIL FIRST-CLASS ENGAGEMENT

8

SIX TIPS FOR MORE WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING

24

COMPANY PROFILE: BIG OVEN TEES

NEW PRODUCT SPOTLIGHTS 18 22 28

WEARABLES SHOWCASE ADVERTISING SPECIALTY SHOWCASE SUPPLIES & EQUIPMENT SHOWCASE

PUBLISHER

Tony Muccilli : tony@imprintcanada.com

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Adriano Aldini : news@imprintcanada.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Adriano Aldini, Jill J. Johnson, Marc Gordon, Andrew Sobel

Imprint Canada is published six times per year

by Tristan Communications Ltd. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in part or in whole without the consent of the copyright owner. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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News {Business Development}

Six Tips On How To Generate First-Class Email Engagement

By Adriano Aldini, Imprint Canada

Do you want to write emails that get opened, read, and responded to?

There is one tool you have that can determine whether your message goes into a prospect’s “Junk” folder to being opened immediately; that tool is your subject line.

Your subject line is one of the most important parts of your sales email. Every metric - from open rates onwards - depends on how well your email subject line is written.

Once you understand what makes a subject line engaging, you’ll be able to produce them with ease and see your email engagement take off. So, what makes a good subject line anyway?

from, talk to, and buy from other people, not from big brands and companies.

You can have the most personal subject line, but if the email is sent from a strange email address, your email will end up in the trash, or worse, marked as spam.

1. KISS

The acronym in this case is “Keep it Short & Simple.”

The ideal length of an email subject line varies between mobile, desktop, and tablet devices, so you must keep this in mind as you write your subject lines for your sales email.

Generally speaking, the maximum subject line is about 60 characters long before it gets cut off by the email provider. A subject line of 41 characters or less ensures that each word will appear on a recipient’s desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.

2. Get Personal

Including the prospect’s name is good move to enhance open rates. Keep in mind that where you’re sending the email from is also extremely important because people want to hear

Every metric - from open rates onwards - depends on how well your email subject line is written.

The quality of your email’s subject line will dictate engagement

The first two things people look at in their inbox are the subject line and the sender’s name. Use a familiar name. If possible, send the email from a real person. In a world of endless spam and email bots, personalizing your sender address breaks through the inbox clutter.

Avoid sending your sales emails from a generic address like sales@thiscompany.com. For example, ‘Steve from Eclipse Media’ works well because the reader will recognize the company and the name adds a personal touch.

3. Always Deliver Value

This is what it’s all about; how are you delivering value? Do you offer a product or service that the prospect has been looking for? Any deliverable that offers value to the recipient are angles to consider including in your subject line.

4. Make it Interesting

People judge whether or not to open your email based on your subject line. Making the subject line interesting could mean a number of things depending on your recipient and respective audience, so use this brief list to find an angle that you think your prospect might care about.

• A recent news story or statistic about their industry • A question about a project they just started or finished • An ask for their help The key to each of these angles is this: none of them are about you and what you have to sell! You’ll have plenty of time to pitch your product in the body of the email and on future calls, but the primary goal of your subject line is to get the prospect to click, read more, and decide if they’re interested enough to respond or take action.

5. Try To Create Urgency

Time sensitivity is a powerful tool. There is a benefit in knowing that they could miss out if they don’t at least see what the limited-time-only promotion is. Be careful not to rely on this all the time. You could risk annoying your prospect with constant urgent requests.

6. Avoid Spammy Emails at All Costs

A sure-fire way to annoy prospective clients is to send an email with a subject line that doesn’t live up to the actual product, or service you are trying to pitch. Feigning urgency or value where there isn’t any, is the best way to being flagged as spam.

Incorporate these tips and watch your engagement rate with prospecting emails improve.

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News {Business Development}

Six Ways to Encourage Word of Mouth Marketing

By Marc Gordon

Long before the days of social media, word of mouth was the go-to for sharing and learning valuable information.

Difficult to measure, almost impossible to track, but incredibly influential, word of mouth (WOM) marketing which is one of the oldest and still most effective forms of marketing.

Here are some stats according to a study by AC Nielsen on WOM marketing that should make you take notice: • 92 per cent of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over other forms of marketing.

• WOM generates two times more sales than paid advertising.

• People are 4 times more likely to buy a product or service when referred by friends.

While WOM cannot be controlled, it can be influenced and encouraged. Here are six tips to boost your WOM marketing!

1. Offer deals and incentives

Depending on the type of business you have, you may be able to create opportunities for your regular customers to bring guests at a discount – or even free. You would then offer incentives to both the current customers and the potential new ones.

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The goal is to make current customers feel appreciated, welcome new ones in a non “selling” environment, and reward both for giving you their business.

2. Be active in your community

Community can mean different things to different businesses. What is key is being active in a way that is about giving and making a positive difference.

A snow removal company that plows the parking lot of a women’s shelter, a dentist that performs free treatment for an inner city school, or a consultant that gives free advice to immigrants looking to start a business are just some examples. These kinds of activities make you feel good, get you noticed and get people talking about what it is your company does for other people in their sphere.

3. Encourage sharing through social media

If your business provides a visual product (like T-shirts) or service (like decorating), be sure to encourage your customers to share their interaction with you through their social media channels.

Offer to take their photo with your product, then encourage them to share it on their network. It will have greater reach and influence than you posting yourself, and you can re-share their WOM to your audience as well.

4. Share customer reviews and testimonials

There’s a reason they call it “social proof ”. Testimonials help reassure the performance, quality and/or value of your claims and make customers feel more comfortable doing business with you. In fact 79 per cent of people trust testimonials and online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

5. Host events

Grand openings, BBQ’s, holiday parties, these are all great excuses to welcome your friends, customers and community into your world. It can be open to the public, or an industry specific event. Either way, encourage everyone to bring a guest and to spread the word.

You can take things a step further and ask each guest to bring an unwrapped toy or a non perishable food item as a charitable donation to your cause of choice. And don’t forget to invite the local press to boost community awareness of your initiatives.

6. Give thanks

Be sure to ask new customers, clients, and patients how they found you. Not only will this show you what forms of marketing work best - and where you should be putting more focus on - it will also let you know who to thank for referrals.

Be sure to send out a thank you card and depending on the industry, a small gift.

About the Author: Marc Gordon is a recognized marketing expert, speaker and strategist. His articles appear in over 200 publications worldwide. Visit marcgordon.ca or his online show at marctv.net for more business tips.

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News {Business Development} Strategy, continued from Page 1

When assessing the assumptions that you use for your decision making, there are several critical flaws that you must avoid. These assumption flaws include internal beliefs based on incorrect information or errors in how the assumptions have been developed.

Most leaders believe that they already know the most critical assumptions that impact their organization.

Typically, if you have been working in your industry for a long time, it is likely that you have a strong point of view about how things should be done and your own expectation of what your customers need.

Yet all too often, it becomes easy to get locked into a belief paradigm that causes you to stop paying attention to what is really happening in the evolving world around you.

Customer expectations change. Budgets and priorities shift.

Competitors make aggressive moves. Tactics that previously worked well are no longer getting the same response from your customers. If this sounds like your situation, then it is the time to reassess your assumptions.

and how you perceive the potential impact of this information. As a result, it becomes easy to minimize the impact of changing external forces.

This is especially challenging when you are busy dealing with many the pressures of the responsibilities of your day job. It is easy to lose sight of the external environment around you. You assume that everything is staying the same or will be going back to normal. But yet, after coming through the intensity of a period of economic volatility, it is essential to consider the true impact of those market changes on your business or organization.

Make sure you have more than just a superficial understanding of the issues at hand. Review your strategic assumptions from outside your own paradigm of perspective so you can better navigate the complex variables impacting your customers and their decision-making processes.

Ensuring that your team also has a comprehensive understanding of the potential impact of complex external forces that affect your enterprise will help them be better stewards of your organization’s future.

Review Your Strategic Assumptions

Gaining A Deeper Understanding

Assumption Flaws

Set aside time to fully re-assess all of the assumptions you use. This will help you develop strategies that leverage new opportunities offered by changing trends impacting your industry. It will also provide you with new insight to help you better anticipate the potential impact of these changes and others you may need to consider.

Stepping back to determine if the critical strategic assumptions you are using for your decision criteria will also afford you with an opportunity to identify changes that need to be made before these new or emerging trends wreak havoc on your enterprise’s future financial stability or longterm viability.

The prism used for how you view the external world creates a bias in how you interpret the information you receive

When you are operating in a complex economic environment, a deeper understanding is required of the complexity of issues that affect your decision making. Re-assessing your assumptions encourages you to ask the hard questions about the market forces influencing your company. It also reexamines your assumptions about your customers in terms of both their decision criteria and what triggers their purchasing behavior.

Reviewing your assumptions also ensures that the most critical questions about your future are discussed well in advance of them impacting your bottom line. This requires your ability to realistically assess how the influence of these other factors impact your situation. This effort provides opportunities to deepen your value to your current and prospective customers.

It is imperative to consider how the assumptions you are currently using may be distorting your situation and undermining your ability to make better long-range decisions.

Re-evaluating your assumptions with an objective perspective will help you identify the shifts you need to make and in turn, the insight you need to obtain to move your decision making forward in the most effective manner.

Re-assessing your assumptions encourages you to ask the hard questions about the market forces influencing your company. this information needs to be continually updated. The most critical factor that determines how rapidly you can get clarity is grounded in the quality of the assumptions that you use to evaluate your decision options.

We must become even more observant to stay on top of evolving trends. Those shifts and changes can fundamentally alter the viability of our assumptions. As a result, we need to continually update our understanding of what is impacting the decisions we make.

Good business decision makers are always willing to assess how changing assumptions can benefit their bottom line or create new revenue streams. You have to monitor data to shake out the evolving changes that are not obvious on a macro view. This takes discipline and effort.

Final Thoughts

Reassessing your assumptions about the future will make you a better strategic thinker and give you deeper insight into how your marketplace needs are likely to change.

Encourage your trusted advisors and key employees to help you challenge the assumptions you currently use in your organization for decision-making.

Be on the lookout for emerging trends and how they may affect your enterprise. Those emerging concerns or challenges that are on the horizon might affect your decision-making approaches. It is always safe to assume that something is going to change.

Tactics that previously worked well are no longer getting the same response from your customers. If this sounds like your situation, then it is the time Developing Better Assumptions to reassess your assumptions.

About the Author: Jill J. Johnson, MBA, is the President and Founder of Johnson Consulting Services, a highly accomplished speaker, an award-winning management consultant, and author of the bestselling book Compounding Your Confidence. Jill helps her clients make critical business decisions and develop market-based strategic plans for turnarounds or growth. Her consulting work has impacted more than $4 billion worth of decisions. She has a proven track record of dealing with complex business issues and getting results. For more information on Jill J. Johnson, please visit www.jcs-usa.com.

Good assumptions are based on accurate information and

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News {Business Development} Relationship Building, continued from Page 1

The ‘normalizing’ of digital relationships has masked the weakness of many professionals’ face-to-face relationshipbuilding skills. This is especially true for younger professionals, who have grown up on a steady diet of online ‘friends’ and connections, and are less schooled in the art of face-toface relationship-building.

The ability to build trusted professional relationships should never be left to chance. We must get intentional about learning and practicing the attitudes and skills that allow us to build the 15-25 trusted relationships that matter to our careers. (Contrast this to the hundreds of superficial online connections people seem obsessed with racking up.)

Through 20 years of research and extensive experience working with over 50,000 professionals, I have identified nine attitudes and skills that allow us to build solid, trustbased relationships.

In my master class, I teach people how to cultivate them and I provide very specific tips for implementing them in day-to-day relationships.

You can start working on boosting your relationship IQ by focusing on these nine attitudes and skills:

1. GENEROSITY

If trust is the universal lubricant for relationships, generosity is the fuel that gets them started and keeps them growing.

I describe this as the willingness to give freely of your time, expertise, experience, and social capital. In other words, it’s not just about giving money (which is what most of us think of); it’s often about being willing to forgive someone who has hurt you or being happy for other people’s good fortunes.

Most of us aren’t as generous in practice as we’d like to be because we have a “me” focus. Sometimes this is due to a lack of role models or it could be from a fear of being taken advantage of. We need to strengthen our generosity muscle by taking small, daily steps.

For example: Think about someone in your professional network who has experienced a success or positive development in their life. Speak to them in person, call them up, or write a short note (ideally, not an email or text). Express your admiration and how excited you are for them.

2. CURIOSITY

This attitude helps you learn about people, giving you a better basis to build rapport with them. It drives you to understand what’s important to others. The more you learn from those around you, the more proprietary knowledge you’ll accumulate (i.e., stuff you can’t Google!). Curiosity tends to atrophy as we age—but it doesn’t have to. We can intentionally initiate and cultivate it.

For example, when you talk to people you’re trying to form trusted professional relationships with, ask them about their goals, aspirations, and dreams. What have been the most important experiences in their lives and turning points in their careers? If you feel uncomfortable doing this, start by practicing on a family member or friend first.

3. RAPPORT

Rapport is a harmonious, sympathetic connection between you and the other person. It requires effective communication and an understanding of each other’s feelings and ideas. You can’t manipulate others into feeling rapport by, say, simply mirroring body language. People see through such tricks. To create rapport, you must come across as trustworthy, competent, and likeable—and all three qualities require preparation and being present and human.

There are things you can do to project all three qualities.

When people trust each other, everything is easier: You can work together faster and more efficiently, because you don’t need to check up on each other all the time. You can express yourself to others without fear.

14 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

Find commonalities and similarities, as this increases your likeability. So does walking in and thinking, I like this person—studies show it makes them like you. Ask questions and show an active interest in the other person, which increases trust. And of course, nothing demonstrates competence like being prepared and having a well-developed point of view on the topic you’re discussing.

4. POWER QUESTION

The CEO of a large, global corporation once said to me: “I can always tell how experienced someone is by the quality of their questions and how well they listen. Good questions are far more powerful than quick, easy answers.”

Power questions dramatically improve the quality of your conversations and help build stronger relationships. Of course not every question is a power question.

For starters, a power question is open-ended: Not, “Is it a priority to bring new skills into your department?,” but rather, “In your department, how will your mix of employee skills need to change in the future?” It typically surprises the other person—so don’t fall back on clichés like “What keeps you up at night?” Instead ask, “What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on right now?” A power question gets you focused on the right issues, helps you understand the other person’s agenda, and brings the strategic context and higherlevel goals into the conversation.

5. CARING THROUGH EMPATHY

Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, and also imagine what they are thinking and feeling. It’s a fundamental skill that enables us to walk in the other person’s shoes. The four main foundations of empathy are an interest in others, self-awareness, humility, and listening skills.

We may not think of listening as an expression of empathy, but it absolutely is. And most of us have bad listening habits: rushing people through conversations, finishing their sentences, faking paying attention. We check emails while on the phone with them. All these elements tell people, “I don’t care about you or what you’re saying.”

6. DEVELOPING TRUST

Trust reduces the inevitable frictions inherent in working with others, the way oil keeps a car engine running smoothly. It enables the creation of deep, resilient connections at work and at home. When people trust each other, everything is easier: You can work together faster and more efficiently, because you don’t need to check up on each other all the time. You can express yourself to others without fear.

Collaborating becomes a pleasant experience. In a high-trust workplace, you need fewer rules and controls.

To build trust, demonstrate that you are always acting with the other person’s best interests in mind. You need to meet commitments, keep confidences, and answer questions without hedging. Make these qualities tangible by sometimes doing something for the other person that is clearly not in your interest, and telling people quickly and openly about mistakes or bad news. Prepare carefully for meetings to showcase competence.

On the other hand, trust-busting behaviours include criticizing others who aren’t in the room, exaggerating, and always ensuring that your needs are met first.

7. AGENDA HELPING

A person’s agenda is their top three to five priorities, needs, or goals. It’s what is really important to them over the next six to 12 months. We all have both a professional and a personal agenda. When you understand a person’s agenda, you can add value by helping them meet their goals—by sharing ideas or introducing them to others who can help. You may even anticipate or help shape their future agenda.

Anticipating what may impact someone in the future is extraordinarily valuable. It’s the difference between saying, “Here’s an idea to help you climb your career ladder faster and better,” and, “I think your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.”

You’re looking ahead and giving them the big picture. But be careful: You must be certain you understand what they’re focused on today. Don’t be one of those boors who tells people what to do without first getting to know them!

The ability to build trusted professional relationships should never be left to chance. We must get intentional about learning and practicing the attitudes and skills that allow us to build the 15-25 trusted relationships that matter to our careers.

8. INFLUENCE

Simply put, influence is the power to change or affect someone. If you have it, you’ll be able to convince others of your ideas and proposals and gain support for your goals.

The foundation of influencing is having strength of character and depth of knowledge that commands others to listen to you and follow your advice. This is your “pull” strategy. The second part of the influence process involves “pushing” via the use of persuasion strategies.

There are seven main persuasion strategies: self-interest, rational appeal, emotional appeal, consistency, reciprocity, social proof, and scarcity. All are valid in certain scenarios. I typically use the first three in combination, as they work well in most situations. Then I may draw from the other four to supplement these three. I tend to avoid scarcity—I find that it’s close to scaremongering. Appealing to self-interest and rational analysis is more powerful.

9. RELATIONSHIP HEALING

Your ability to help resolve conflicts and heal broken relationships is paramount to your own well-being and those around you. Unresolved conflicts will fester, fueling anger and resentment. That’s why it’s crucial to be able to hold healing conversations. But first you must be able to forgive the other person.

Forgiveness is often misunderstood; it doesn’t mean that what the other person did is now okay or that you absolve them. Rather, true forgiveness is when you drop your demand to make them pay for what they did—you stop seeking revenge and compensation. This means you absorb the pain in the short-term, but then enjoy long-term peace.

The alternative is to try to punish the person, perhaps by badmouthing them to everyone or somehow sabotaging him or her. If you don’t let go of your anger and resentment, you’ll become someone who is perpetually angry at everyone and stuck in a spiral of unending retaliation.

Becoming a master at developing and nurturing strong, trusted relationships may be the best decision you’ve ever made. It can impact every area of your life, both professional and personal, in a profound way.

Life is complicated and it’s easy for us to put off relationship development until ‘things settle down’ or we have more free time. The problem is, that day never comes. This is how people lose touch, and how relationships atrophy. You have to carve some time out of your schedule, put it on your to-do list, and commit to making it happen. Relationships rarely stay the same—they either deepen and grow, or they wither on the vine.

About the Author: Andrew Sobel, creator of masterclass Building Relationships That Matter, is a leading authority on the strategies and skills required to build the relationships that truly matter to your career. He is the most widely published author in the world on this topic, having written eight acclaimed, best-selling books on developing enduring professional relationships. His books have sold over 250,000 copies and have been translated into 21 languages.

Andrew’s programs have been delivered in 52 countries for many of the world’s most successful companies. These include public corporations such as Citibank, Cognizant, Experian, Hess, UBS, and Lloyds Banking Group, as well as private firms such as PwC, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bain & Company, Grant Thornton, Deloitte, and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Andrew spent the first 14 years of his career with Gemini Consulting (formerly the MAC Group), where he became a senior vice president and country chief executive officer. He lived in Europe for over a decade and speaks four languages. For over 20 years he has led his own international consulting firm. He graduated from Middlebury College with honors and earned his MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School. Andrew can be reached at www.AndrewSobel.com.

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Lightweight Performance Jacket

Effortless Style in Gildan's Softstyle® Tee The comfort and contemporary styling of the new Gildan Softstyle® 980 Adult Lightweight T-Shirt make this 100% ring spun cotton piece a musthave. Featuring shoulder to shoulder tape for added durability, this style is available in sizes S-3XL and offers a palette of 14 shades, ranging from solids to heathers, making individual expression easy.

This sleek and modern lightweight jacket with a trendy rib collar is a must-have for the fall season. The San Diego (Men’s FW3027 / Women’s FW3029) is ideal for temperatures between 8°C to -5°C and is made with waterproof fabric. Complete with your choice of decorations. Available in sizes XS-4XL (Men) & XS-3XL (Women) in Black, Navy and Khaki.

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New Brushed Flannel Shirt

Fruit of the Loom ICONIC® Unisex T-Shirts With unisex styles and sizes ranging from youth to 4XL, the Fruit of the Loom ICONIC® ring-spun tees are the ideal program tee - making it easy to outfit a large group for events, organizations, retail, etc.

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Made with ring-spun softness that your customers will notice and fine-gauge yarns you will appreciate, there is no mistaking the ICONIC® tees.

Canada Sportswear's stylish new Brushed Flannel Shirt (#S04505) is made from 100% cotton flannel brushed both sides for soft handfeel. Features include a two-piece point collar, a button front, a patch pocket on wearer’s left chest, long sleeves with buttoned cuff, a curved hem and back shoulder yoke. Also available in Ladies' version, style #S04506.

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Performance Now in Charcoal AJM is adding the colour “Charcoal” to AC0007, a premium A-Class cap that allows for a unique blend of function and fashion.

Made from a polyester & spandex weave that enhances moisture wicking properties, this performance fabric sports a unique diamond textured pattern. A self-cloth back strap with velcro closure allows for a very comfortable fit. It now comes in a total of 6 assorted colourways. For an alternative fitted premium A-Flex version, (S/M, L/XL) in the same fabric, see AC5014.

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CUSTOMIZABLE FACE MASKS EVERYDAY GREAT VALUE

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18 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

WEARABLES

Stylish Full Zip Hoodie Canada Sportswear's Full Zip Hoodie (L00755) is a great layering piece. Constructed from a 60% Cotton/40% Polyester blend with brushed back french terry. Features include a hidden pocket under the kangaroo pocket with hook and loop closure, an adjustable drawcord in hood, double layer self fabric cuff and hem and a YKK zipper. Also available in ladies' #L00756.

Please contact Canada Sportswear, Tel: 416-740-8020 or visit www.canadasportswear.com

Stylish Adult Tri-Blend T-Shirt New tri-blend t-shirts for men and women enhances the Gildan 2022 line. 6750 and 6750L Gildan Softstyle® Adult and Ladies’ Tri-Blend T-Shirt are two exciting additions made from an ultra-soft blend of 50% polyester / 25% cotton / 25% rayon.

For added style, the 6750L features a flattering curved bottom. The high stitch density of the fabric creates a smoother printing surface and modern black tear away labels make customization easy.

The Adult Tri-blend T-shirt is available in a wide size range of S–3XL and ladies’ companion style in sizes LXS-L2XL and up to 10 popular shades.

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V-neck Sweater

Russell Athletic Dri-Power Fleece

The Stargard (Men’s FW3008 / Women’s FW3005) is a fall layering essential. A modern classic, this fine gauge v-neck sweater is sure to make a great impression. Made from 60% cotton and 40% acrylic, the Stargard is offered in 4 trendy fall colours. Choose from an array of decoration techniques to complete your look. Available in sizes XS-3XL.

Russell Athletic's Dri-Power fleece collection features moisture-wicking technology that keeps you dry, comfortable and fresh throughout the day. Made with three-end fleece construction, our sweatshirts provide a smoother print surface for branding and are suitable for sideline and fan-wear programs.

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The Value Cap AJM introduces 0A630M to their extensive line of promotional headwear and apparel. Made of acrylic, in AJM’s popular Constructed Full-Fit shape, the cap has buckram laminated front panels with Pro-stitch, a pre-curved peak with 8 rows of stitching and sports a self cloth back strap with velcro closure. A perfect combination of quality, this cap is available in black or navy and ready for immediate shipping from all 3 Canadian warehouses.

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Women's Tentree Bamone Sweatpant With a clean, tapered leg, comfy-but-not-baggy fit and environmentally friendly fleece, the Bamone sweatpants redefine leisurewear. The Light Space Dye is made from 60% Organic cotton 40% Recycled polyester textured fleece with brushed back. The Dark Space Dye is made from 76% Organic cotton 24% Recycled polyester textured fleece with brushed back.

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Constructed Poly Serge Flat Bill Cap KC Caps is showcasing style # 6819 - the Constructed Poly Serge Flat Bill Cap. Made from 100% Poly Serge Twill, this contemporary cap features a firm buckram, pro-stitching, a poly snap closure, and a flat bill with a trendy snapback closure design. Perfect for embroidery, this cap is available in a vast array of colourways to match any promotional programs.

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20 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

Fine knit beanie This fine knit solid beanie is a fall and winter wardrobe go-to, keeping you warm during outdoor activities.

The Lasalle (FP556) is made from 100% acrylic and is available in a wide range of 16 colours. Ideal for embroidered and knitted logos. One size fits most.

The new 880 Gildan Softstyle® Ladies T-Shirt offers a stylish semi-fitted contoured silhouette that makes this piece a fashion favourite ladies will love. The super-soft 7.5-ounce lin/yd fabric drapes the body beautifully. Available in 11 colours, including solids and heathers, in sizes LS-L2XL.

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Gildan Long Sleeve Hooded T-Shirt

New Fleece Sweat Pant Canada Sportswear is showcasing its New Fleece Sweat Pant (#P00515). Constructed from an 80% cotton, 20% polyester blended fleece (295 gsm), features of these comfy pants include an elastic waistband with adjustable drawcord and welt pockets.

Also available in Ladies' version. style #P00516.

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The new 987 Gildan Softstyle® Adult Long Sleeve Hooded T-Shirt makes an ideal choice for cooler days.

Made with 100% combed ring spun cotton for a super comfortable feel and the high stitch density fabric creates a smooth printing surface. In addition, the single ply hood makes it easy for decoration. Sizes S-2XL are available in 7 colours, including attention-getting heathers with neon yellow or dark grey draw cords.

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Midweight Performance Jacket

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JERZEES Nublend® Collection This collection brings together style and casual comfort. It resists piling and shrinkage with high-stitch density for a smooth printing canvas.

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Sublimation Blanks

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August 2021 | IMPRINT CANADA 21

New 8-piece Personal Cutlery Set

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DezineCorp is now offering an 8 piece Personal Cutlery Set (style M9988SS). This eco-friendly alternative to disposable cutlery comes in a lightweight case that is biodegrable and contains an 8 piece set of stainless steel cutlery. Cutlery includes: 1 knife, 1 fork, 1 spoon, 1 set of chopsticks, 1 straight straw,, 1 bent straw and a straw cleaning brush. Decorate the case with your printed logo and you are ready to go!

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ClassicSuede SeminarPad Journal Books is showcasing the ClassicSuede SeminarPad. This 5.5”x8.5” booklet features flexible, wraparound, paper covers, available in 4 colours (Black, White, Tan, and Sand). Includes 1-colour foil imprint up to 16” square. 100 sheets of 60# ruled paper. Perfect-bound spine.

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Angora Ceramic Mug DezineCorp is showcasing its ‘Angora’ ceramic mug. The ‘Angora’ (style C1500) is a 14oz/ 414ml classic ceramic mug with a matte finish exterior and glossy interior pop of colour. Available in 6 stylish colour options and individually gift boxed in our ‘Ripple’ gift box, the Angora is the perfect mug choice for your next brand event.

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Arctic Zone® Titan Deep Freeze® Cooler This 20-Quart Roto Cooler features Microban® antimicrobial protection and is constructed with thick polyurethane insulation that maximizes ice retention for up to 4 days! This cooler includes an oversized drain, anti-skid feet and an integrated fish ruler.

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22 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

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News {Business PROFILE}

Big Oven Tees: Bringing on-demand fullfilment to the promotional products industry In only two short years, Big Oven Tees has evolved from proposition Big Oven Tees is able to offer, centres around piece, six-piece, no colour limits, and best of all, your cusconcept to execution in their revolutionary quest of bring- its technology. Say for instance you had an order for 200 tomers are not tying their capital up in skids of product ing on-demand fulfilment to the imprintable apparel and shirts which needed to be shipped to 200 different address- that you are going to have work through. promotional products industry. es, you could submit that order with the addresses and Big “We allow businesses to build their product offerings “We have a vision for our industry where we see a mas- Oven Tees will fulfill it for you and blind ship with private and as they get converted to sales, you send it to us and we sive shift in the way in which personalizing is done,” says label or white label in mere days. fulfill it for you. It’s pass-through margins with no overBig Oven Tees CEO Sean Oakley. “What I mean by that “We’re basically our clients’ secret weapon,” says Oakley. head or cost to it,” says Oakley. Gone are the days where is the traditional ways of decorating in our industry you have to manage inventory or guessing what sizes involve minimums, art fees, and set-up fees for viryou need in the program for the upcoming year…all tually all orders; so if you have a client who runs a that work is gone. Essentially you provide your cussmall landscaping company and they want to order tomers with a program or catalogue with items for screen printed shirts for their staff for the season, the your fundraising or kids’ sports leagues, for example; client only really needs 10 pieces but they have to whether its caps or bags or jackets or shorts, et cetera order a run of 24 because of price and set-up fees...up and the parents order what they want and Big Oven until now that’s how the industry has been serviced,” Tees will produce it and ensure it gets to their address explains Oakley. in less than 10 business days.

Together with president Sasha Mitic, Big Oven “We are facilitating thousands of individual prints Tees’ new business model for the industry is based on a day that are then put into our production system a revolutionary value proposition which has already shipped all over Canada and the US,” he adds. been proven in the online retail space where robust The company does a fundraising program for a on-demand platforms are leveraged to facilitate cusreputable charity organization where people raise tomers buying one-off or personalized goods, and money by soliciting donations for achievements of where business owners partner with fulfilment compersonal physical goals, and if fundraisers hit certain panies that produce the orders for them on-demand. targets they’d get a free T-shirt or hoodie. The comGiven the on-demand model’s tremendous sucpany set up this program where size, colour and style cess in retail, there now are billion dollar platforms are picked on-demand and they’ve fulfilled more in this space powered by massive investors. “What than 5,000 unique prints as various individual fundwe saw is that this model applies to the imprint / raisers hit their respective milestones. Just a short promo and team sports industries,” notes Oakley. year ago, the organization ran a similar program and “We have presented this new-age service of onthey ordered an advance run of screen printed shirts; demand, quick turnaround, no art fees, no set-up they selected one style and printed thousands of fees, no minimums, with an all-in price for basically them and they ended up with a skid of extra printed any program.” tees they didn’t need and it lost money for them.

Oakley outlines a common scenario: Let’s say a “When we told them about the on-demand procompany has an ad budget for branded promotiongram they thought it was too good to be true, and al products to give-away or use as incentives. They what it’s done has actually grown their business and are used to ordering 50,000 T-shirts, it’s essentially expanded their fundraising; they’ve raised millions Clockwise from top left: Big Oven Tees embroidery production; a small sample of some of the innovative apparel decorating capabilities they offer; an on-demand a guessing game for sizes and quantities, and they of dollars because now they can offer more options fulfillment sample; Big Oven Tees production floor in one of their two facilities. will almost always be stuck with inventory when the without worrying about dead inventory or set-up program is up, and they have tied up precious capcosts,” explains Oakley. ital because they needed to source this product up front.

With a strong development team and a focus on autoAs the company continues to grow, Big Oven Tees is “The shift to on-demand that we offer changes this whole mation, the company has developed systems and user starting to secure larger run orders with promo compangame,” says Oakley. “It has taken time and effort to educate interfaces that streamline the on-demand process. ies, athletic associations and schools because of its technolcompanies that they don’t need to do that; we can fulfill in “We took the existing business model of the online retail ogy and competitiveness on a price point basis. The comsmaller chunks as you know what exactly you need.” world, converted it and presented it to the promotional pany offers a $5 DTG T-shirt which includes the cost of the It didn’t take very long for the successes to start piling imprint industry. Our development team has the ability shirt plus shipping in addition to creating a very friendly up; Big Oven Tees has partnered with some large promo- to develop Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to user-interface for our customers. tional distributors that have begun shifting much of their plug-in and connect with any user interface to push data “That’s our Cinderella story,” says Oakley, noting the business to on-demand fulfillment because they have seen into our systems. We definitely are constantly pushing the company continues to grow its scope which it feels will the immense value proposition. envelope on equipment and tech that allows us to be faster, cause a massive shift in the way the industry decorates and “We’ve taken this print on-demand model which has better and cheaper,” notes Oakley. personalizes goods. been proven for probably the past 10 years in another segThe company currently works with a mix of both disThe growth Big Oven Tees is realizing comes as more ment of the world of consumerism and we’ve brought it tributors and decorators as part of their client base. people realize how revolutionary the benefits really are. to the imprint industry. It’s a massive success already, it’s “Obviously the existing decorators are hesitant at first as Oakley admits that even some of their promo partners growing so quickly because we are really good at what we they think you may be trying to take their accounts which are still learning about the power and flexibility that ondo. Now we’re getting new inquiries essentially every day is not true; it’s about winning their confidence over,” he demand gives them. of the week,” says Oakley. said. “At the end of the day, they are including us in their “They come to us with an order of 1,000 shirts that their As an on-demand contract decorator for both dis- business decisions because of the capabilities and our customer needs and then they’ll stock it in their warehouse tributors and existing decorators, Big Oven Tees offers pricing is very aggressive for being on-demand and no- to use as they need. And we’re like: ‘No guys, let’s produce embroidery, heat printing and DTG embellishment as part run.” it as they need it, whether it be 50 each day or whatever the of its on-demand business model. The other massive value Big Oven Tees has partnered with decorators to become needs are.’” Big Oven Tees will create an ordering portal an extension of their manufacturing and inserting capabil- where they can order this program on a daily or weekly to decorators’ businesses where they never have to say basis and the customer pays as they actually need it, rather Given the on-demand model’s ities no to an order. “When someone comes in and requests than throwing all their marketing dollars at it at once. tremendous success in retail, a decorated sample of a water bottle or a gym bag or a As the company continues to grow and expand, Big T-shirt, hoodie or whatever it may be, there are set-up fees Oven Tees has firmly positioned themselves for the future, there now are billion dollar and restrictions on what you can do, but now with us there which they believe is on-demand. platforms in this space powered is none,” adds Oakley by massive investors.

Regardless of the size of your business, Big Oven Tees wants to help you service your customers; they can do one24 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

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• Print resolution of up to 2400 x 600 dpi.

• White Toner yields 7,000 pages.

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iColor 600 Features •White overprint and underprint capabilities in a single pass.

• Low cost, toner-based, heat-transfer solution for full-color, fluorescent and white printing.

• Includes iColor SmartCut Enhanced RIP and iColor ProRIP Transfer software.

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High Production Digital Transfer Printer The UniNet iColor 560 is the ultimate toner-based digital transfer printer with white overprint and underprint capabilities in a one single pass. It yields 7,000 pages+ of full-colour capabilities and its print resolution is up to 2400 x 600 dpi. The printer comes bundled with iColor ProRip and Exclusive iColor SmartCut enhanced RIP software. Joto offers various startup packages.

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Emblemtek's “Gold Work” Emblems Bullion Emblems are recognizable by the gold or silver metal wire that is used to create lettering, outline trim, fill patterns and border detailing within the designs of the emblems. Sometimes referred to as “gold work or hand embroidery” they are deeply textured and distinguished in appearance when sewn onto service uniforms, jacket blazers and other types of recreational or service club garments.

For more information visit https://emblemtek.com/products/bullion/

New Magnetic Bad Boy Bobbins • • • •

Cansew Inc. is showcasing the “BAD BOY” bobbins, which deliver superior performance and are now MAGNETIC as well. Bad Boy bobbins are now available in a magnetic, sideless version along with the traditional sided style.

For more information contact Cansew Inc. 1-800-361-7722 or info@cansew. ca. www.cansew.com

New Durkee EZ Frames From Gunold These frames have amazing stability due to their thickness and strength. You can easily embroider at 1,000 stitches per minute. The frames are constructed with 3/16" anodized aluminum to provide years of consistent, uninterrupted performance. Durkee products are known for their durability.

For more information, please visit www.gunold.ca

Melco's EMT16X Embroidery Machines Melco's new EMT16X embroidery machines are perfect for embroiderers of any experience level. With advanced thread feed technology, innovative new trimmer design, and improved software, Melco continues to lead the way in embroidery technology. Every new EMT16X embroidery machine includes training and unlimited telephone/email support for the life of the machine.

• • • •

Call 1-888-805-8631, for more information, or check out the new virtual machine demo at bit.ly/16xdemo

Full Line-Up of Supplies for the Active Embroiderer American & Efird Canada, Inc. carries supplies for the active embroiderer. Some of the products they carry are Cut-Away and Tear-Away in white and black; Groz-Beckert needles; ODIF Sprays; Kai Scissors and Bataboff bobbins.

Please contact 1-800-361-0787 or visit www.amefird.ca

Full Color Fusion® Transfers Full Color Fusion® combines high-definition digital printing with the strength, durability, and soft touch of Versatrans' uniquely formulated transfers. Get photo quality images with a full spectrum of colours, textures, and gradients. Images come ready to press on clear release film for easy placement on to garments. No outlines, no filled knockout spaces. The exact image you desire printed with high quality, durable inks.

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28 IMPRINT CANADA | August 2021

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