The “Top 5” Approach to Doubling Your Sales in 2025

.. and 1 Bonus Recommendation

Custom t-shirt shops, embroidery businesses and sign/novelty companies all spend so much time and mental energy actually MAKING the goods they sell, there’s rarely an opportunity work on Strategy.

And just printing or sewing your next order isn’t going to help you grow 2x next year, is it?

That’s why now is the perfect time to ask yourself a few questions that WILL help you improve your bottom-line next year, and in years to come!

Who are your Top 5 Customers?

You can answer this question in 2 different ways:

Who earned you the most REVENUE?
If your goal next year is top line based, then simply list your accounts by how much you sold to each customer.
Who made you the most PROFIT?
Make the same list of accounts as you did above, but this time sort by how much money you made from each customer.
Who brought you the most REFERRALS?
The people that connect you to new business are just as important as the ones who make the orders!

If you’re choosing #2, then make sure you account for labor and supply expenses as well. Some orders may look profitable, but the time and effort it takes to actually serve that client and produce those orders can vary.

Focus on these accounts

You may be surprised by what percentage of your business relies on these top 5 customers. Especially if they come back to you year after year.

And if they mean that much to your business, then they’ll be the perfect prospects for your competition as well.

But the good news is they’re also very likely to order MORE from you if you give them the opportunity! After all, you’ve already demonstrated you’re a great partner. You’ll just need a little focus and a few strategies in order to grow your business with them.

Here are a few strategies you can employ for growth and as self-defense against the competition:

Personal communications – before the year end, pick up the phone can call your best customers. Find out what they’re planning for 2025? How will THEY try to grow? How can you help/participate? Also ask for feedback on your company’s performance this year and how you can improve. Just having this conversation can inspire more business!
Offer Exclusive Perks or Discounts – this may be if they hit a certain volume level, or it could just be a rewards points system. Both have been demonstrated to increase sales and loyalty.

The 2X Growth Strategy

Prospect your Top 5 customers competition.

For example, if one of your best customers is an electrician with a few dozen technicians that you supply uniforms for – their competitors will all have exactly the same needs. And you know what it takes to serve them.

The same goes for sports teams, retail stores and anyone else in your top 5.

Imagine if you could duplicate just your top TWO customers?

That’s REAL GROWTH!

What are your 5 Top Products?

You can answer this question in the same way.

Make a list of the products you sold this year by Type.

Company polos
Directional signage
Custom t-shirts

If you are a niche business that only does printed tshirts, you might break that down into what type of tee – events? Branded? Retail? Corporate?

An embroidery only business might look at things like company polos, jackets, saddle blankets, football kits, gift items, etc.

Then sort them by the Revenues each type made you. Then by profits.

Focus on these Products

If you are like most business owners, you tend to take the order when you can get it.

But once you know what your most profitable products are, and understand what selling more of them will do for you business, you might be willing to take one more step…

Offer them on every new proposal – when someone requests a price quote, give them what they’re asking for but also offer an “upgrade” to what one of your focus products and explain the benefits of choosing it. Even if a small percentage chooses your focus products, you’re business will be better for it.

Sampling your BEST – retail shops should keep these focus products right up front. If you have the opportunity to send a sample, make sure it’s one of these!

The 2X Growth Strategy

In addition to offering your most profitable products to EVERYONE, review your Top 5 Customer list and make sure that every one of them is purchasing your most profitable items.

If they are not, print or embroider custom samples based on what they order from you now and take/deliver them personally if you can, Mail them if that’s not possible. And either way be prepared to talk them through the advantages.

Convincing a few of your Top 5 customers to purchase something even 10 or 20% more profitable can be a financial game changer!

What were your top 5 Marketing Strategies?

Now, simply having a website is not a strategy!

Here are a few sample strategies you may have employed:

Social Media Marketing
Email Marketing
Local SEO (Google Business)
Paid Ads
Events

List out the top 5 strategies or campaigns that you employed this year and list them in order of money spent. Then rank them by what you think were most effective.

This post on Meta and Instagram produced great inquiries for us in direct to film printing equipment – so you’ll see more of it from us in 2025.

If you have actual numbers, like sales from each of the Events you’ve participated in, or how many sales your paid ads have generated then that’s even better. But few businesses have a handle on the exact ROI from Marketing.

What you can do is gather the numbers you do have and estimate the others. Then do the obvious and drop the ones that aren’t producing and do more of what is!

The 2X Growth Strategy

The real gold in analyzing your marketing efforts is identifying commonly successful strategies that you have NOT maximized yet.

2 of the most common and virtually free ways to grow your business in this category are Email Marketing and Local SEO.

Email Marketing

You get tons of marketing emails.

They fill up everyone’s mailbox and seem like a bother. That’s why many small businesses don’t engage in email marketing, even to their current customers.

But there are basically ZERO big, successful businesses that don’t use it.

That’s because it WORKS!

In fact, one study suggests that for every pound spent on email marketing generated £38.33 in revenues.

local search

There are quite a few different parts of “SEO” for a local business. But the one you’ll likely get the most return on, that is actually FREE, is developing your Google My Business profile.

Your company “GMB” profile is what shows up on Google Maps, or doesn’t, when your potential customers are looking for what you do nearby.

A quick test to see how you’re doing is to search for what you do or the products you sell on your mobile phone.

When you search “custom tshirt printers”, “embroidery shops”, “sign printers” or whatever your primary business is you’ll see your or your competition show in the results. Focus your efforts here and watch your sales grow as your search rank does!

For more on opimising your Google Business Profile, read this article: How to Get Found Online for Free.

Of course, there’s now a guarantee that pursuing the Top 5 Strategy will double your business. But it will help you focus on growth and give you the most likely routes to getting to that 2X number or wherever you’re shooting for.

About YES Group

Since 1995, YES Group has been a trusted partner to businesses in the custom apparel and promotional products industries, offering a wide range of high-performance printing and embroidery equipment, as well as expert training and support. As a family-owned business, YES Group prides itself on delivering exceptional customer service and helping UK businesses thrive with innovative, reliable technology solutions.

For more information on how YES Group Expands DTF Printer Line with the Launch of the Prestige R1 A3, or to schedule a demonstration, contact:

YES Group
Sovereign House, Sovereign Way, Mansfield NG18 4LQ

Phone: 01623 863345
Email: sales@yesltd.co.uk
Website: https://www.yesltd.co.uk/

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