Bling is so 2009

With what happened in our economy bling went out and saving was in. How do you catch and keep clients or even reward your staff? Give them back that little bit of luxury they gave up! Luxury means different things to different people but "no matter what the price is, people like luxury to be something that they wouldn't buy every day, but something they love and treasure, where they can enjoy the experience of what it is," said M.H. Bartzen, corporate sales manager for New York based Godiva Chocolatier Inc.


Think about the feel of luxury and modern style, think about uniqueness, top of the line items. If you don't get items that people would want to spend hard earned money on, any program you do will not reach it's full potential. These products are of superior quality
, they are services that offer a quality of uniqueness and exclusivity, they are valued by people who are admired and respected and these products and services make owners and prospective owners feel special. So what exactly is luxury? Most people reply "It's not something I would usually budget for to purchase for myself but something I would love to have or experience."


Even more important than the luxury itself is the experience of being rewarded. When you give something to a client or employee they will remember, and it makes them feel good. The simple fact is, if you are not rewarding your staff they are not performing at their highest potential. If you are not making clients feel good and important, they are not spending all their money with you. And let's not forget, happy employees always equate to happy customers.

We are in a time that utilizes "stealth wealth". The once popular shopping bags covered in LVLVLV are now plain black bags. People are budgeting for family camping trips and not flights to Aruba. An expensive night out is now a quiet evening in. Your job is to get it right. You should always offer varying items or services so that everyone feels the pull of motivation on their belts and the fire of competition under their bottoms. You wouldn't want to hand your vegan client a gift card to Ruth Chris. You wouldn't put a $25,000 men's Ebel watch in a program at Mary Kay. Think long term and reward those goals to obtain lasting success.

There are of course key ingredients to making something like this work all the time. First you need a clear objective. What is it exactly that you are trying to achieve? Make sure what you want is realistic, fair and consistent. Objectives and qualifications have to be clearly communicated to your targets. If training is needed you have to factor that in as well. Determine appropriate and desirable incentive opportunities. Your awards should be compelling and relevant to the participants and when people win them, the awards should be presented as soon after the achievement as possible. You will also want to maintain ongoing communications about the program and get feedback from whoever you are targeting. Analyze the results to improve the program.

If you can answer the following questions you should consider yourself ready to start your luxury program. Do they (your target) feel that the program will be worth it? How can people actually gain from this system? Is this something we have enough safeguards for, or can people cheat the system? And, ask yourself, do you think this program will be positive in moving ahead and improving performances?

You may also want to consider that you should add or create changes to the program to keep people's attention but too much will confuse people. One thing that gets people really excited about a new program is adding a short term achievement goal to kick start it. When the staff or clients are thinking to themselves "Can I really win anything," and then find themselves awarded suddenly it gets them excited. This excitement will lead to momentum, keeping them pumped and prepared to excel beyond the normal everyday habits. Try to avoid common mistakes such as thinking "one size fits all." Your program should reflect the culture around you, either with the company you work within or your clients. You should not rely only on incentive programs to keep people happy and performing at capacity and above all else, don’t try to do too many things at once. Keep it focused!
If you do all of these things your program will be a success. You will have happy employees, thrilled clients, excitement surrounding you and improvement all around.

Now let's talk about what you can to do to find your luxury. When you are ready to add luxurious items to your program at any price point you may want to consider the following suppliers:
Bose: www.bose.com/incentives
Canon: www.usa.canon.com/corporategifts
Citizen Watch Co: www.citizenwatch.com
Godiva: www.godiva.com/business
Mavado Group Inc: www.movadoincentives.com
Omaha Steaks: www.osincentives.com
Sony: www.sony.com/motivation
Steuben: www.steuben.com
Tumi: www.tumispecialmarkets.com

History of the World? No. The History of Embroidery? Yes.



Before computers were affordable, most embroidery was completed by "punching" designs on paper tape that then ran through a mechanical embroidery machine. One error could ruin an entire design, forcing the creator to start over. This is how the term "punching" came to be used in relation to digitizing embroidery designs. 

Melco (a manufacturer of embroidery machines) created the first embroidery sample head for use with large Schiffli looms. This sample head became the first computerized embroidery machine marketed to home sewers. The sample head was needed to avoid sewing out the sample for the Schiffli loom and taking up valuable production time. Schiffli looms spanned several feet across and produced, lace, patches and large embroidery patterns. The economic conditions of the Reagan Years, coupled with tax incentives of the day for in-home business, helped propel Melco to the top of the market. At the Show of the America's in 1980 Melco showed the Digitrac. The original digitized design was produced at 6 times the size it would eventually be sewn out. The Digitrac consisted of a small computer, similar in size to today's Blackberry Devices, mounted on an X and Y axis on a large white board. It sold for $30,000. The original sample head with one needle sold for $10,000 with a 1" paper-tape reader, and 2 fonts. The digitizer would mark common points of the design to create elaborate fill and satin stitch combinations.



We have improved upon the digitizing
process for year going from something
that worked a little like this....





Melco is the result of an international distribution network formed by Randal Melton and His partner Bill Childs. Melco patented the ability to sew circles with a satin stitch, arched lettering generated from a keyboard. An operator would "digitize" the design into the computer using similar techniques to "punching", to create a 1" paper tape, or later to a floppy disk. This design would then be run on the machine. The machine would stitch out the digitized design. Wilcom enhanced this technology in 1982 with the introduction of the first multi-user system that allowed more than one person to be working on a different part of the embroidery process, streamlining production times.








...to a more efficiant process like this.



Brother International got into the embroidery business as a result of being contracted by several computerized embroidery companies to provide sewing heads. Their sewing heads were mounted and branded on several different brands of computerized embroidery machines. Adler was also a common choice. Later Tajima, from Japan, provided sewing heads that were capable of using multiple threads. Singer failed to remain competitive during this time. Saurer and Wilcom, Tajima, Brother, began to innovate. The early functionality of the computerized commercial systems were adapted and marketed to compaines such as Janome for home use.

As costs have fallen for computers, software, and embroidery machines, computerized machine embroidery has grown in popularity since the late 1990s. Many machine manufacturers sell their own lines of embroidery patterns. In addition, many individuals and independent companies also sell embroidery designs, and there are free designs available on the internet. We have come a long way since then.



 

 



 

What's the Deal with Digitizing?

Did you know that Digitizing or digitization is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal. Strictly speaking, digitizing means simply capturing an analo...g signal in digital form. For a document the term means to trace the document image or capture the "corners" where the lines end or change direction.

What this amazing process means for us at API is that we take your ideas, your logos and your images and turn them into a file made up completely of stitches. Each line, letter, fragment and detail are stitches that have been carefully placed to create the most perfect finished product for you as possible. This means that we are able to provide the most beautiful embroidery in the industry which we are proud to do in our own facility.

The fact about digitizing is that most is done overseas and as quickly as possible. API considers ourselves lucky to have not only an in house digitizer but someone that has truly been able to turn digitizing into an art form.

 

Each project is safe in his more than capable hands. Under his guidance, we take the extra time needed to create something perfect that meets your expectations. We take pride in giving you something you can be proud of. Considering the type of product you want your logo to rest on, discussing its placement, your thoughts, and finally creating something perfect together, API is proud to work with our clients to help them realize their dreams and goals. And in turn, you help us realize ours every time you call on us to do what we do best.