It goes the same way every year. October and November fill the schedule with holiday gifts, corporate year-end orders, and “we need these before the party on the 18th.” Presses run late, the art queue backs up, and everybody in the shop has their head down getting orders out the door. Then January shows up and the phone goes quiet.

Most decorators blame the calendar: budgets reset and nobody is thinking about shirts. Some of that is true. But a lot of the January slump is something we build ourselves in Q4 while we’re too busy to notice.

Here’s a step-by-step strategy to ensure setting up Q1 for success.

Step 1: Look Back Before You Look Ahead

Pull last year’s orders out of your shop management software and lay them out by customer and by month. A spreadsheet is fine. You’re looking for these things:

  • Who ordered in January, February, and March last year? Those are your likely reorders. Put a reminder on the calendar a few weeks before each one ordered last time.
  • Who ordered once and disappeared? Those are your win-back targets.
  • What events drove your Q1 orders? Spring sports and booster clubs, school spirit wear, corporate kickoffs and sales meetings, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, spring races and fundraisers, etc.
  • What industries order in Q1? An example would be the trades (think electricians, construction, and even healthcare). They’re hard on gear and order year-round.

One warning: Reorders often still need a reminder and proactive outreach to ensure you win the business.

Step 2: Build a Simple Forecast

Start with three numbers for Q1:

  1. Expected reorders: the customers from Step 1 and roughly what they spent last time.
  2. Your revenue goal for the quarter.
  3. The gap between the two.

That gap is what new business and win-backs must cover. Work backward: Using your own average order size and close rate, figure out how many quotes you need to cover the gap, and how many conversations it takes to get those quotes. If you don’t know your close rate, that’s your first finding. Start tracking it now.

Step 3: Set Activity Goals and Protect the Time

Turn the pipeline target into a weekly activity number: calls, emails, follow-ups and new contacts. Then put it on the calendar. Block an hour a few mornings a week before the shop gets loud and treat it like a customer appointment.

This is the hardest part in Q4. The best time to prospect is when you’re busy. You’re confident and you’re not desperate. Prospects can tell the difference between “we’d love to work with you” and “please, we have nothing on the schedule.”

Step 4: Run a December Win-Back and Reorder Campaign

December is a good time to start Q1 conversations, because customers are already thinking about next year. Take your list from Step 1 and reach out to every customer who ordered in Q1 last year and every one-time buyer from the past couple of years. Don’t “check in.” Give them a reason to reply:

“Hi [Name], I was reviewing your account and noticed we did your spring league shirts last February. Are you running the league again this year? If so, let’s get the in-hands date on the calendar now so you’re not waiting on us. Also, what branded products are you buying today that we don’t currently supply?”

Short, specific, and easy to answer. For your bigger accounts, pick up the phone. Email is way too easy to ignore.

Earlier this year, I challenged shops to do exactly this. One owner sent seven emails, using the same opening line, to customers who hadn’t ordered since the previous year. He had three replies in under two hours, and two of them turned into order conversations. Now imagine doing that every week.

Step 5: Sharpen Your Skills Before You Need Them

Don’t wait for the quiet weeks to practice. Build these habits now:

  • Role play. Run the reactivation call and your answers to the usual objections (“We already have a guy,” “Just send me a price”) with a coworker. Yes, it feels awkward. Awkward in the office beats awkward on the call.
  • Review your calls. Debrief right after a real sales call or listen back if you record with permission. Did you find out the event, the in-hands date, and whether there’s a reorder? Did you actually ask for the order?
  • Tighten your follow-up. Every quote should leave with a next step: a date and time the customer agreed to, plus a calendar invite. For the ones that go quiet, set a cadence (say, two days and five days after the quote) and bring a reason every time you reach out.

Step 6: Track it Weekly

Every Monday, spend 15 minutes on the same numbers: conversations, quotes sent, quotes followed up, orders closed, and where you stand against your Q1 gap. If activity is behind in week two, you can fix it. If you find out in March, you can’t.

The Takeaway

The shops that stay busy in January aren’t luckier. They kept selling while the presses were running. Great follow-up closes today’s deals. Consistent prospecting creates tomorrow’s deals. Before the holiday rush peaks, run through this list:

  • Pull last year’s orders by customer and month.
  • Calendar Q1 reorders and seasonal events.
  • Build the forecast: expected reorders, goal, gap.
  • Turn the gap into a weekly activity target.
  • Block prospecting time now while you’re slammed.
  • Launch a win-back and reorder campaign in December.
  • Role-play, review calls, and set a follow-up cadence.
  • Check your numbers every week.

Q1 rewards the shops that planned in November.