Uniforms are a critical component of many companies’ branding. Whether showcasing professionalism, highlighting brand identity, or displaying conformity, the clothing that employees wear should reflect the values that a business wants to promote. To do this effectively, build a uniform program that makes it easy for business owners and employees alike to ensure a consistent look that’s flexible for a variety of bodies, roles, and needs.
Follow these steps to set up a comprehensive, easy-to-execute uniform program for any sized business.
What is a Uniform Program?
A uniform program is a structured, comprehensive strategy for creating, distributing, and ordering employee gear. You may already have uniforms for your team, but the concept of a program may be new to you. If your strategy right now is to “just call up the company we used last time since they should still have our logos on file” then it’s probably a good time to think about creating a uniform program.
Reap the benefits of developing a process that is scalable as you grow, easy to retain consistency, and effortless for your employees to get what they need.
How to Set Up a Uniform Program
Setting up a uniform program doesn’t have to be complicated - it can be broken down into three key steps.
1. Identify Needs
Before you create your program, you have to figure out exactly what you need. Get all key decision-makers involved and answer the following questions:
- How many employees do we have now?
- How many additional employees do we anticipate hiring this year?
- Which locations are we serving?
- What duties do our employees perform? Is this different per team, and will we need different options for each team? (e.g. A maintenance employee will need something that allows more maneuverability and can be easily cleaned vs. a front desk employee).
- What type of order and payment methods should we offer?
Your answers to the above will begin to paint a picture for producing an applicable program.
➨ Related Content: How to Choose Uniforms the Whole Team Will Love
2. The Design and Logistics
This is the meat of your uniform program and the most important step. First, you must actually design your uniforms. This includes logos, colors, style, variations, etc. You must decide on what optionality you will offer and what makes sense for your team.
Then you should get into logistics by answering both questions: What company are you going to use to supply the uniforms? How will you distribute the necessary information and ordered merchandise to your employees?
The best option for both is to partner with an experienced identity apparel company (like QRG) that has experience planning, designing and deploying uniform programs. You tell us what your needs are from step one, and we’ll handle the heavy lifting by getting the process started.
➨ Related Content: QRG’s Identity Apparel Solutions
3. Setting Up an Online Company Store
The final step is building and setting up a company store. This final piece allows employees to self-serve all their uniform needs on a manageable platform. It’s also a great way to offer other identity apparel offerings outside of uniforms, so your employees can rep your brand with products they’ll love.
The perfect company store should have all of these features:
- Streamlined Ordering Process - Simplify how users find, customize, and order marketing assets with a single source solution. Manage assets from inception to delivery.
- - Dictate what creative elements are customizable and maintain brand integrity across your organization.
- Integrated Budget Controls - Set spending limits to ensure your budget stays aligned with other corporate goals.
- Engineered-to-Order - Custom sites range in complexity from simple Web-to-Print sites to multi-channel platforms.
- Variable Data On-Demand - Keep geographically diverse teams brand-right while allowing users to customize marketing materials with unique names, addresses, and even logos.
➨ Related Content: Powerful Company Store Solutions that Deliver More with QRG
Creating an effective uniform program is easy - when you partner with the right team. Focus on the steps listed above to strengthen your brand identity and offer your team a comprehensive uniform solution. QRG is here to help, every step of the way.
Customize Your Branded Merchandise with QRG
From choosing the right product(s), to getting your design and logos done correctly, to organizing drop-ship locations, the process of offering branded merchandise can be a hassle. Luckily, QRG specializes in these marketing solutions and will handle your next project from start to finish so there’s no worry involved.
We offer everything from promotional products to identity apparel and uniforms, printed materials, custom online stores, and much more. When deciding on your next branding adventure, let us help coordinate the selection, design, decoration, and production of your logo’d merchandise. Bring your brand to life with custom merchandise from QRG!
Streamlined Marketing Solutions
QRG is a customer-driven, single-source commercial printer, branded merchandise agency, and direct marketing firm tailored to meet your business goals. Our corporate identity solutions create deep connections with a lasting impact on your audience. Learn more about how it works and check out our website for more information.
