I know you’re thinking how hard can it be to order promotional products? Let me tell you a big mess can be created when ordering is not done properly. Read on for the fine art of ordering promotional products that insures you get exactly what you are expecting to get.
First. Choose a promotional products company that you can trust. Find out how long they have been in business. Where do they order their products from? Are they independent or are they authorized to sell for another company? If they are an authorized dealer, ask for their dealer number, yes they should have one, then contact the company they work with to verify this number.
If they are an independent company. Find out if their is a charge for ordering products that they might purchase from another company. Make sure they can full fill your order. Finding out this important first step will save you tons of frustration in the long run.
Second. Make sure the items you choose to have imprinted are exactly what you want. Some folks tend to change their minds when it’s too late to fix the mistake. Also if you don’t have an in-house graphic design department or know how to use design programs, find someone who does.
Microsoft Word, faxes, copies, drawings and any other non-graphic design program will not render a good image for a promotional product order and they are not compatible with the graphic design programs used by most promotional product factories, so they will not be accepted. Keep in mind you can always have the company your are working with design a copy of your logo or message for you, they will charge you and additional fee. Usually you are given specific guidelines for submitting art.
Third. Always get a complete price quote and a signed contract before you proceed with placing an order. I say this because most folks assume the price for the products is all they have to pay. Not true in this case. You have to pay for the following:
* The item you choose
* A first set-up charge
* Any extra colors or imprints
* Logo or message design (if needed)
* State taxes
* Shipping
Fourth. Choose a payment method that works best for you. Keep in mind however, that most companies will want you to pay for the full order until you establish a good credit rating. After that you can pay with a major credit card, money order or business check. They will also allow you to pay half at the time of placing the order and the other half after shipment.
Five. Make sure you allow more than enough time for your order to be filled. It usually takes about two weeks for an order to be completed and shipped. However, sometimes a factory at any given time may be backed up with orders, especially during national holidays. That could result in your order being placed in line. So during any holiday or special occasion always ask the company you’re working with to verify how long your order will take to be completed. Also have them to state this on you’re contract, so the factory knows it as well.
Six. This is the most important part of the entire promotional products ordering process. It is making sure you convey exactly what you want imprinted on the item or items you choose. Your order is imprinted by folks in a factory who did not take your order. They only imprint what is on the order contract. I cannot stress this enough, make sure you convey what you want imprinted.
Receiving 2,000 pens or t-shirts with the wrong phone number is not going to help you promote your business. Go over the order process very carefully, making sure you check everything that is on the order contract. Yes, sometimes the company taking the order makes a mistake as well as the factory imprinting the order.
If that does indeed happen, and the company made the mistake they should honor that mistake by charging you for one order. Now if it is a factory mistake, once it is has been proven that the factory made the mistake, they will not charge you. All you have to do is give back the misprinted items so they can correct them.
Every now and then I will get a customer who wants to keep the misprinted items, they think the items are only going to thrown away. Not true, the factory uses misprinted items to give away as samples. Nothing gets wasted.
EastLake Marketing Group sells promotional products. Having access to 700,000 products allows you to imprint your company logo message on just about anything. To view EastLake's product, corporate gifts, and greeting card catalogs, visit our wed site.
