The Juggling Act - Keeping Your Order On Schedule
You’re about a month into your new marketing job. There’s an event coming up in a few weeks and your company needs some promos to hand out. You’re not really sure what you want specifically so you reach out for some ideas. You finally settle on three items, get a quote and place the order. Your job is done. You have lots of time. It’s in the hands of your promotional products distributor and you go on to your next project.
The next day you get the emailed artwork proofs for approval. When you open the file you notice your logo is in the right color but not quite the right shade so you pick up the phone and communicate this to your Customer Service Rep. You’re told that this is the color your predecessor has always used but it’s not too late to change it. You’re asked what Pantone number your logo should be. You send a copy of your graphics standards to the rep.
Your approved artwork is sent off to the factories that are doing the printing on your products. One of them has concerns about the size of the lettering in your tag line. It’s too small to be legible at the prescribed imprint area. Can they remove it? Your CSR calls you to explain the issue. According to your graphics standards it is allowable to print the logo without the tag line and this is what is recommended for this particular product. The approval is given to the factory to remove it.
The three different factories print your orders. The first two items arrive exactly when you expect them. The third item – the one with the printing issue – hasn’t arrived yet. You wait a few days and still no sign of it. You contact your CSR and she tells you it’s shipped from the factory and provides you with a tracking #. It was delayed by a couple of days in production because of the artwork issue. Now it’s with the courier service and they are not on time because of bad weather along the route. Thankfully you still have a few days until the event. The shipment finally gets delivered the day before you need it.
Promotional orders have a lot of moving parts that need to be managed efficiently and effectively. Your CSR is there to manage your order and ensure these parts move in tandem but you can do your part to help.
Always provide your brand standards document, or at least your Pantone number.
Provide your logo in vector format to avoid artwork fees and delays.
Pay attention to how much you need to print vs. the size of the item.
Approve your proof within 24 hours. Production time starts when order details & artwork are approved.
Purchase well ahead of your event date and allow for production & transit delays.
Your CSR is there to offer advice and make sure things are moving along as they should but there are some things that are out of everyone’s control. As much as we wish we could, we can’t control planes, trains or ferries, and we certainly can’t control the weather. Order your items as far in advance as you can so we have the time and resources to get them to you on time.