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Promotional Products – A Changing Industry – Chapter Three

Tuesday, 8 June 2010

Welcome back guys.

As mentioned previously this Blog post will address how best you can choose a promotional supplier that suits your needs and also how in doing so you will avoid the pitfalls of the quality issues we have been discussing in previous posts.

The first thing that you must address in choosing a promotional product supplier is exactly what you hope to get from them.

Are you looking for a strategic alliance moving forward, where an account manager is required to help in the selection process; or are you simply looking to find a product and then commission the merchandise supplier to produce it for you?

The answer to this question is possibly the most important and fundamental factor to the process. Answered correctly it will save everyone, most importantly you, a lot of time.

At Footprint, we believe that all promotional products suppliers should be offering an account management service as, given the multitude of products available, you need an experienced professional guiding the process to save you time, and more importantly to remove the pitfalls of quality.

You may have a different perception of what is needed and think that the quality must be OK if it’s on everyone else’s website, however based on our previous articles on this topic – we heavily advise that you ask for help from your promotional supplier and not just ask for the cheapest price on your personal selection from a digital image.

Below is a list of pertinent questions that you should have answers to prior to engaging a supplier with an order. We have given you our thoughts on what satisfactory answers you should receive.

1)    Are you a member of your industry association?
Yes is the answer you are looking for.  In Australia, it is the Australasian Promotional Products Association (APPA) that is the only association you should be looking for.  Simply put, you must be asked to join, have sufficient industry experience and pay an annual membership fee.  APPA is a not for profit organisation so that membership fee is there to run the organisation and it offers you, the client, a viable dispute resolution process if you are in anyway unhappy with your supplier.  Keep in mind that 90% of all complaints to APPA are from companies that are dealing with NON-APPA members, which leaves APPA powerless to help with resolution.

Do not let any promotional product supplier tell you that they do not need to be a member of APPA!

2)    How long have you been in the industry?
There is no substitute for experience when it comes to promotional merchandise and you should be looking for at least a 5 year window of experience with your supplier.  It may be a new organisation, however as long as it is staffed with qualified, experienced personnel you will be a lot further in front than you think. Experienced suppliers will be able to advise on what does and does not work, industry trends and most importantly the relative quality of each and every product that they present to you.

3)    Can you advise some of your major accounts?
Probably not the most critical of questions, however our perception is simply that the proof is in the pudding.  A couple of well known clients will show you that it’s not all promise and no action, as it takes hard work to attract and keep major accounts as we all know.

4)    Will you provide client references or have client testimonials available?
Just to make sure the above isn’t just spin and they can actually back up their statements.

5)    What is the ordering process? Do you supply product samples, pre-production samples, shipping samples?
You need to be aware of the entire supply process prior to ordering and you to need to have a confirmed point of contact throughout this process.  It’s of no use to you if after the sale is made that you have different points of contact at different stages, such as reception, graphics, production or warehouse to find out where the order is at.  Don’t laugh, as ridiculous as this sounds, I have seen it happen before.

6)    What are the payment options and are there any fees associated?
Just make sure you are aware of your contractual obligations before ordering promotional items.  You don’t want to blow your budget due to ridiculously high fees for credit card payments or the like.

So here ends the Footprint verses on our changing industry and the basic questions that you need to have answered when looking to engage a promotional product supplier.

On a final note, it should be quite obvious that at Footprint we believe there is no substitute for personalised service in our industry.  We find it bizarre and almost negligent that in an industry so open to abuse by suppliers and service providers, someone would spend their hard earned cash on a marketing exercise and base this decision on a digital image and 20 word description.... if that’s you, please re-read our blog posts and reconsider your approach.

Until next time, take it easy, we’ll be back soon......

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Promotional Products Industry - Australian History

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