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When a firm thinks about buying Promotional Products it is usually in terms of them looking for business products or promotional merchandise to promote a item, service or an event such as a sales conference. The kind of items that would be considered for such an occasion may well be leather conference folders or even promotional bottled water. In this informative article we will take a look at how a firm can use promotional products to motivate their own employees and increase their productivity
It is a fact that the use of promotional goods succeeds when they are employed to improve sales or to develop brand awareness. Look at how promotional clothing such as printed T-shirts or embroidered polo shirts are used in so many ways to do that. One only has to wander down any street or travel on a bus or train to see plenty of examples of printed clothing plastered with logos and sales messages. Alternative more practical products such as promotional keyrings or printed pens are utilised to promote all kind of items all over the business world and are given away in their hundreds of thousands. The simple fact is that if these promotional gifts did not have a positive effect then they would not be used.
Therefore it stands to reason that if Promotional Products are distributed by a firm to advertise their goods and services they can also be used internally. In many cases the personnel who work in corporations that give away free items may never be the on the receiving end of such generosity. Therefore if they do receive some promotional items from time to time these products would have an impact. Take for example a sales team that is office based. Every salesperson will invariably have their own desk and pc and will need the normal paraphernalia like notepads, mousemats, pencils and so on for such a task.
It stands to reason therefore that if the company were to add a modest amount of product on to their next purchase of promotional merchandise then they could use them internally as rewards for say good timekeeping, extra sales, improved work and so on. Do not ever underrate the power of a good piece of promotional merchandise and remember just because you might be indifferent to a free printed T-shirt, an embroidered polo shirt or a branded pen simply because you deal with these sort of things on a day-to-day basis it’s certainly not the case for everyone else.
Other places within a company that Promotional Products could be used to advance operations may well be the stockroom or despatch departments. These areas of business are not likely to receive much in the way of promotional items because they are rarely in touch with customers. Nevertheless the fact is these people do a vital job and a tiny bit of recognition with a few business gifts dropped in from time to time is going to be much appreciated by the staff working there.
The reception desk of a firm is another place where strategically placed pieces of promotional merchandise can work effectively. It’s useful for a receptionist to be able to ask a guest to sign in, hand them a branded pen and tell them to keep it. This kind of marketing generates a lot of goodwill for very little expense.
Tags: promotional clothing, promotional gifts, promotional items, promotional merchandise, promotional products
Posted in Business · February 5th, 2010 · Comments (0)
With the advent of the internet the buying of Business Gifts direct from China has become a much easier process than before. Goods that range from promotional clothing such as printed T-shirts or embroidered polo shirts are now seemingly within easy reach. Electrical items that could include clocks or calculators, cheap printed pens and thousands of other promotional products now sit waiting for you to just click a button and buy. And it’s not just China, India is a great source of leather conference folders or promotional wallets. Vietnam make amazing promotional jackets and if you want to go really crazy you can even buy promotional bottled water from Indonesia now.
Is buying Promotional Items in the Far East as simple as that? Is putting a search phrase into Google the next time you need something all you have to do to get a whole new range of suppliers? The fact is it is not, this is a not a simple process and many people have learned that lesson the hard way by losing lots of money, trading in the Far East requires specialist knowledge and experience. The following true story should be a salutatory lesson.
This true story is about a very cocky young procurement professional who joined a long established promotional merchandise company that had been trading in the Far East for many years and doing so successfully. They prided themselves in taking their time to get communications right and apart from the odd natural disasters such as flood and famine they usually got what they ordered on time. The new procurement man refused to take any advice form people with much more experience, in fact he told them that they could learn from him how to make some considerable reductions in cost.
His first order was for 350,000 watches for a promotion run by an oil company. The senior promotional items buyer at the company offered him advice on who to buy from but he informed him that he had a better factory. The watches were duly delivered and looked great, everyone in the company felt that maybe they were wrong and the guy was really good.
The consignment duly arrived, a few watches were tested to make sure they worked and the shipment was sent to the client. Everything seemed to be just fine until a few days after the promotion started calls about the watches not working started to come in. People claimed that just a day after they activated the watches by inserting the battery they just stopped ticking. Our arrogant buyer looked extremely worried and contacted the manufacturer. Another buyer who was working in the office at the time he made the call said that his face drained of all colour when he realised what had happened. His poor communication had resulted in him ordering a 24 hour digital watch with a 24 hour battery. You can rest assured that this particular promotional merchandise company got rid of him fast.
That example was just one of thousand of things that can go wrong if you choose to deal direct with Chinese manufacturers. One of the big challenges with buying Promotional Merchandise is that they are often purchased to a particular promotion. If the printed T-shirts or embroidered polo shirts that you ordered are emblazoned with the date and details of the event then when they arrive late they may as well be used as dishcloths. Image having the branded promotional bottled water and leather conference folders arrive days after the convention is over? It does not bear thinking about.
Careful communications is essential if you do decide to go ahead and buy in the Far East. In fact why not ask a promotional merchandise supplier to take the stress out of your hands. The costs may be a bit higher but it’s better than losing your job like the guy in the story above.
Tags: Embroidered Polo Shirts, printed T-shirts, promotional items, promotional merchandise, promotional products
Posted in Business · February 5th, 2010 · Comments (0)