Monday, 16 september 2024

The most frequent problems facing advertising agencies when ordering promotional gifts

Will the customer be happy? Will the order get here on time? And what if the quality of print is not good enough? Working in advertising agencies and ordering promo gifts, you probably ask yourself these questions every day. How can we minimize the risks connected with choosing the right product, meeting deadlines, arranging deliveries and managing supplies in an effective way?

Together with  Marcin Szulc, managing director of Macma Poland, we are going to discuss common problems that may come up in the ordering process. Well, they may, but they do not have to. A reliable promo gifts supplier knows how to make sure the risks are mitigated.

How to approach the issue of limited budget and the choice of the right gifts?

Marcin: Your customers know what they want – effective advertisement – although they may not always know how to achieve it. Choosing a promo gift that will suit the line of business or the situation would be much easier had it not been for limited budget. How can we adapt to it?

According to most agencies, the best solution is to choose the supplier who – apart from promo gifts – offers also a professional consulting service. Our specialists have experience and know the offer through and through, so they can give you their full support in selecting the right product. They can quickly and clearly present the best matches for your clients, taking into account the budget you have for any particular order.

What about delivery time? How can we avoid delays and get the order fulfilled even if it is the “at the last minute”?

Marcin: You enter into an agreement with your customer, you want everything to be on time, so that the customer keeps ordering from you in the future and you develop a long-term cooperation. You need the order to be completed promptly, and to be delivered fast. In this way, you will be able to respond in full to your customer’s needs, and that’s what they expect from you after all.

If your supplier has a state-of-the-art and self-sufficient logistic base, then you are able to complete the order without putting any additional effort into it. Aware of how much is always on your plate, we are developing our warehouse and print house, so that you can get the product with marking in record time. A last-minute order? No problem – we will take care of it!

What’s the secret of efficient supply management?

Marcin: The final customer often finds it difficult to decide what promo gifts, when and  in what quantity they are going to need. This is why buying for storing can turn out counterproductive for you. Overabundant supplies take up space and money. It is much more efficient to make an order for a super-fast delivery of promo gifts with print, and to use no-name delivery service: the goods are sent from the supplier’s warehouse directly to the final customer. There is no supplier data on the dispatched products, so the final customer associates the received goods exclusively with you and your agency. That’s the way to save not only money, but also quite a lot of time which would normally be used on the delivery logistics.

And what about personalisation and marking? How can we make sure the customer is 100% satisfied?

Marcin: A promotional gift serves its purpose when it shows the company logo, and – if possible – uses graphic design to evoke associations with the company’s line of business. Quite often it is a witty and cute graphic that appeals to the recipient’s taste the most, and is later used by them easily, making for successful advertisement.

It is crucial that the product is interesting and of good quality. As for the interesting idea, from time to time we give our customers ready-to-use graphics to serve as inspiration for various businesses; we want to support advertising agencies by providing them with ideas which are currently in fashion and can be freely used as proposals for their customers. Apart from inspiring designs, you also get a free of charge visualization of the product with marking, so that you can make sure the promo gift looks good and your customer is satisfied.

It is not infrequent that the customer comes to you with an unusual order, one that is difficult to fill using the standard catalogue offer. What then? How to keep the customer in such a situation?

Marcin: Probably from time to time your customer is looking for some gifts that are hard to find in regular catalogues, or are available only in limited quantities. Just for such occasions we have created an import service which allows you to send quote request straight to suppliers in the Far East. All you need to do is to specify what you are looking for and in what quantity, and our specialist will prepare an offer with pricing. Thanks to their many years of experience in this business, they are able to deliver your order right to your customer’s door – regardless of the means of transportation you choose (sea, air, rail) and the customs offices we will have to deal with.  

How to make placing orders via the website as easy as possible?

Marcin: When ordering promo gifts online, you may be afraid that not all information about the order is going to reach the person responsible for it, that’s understandable. Or maybe you experience some problems navigating the website and you want to make sure that all the steps for online ordering are correct?

The best solution is to contact your account manager. Since your account manager is assigned to your company, you can get in touch with them at any time and let them know any additional information you think is important in order to complete the job the way you want.

The same goes for any doubts you may have when placing an order using our online shop. Your account manager will be happy to explain how to order online, so that the process is simple and clear for you.  

And this is our mission. To help you in your everyday work, to give you the support you need to focus on what’s most important: building relationships with your clients.