Let's keep this short and sweet. You can get the company swag you want, on budget and on time, every time.
The keys are: first, finding a great merchandise and swag partner, not just a faceless provider. This is a company that can provide guidance and focuses on making your life easier.
The second is determining exactly what kinds of swag you want to include in your order.
The best part? When you solve the first key, the second becomes easy and fun, because the right partner will curate options for you so you only need to make decisions.
Below you’ll find a simple, straightforward checklist to organize your company swag order around. If you don’t know the answers, no worries - talk it through with your swag partner.
Here are the core steps to ensure you get exactly what you’re looking for:
1. State Your Goal Upfront
Even if you think it's a dream, it may not be. We’re big believers in the power of the best company swag. Share the result you'd like to achieve. Excite new hires? Thank new customers? Determining this goal helps clarify the purpose behind the order.
Sometimes, timing or budget is part of the goal. If you need something in a week, lead with that. If your budget is $1,000, start there.
Be transparent and honest. Communicate the core problem you're trying to solve.
2. Provide Specific Details
In general, specifics = speed. If you know what you are looking for, share it with your swag partner to the greatest detail you can. This reduces back and forth and can decrease delivery time! Order specifics help compile an accurate quote and get things moving. These include:
Quantity: How many do you want?
Quality: Price point, high end, value items?
Print/Decoration: Decoration method & placement
Colors or Design: What is the design? With print, colors matter. With embroidery, stitch count matters.
Timing: When do you need it delivered?
If you don't have these answers, that's OK - use your experience (or your swag partner!) to create a starting point based on your goal.
3. Trust - Don't Play the Sales Game
Pricing in swag is so visible that the right partner practices pricing transparency at all times. We all know the online players, and we all know what things cost. There is a reason for the pricing differential between companies, which is the most critical point to understand.
In addition to pricing transparency, having trust in swag partner guidance (or even the ability to talk to an experienced professional) can make a world of difference when it comes to deciding between products, navigating logistics and ordering, or setting up turnkey webstores.
Clients who follow these 3 tenets always win. They give swag partners like us more time to run our business. They are rewarded with paying the least and getting the most.
Seek a partner, not a provider.