What do you do when a mistake happens on a promotional products order you’ve spent hours working on? Read on for some proven solutions…

Last week, I received the email below from a promotional product distributor This is what she said…  

 “I’ve recently encountered a bunch of order headaches because of factory mix-ups, miscommunication and delivery driver issues.  One of the strengths that I am proud of is my attention to detail.  This has won me much business over my 20- year career but with all of the recent factory troubles, this doesn’t seem to matter…  I seem to always be “fixing” mistakes or issues caused by other parties.  As a oopsdistributor, I am only as good as the suppliers that I use and this is happening with some of the “best”.

Can you relate?

In the promotional products industry, where annual sales are more than 21 billion dollars and growing, mistakes are bound to happen. What can you do to minimize those mistakes and keep your clients happy?

Here are nine Best Practices that will help.

  1. Give the bulk of your business to a core group of top-rated promotional product suppliers. When suppliers know you and your company they are much more likely to “bend over backwards” to correct mistakes. Get to know your core supplier’s staff and their inside and outside sales reps. If your top suppliers have a multi-line rep, get to know him/her as well. When you have an ongoing relationship with a supplier, problems tend to get resolved much more quickly.
  2. Get a pre-production digital proof or physical proof on all orders. When you have a signed proof, you have back-up to compare to the actual product. With proofs you can avoid mistakes before they happen.
  3. Get price quotes and delivery date acknowledgements. This will give you a paper trail should there be a pricing or delivery dispute.
  4. Follow up consistently. Follow up at least once a week to make sure your orders are being produced as promised. Keep your clients in the loop as well.
  5. Get a post- production product sample sent to your office. If a supplier makes a mistake, you will be the first to know and can take care of the problem in a timely fashion.
  6. Make delivery arrangements ahead of time. Some trucking companies will not do inside deliveries. Some larger orders require pallets and delivery docks. You can minimize delivery headaches when you check on delivery requirements ahead of time with both your supplier and client.
  7. Apologize and tell the client what you can do. Even if you did everything right, and it’s not your fault, a mistake or mishap happened and you still need to apologize. You are the sales representative and the person your client is relying on. Sometimes you many need to offer a discount or re-do the order. When you work with a core group of reputable suppliers most will work with you to resolve the problem to the satisfaction of all parties.
  8. Reach out to your colleagues and suppliers for help. There are many social media promotional products industry forums that you can join where you can post a problem you’re facing and quickly get a response from a colleague or supplier who may be able to help. Here are two forums to start with: On  Facebook: Promotional Products Professionals. On LinkedIn: PPAI Industry Professionals Networking.
  9. Use an Order Entry Checklist. When you have a visual checklist of what needs to be done with every order you’ll minimize mistakes. The FAST TRACK to Promotional Products Sales Success program contains an Order Entry Checklist that will save you a ton of time and effort.

Keep in mind, mistakes are bound to happen– it’s not the mistakes that your clients will remember as much as how you reacted to them and what you did to fix them.

What do you think? How have you reacted when a supplier made a mistake on an order? How do you keep your clients happy and buying more? Please comment below.