Well this is a catch 22. I almost chose not to write about it. As we at ImprintItems.com decide who is working between Christmas and New Year, we know some clients will need to spend budget money or lose those dollars for next year.
After 20 years in this business, we recognize this reality. Some people, organizations, and non-profits must spend down the 2007 budget by year end. If they do not, they will not be allocated the funds this upcoming year.
We are not in a position to be the budget police, so we are simply offering some year end budget spending ideas, or solutions.
It really makes no sense to place an order for 2,000 t shirts and have us ship them to you blank.
We did this for one client because they assumed they had to have the goods delivered and could later have us print the shirts. They successfully spent the funds and got a quick invoice from us. The problem was, in June of the next year they suddenly needed us to print and deliver the shirts in 5 days. They paid overnight freight to get the shirts to us, we printed them in 3 days, but then we had to bill second day air freight to ship the shirts back to them! The client ended up paying twice as much as if we had kept the shirts; plus, the sizes we had shipped at the end of the fiscal budget year in December were adult shirts and now they found out they needed youth sizes.
A better solution would be to order $2000 worth of shirts. If needed, pay the bill by credit card and do not place the final order until you know the shirt sizes, colors, and where they would eventually ship to.
Other clients trying to USE IT OR LOSE IT include government agencies and non-profits. Some wise clients in this year-end budget debacle have simply paid for $2000 or $X amount of promotional products then when they decided what they actually needed, we applied the credit to the product. Possibly, they decided they would make better use of printed post it note pads than t-shirts.
We cannot tell you what your organizations’ year end budget spending policy is. We count on you to know the rules. We can get you an invoice within hours. We can take a credit card right away.
The week after Christmas is notoriously a time that people like to spend with family. But if you wake up on December 26th and find you need to spend your budget in the next day before taking to the ski slopes, you can call on us.
Email us at sales@imprintitems.com and also call us at 651-638-2222 (please leave a message, we will be short staffed). We understand your need to spend rather than lose your budget. If you must go on a sleigh ride, please consider leaving your cell phone number and hours you can be reached. We can call you at night, on the holiday, or weekend if you request this.
We have no desire to have you purchase a bunch of imprinted walnuts simply to spend your 2007 budget, if walnuts are not what you will use.
We can consult with you on items you can put to use to promote you cause or objective.
Any outstanding credits never expire. We will contact you to see how you wish to allocate the funds.
Note, any item at ImprintItems.com can be purchased! Your leftover budget can be spent!
If you do not see an item that fits the bill, simply let us know what you have in mind. Products can be printed with your logo, or blank with no imprint. We can get it for you, and get you the invoice you need on time.
Good Holidays to all.
~Imprint Ed
