It's September - Happy Easter 2009!!!

"Surely a mistake!" you cry, in which case, please keep your voice down - people around you are trying to work. Actually, a lot of people around you are secretly trying to get their hands on a cheap George Foreman grill on eBay, but that's a whole other story.

No, it's not a mistake, I and the rest of my team really would like to wish you all a Happy Easter. But what of Christmas, New Year, were we even so bold as to skip over the whole of Halloween???

The trouble in my line of work is that I have to think about Christmas in July, and what's more ironic is that I have to think about New Year in April. Allow me to explain (I really don't know why I needed to write that there, it's not like you're going to stop reading half way through a paragraph that makes no sense and go and do something else is it? Really? It is? Well, I'm sorry if your attention span isn't up the challenge - the coffee here is pretty strong if you wanted to swing by for a cup, but I digress....) a lot of people like to give out diaries as a New Year gift - they're a good idea and they make sense. But let's look at the operative word in that sentence:

A LOT of people like to give out diaries. Now our diary manufacturers are good, forward thinking people. They make up really good stock levels around February and they even offer discounts for people who order early. By April (you'll remember I mentioned April) those discounts have started to dry up and what's worse, the more desirable designs are also all sold off. Fast forward to September when the majority of people start to think about diaries and we're all facing higher prices, depleted stocks and lead times that will have you giving your diary to your customers on Christmas Eve.

Now did your competitor order their diaries back in April? Are they sitting on some great gifts, ready to send them out in October so that theirs is the first and therefore, only diary that their clients will want to use? And you wanted to wait.....

What amazes me is how many companies give out diaries year after year and yet always find themselves in the same boat. We gently persuade, we advise, hell we even scream at them to get their orders in and yet they wait patiently, blissfully aware that they are going to run into trouble and still smiling - it boggles the mind.

I spend a little time each day speaking with someone who needs a product yesterday. Express orders (or miracles as we like to call them) are all too common around here. But it's not what we signed up for. How creative can you expect your merchandise consultant to be when he's desperately trying to get 250 mugs into Poland by Friday? It's not like I'm pulling my hair out here.....pause for reaction.....but there are things that you can do to help both me and yourselves.

1. Let me have your promotional schedule. That's a look at all of the trade shows you're planning on exhibiting at and any special events or mailers for which you might need merchandise.
2. Tell me what you use your merchandise for. Are your sales people using them as gifts for potential customers and, if so, how quickly are they working their way through the stock?
3. Tell me what you did last year. If you did diaries, how well were they received? If it is more than 60% likely that you're going to want to do them again, let's just get the whole process started early and cross it off of both of our lists.
4. Pick up the phone. Not to call me, but for when I call you. I like to present new ideas to clients in a focussed way. If I see a product which made me think of you, I'm going to want to tell you all about it. Whether you're shopping or you're not, take the call or read the email - you might just be looking at your next and most successful campaign.
5. Tell your friends and colleagues. There are people working in your office right now (the bidding closed on the George Foreman Grill and Kevin in Accounts missed out by £1.50, so he's a little upset) who have been tasked with finding a gift and are about to start entering the words "Promotional Gifts" into Google. They have no idea of the monster they are about to unleash - save them - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!! See? Who needs that kind of panic? Exactly. Let me have their name and number and I'll give them a call.

An associate of mine loves to site a particular catchphrase - "Nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan" and it's so true. A little bit of preparation now will pay huge dividends down the line, and time is something we should all invest in our futures.

We're exhibiting at the National Incentive Show on the 16th-18th September on stand E60, so please pay us a visit where you'll have the chance to win a digital photo frame and if you're really lucky, we'll let you eat some of our jelly beans, but come early, because those bad boys are MINE.

Have a good week in business and Happy New Year!