PPB March 2019

by Danielle Renda A I actually look at it as a cost of doing business. ALLAN CLAIR A&A Specialty Advertising Fort Myers, Florida I view it as a cost of doing business, but on the other hand, I don’t let themmilk me for free samples. Good, big customers always get free samples as part of the cost of doing business. For smaller or once-in- a-blue-moon customers, I tell them there is a charge for samples and freight, and once they order, I’ll credit the samples that apply on the order back to them on the invoice. If they want similar things and are somewhat serious, I’ll credit those back too. If it’s a somewhat expensive product—over $25— I’ll charge them for it or they can return it, and I’ll keep it along with other samples. ALLEN HAWKINS Calibre Sales & Marketing Raleigh, North Carolina We run into this sometimes as well, and it can be very frustrating. We always tell the client upfront there is a cost for the samples, but if the order goes through, we’ll eat the costs, but we want the samples back. We don’t mind having the samples here once they place the order, but if they don’t go ahead with it, we’re not stuck with $50 in expenses for an order we didn’t get. Customers think they have the upper hand and can go anywhere, which they can. I’m upfront with my prospects and clients and tell them I’m not interested in being a quoting tool or creating unnecessary work for myself. Sometimes the client decides to go elsewhere, but an apparel order can turn into a lot of work for fairly thin margins. I tell my clients they also pay for my experience. PAUL MCCAUGHEN Anything Printing Belleville, Ontario We ran into this when we first opened, when we didn’t have the policy written in clear language on our confirmation forms. Afterwards, we let our clients know there was a cost for samples and that any orders cancelled after placement would be billed at 60 percent of the noted confirmation cost. The document, once approved via signature or email, becomes binding. We’ve Handling Unpredictable Orders How to manage the cost of samples—and time—when prospective clients don’t follow through. Q A Distributor Asks: I’m curious about how other distributors handle clients backing out of orders. It doesn’t happen often, but I have had clients request samples and place the order, and after I send over a proof, they back out of the order. I also have had clients request samples without ultimately placing an order. It’s not a big deal when it’s a small promo item, but when they request a couple of jackets or polos for sizing, it can be a little expensive. I don’t want to nickel-and-dime my clients, but at the same time, these seem like very avoidable and inconvenient expenses for me to eat. 12 | MARCH 2019 | INNOVATE