So you’ve landed on the Source For Me website. Maybe you met Carmen at a networking event, maybe you heard about us from one of our wonderful clients – or maybe all that effort we put into SEO and social media actually paid off.
No doubt you’re curious about what it’s like to work with us – especially as we’re a little bit different from most other merch sites – and there’s no catalogue to scroll through to figure out what you want.
That’s because we are different. For us – it’s all about that personalised service. We’re your merchandise managers, branding bees or some other alliteration about printing on drink bottles.
Take a journey with us on what happens after you send Source For Me an email.
Enquiry & Quoting
You’ve taken the jump into sending us an email or giving Carmen a call. More than likely, Carmen will respond pretty quickly (it’s a gift) and open the conversation about what you need – we’ll ask you the right questions to get enough information to put together some options, without you having to do all the suggesting.
If you’ve come to us with an exact idea on what you’re after – that’s what we’ll quote you on – as well as provide some suggestions or guidance on some additional options or alternative products, keeping in mind your brand, your budget and turnaround time. We won’t quote you anything that does not fit the criteria you gave us (no finding out once you’ve placed the order that the colour you want is out of stock, or that it will be delivered 3 weeks after your event once you’ve already paid).
If you’ve come to us with absolutely no idea what you’re after, that’s okay too. We can start from scratch with just an idea, a budget, an event or a deadline – and work our magic to provide you with a great range of options that are on brand, good quality and can be done by your deadline. We can narrow down from there until we’ve found the perfect product or mix of products that tick every box.
There are very few products, ideas and deadlines we can’t do (there are some deadlines we probably shouldn’t do but let us worry about that). We love a challenge, and being the ones to say yes when most others say no.
Approve Order
You’ve clicked go on some items. Let’s use an example of some printed drink bottles, embroidered beanies, screen-printed tee shirts and business cards with rounded corners.
We will ask you to send us your logo/s – just send us what you have. If it’s print-ready vector artwork, we’ll use that – if all you have is a low resolution JPEG – send it anyway and one of our very talented graphic designers will re-draw it for you, and we’ll even send you back the re-drawn version so you have it on file for future orders/products.
You’ve given us your delivery address, deadline and colour preferences for the drink bottles, beanies and tees. We will usually do a re-check here on stock levels, just to make sure we’re offering you products that can actually be delivered. If for any reason something is now out of stock – we’ll offer you an alternative.
Invoice
Everyone’s least favourite part – paying!
We’ll send over an invoice for you to arrange pre-payment (don’t worry, if anything goes wrong or you change your mind – we offer refunds, credits or reprints depending on the situation).
We accept bank transfer or credit card (AMEX too!) – and we’re happy to split up invoices, send to your accounts department, complete vendor application forms, answer bank detail verification calls, add PO numbers – anything you need to get the invoice through your accounts system.
Artwork Approval
This is the most important step in the whole process. It’s where we both have the chance to pick up if anything has gotten lost or missed in the process.
Every single order, even if it’s an exact repeat, goes through the process to ensure everything gets double checked and no one is getting 1000 drink bottles with a spelling mistake.
We will provide you with print ready artwork to approve, including a mock-up of the design on the product. There is no additional cost for this, it is part of the service. We’ll include your brand colours on the approval so you can check we have these correct.
There are three core things we want you to check (that we have also checked ourselves):
- Artwork
- Is the artwork in the right position?
- Is the logo the correct version?
- Is it the right size?
- Are there any spelling mistakes in body text?
- Have we used your correct brand colours?
- Are we following your brand guidelines?
- Specifications
- Have we picked the right product colour/s?
- Do we have the right size breakdown?
- Are we using the right print method?
- Delivery Address
- Do we have the right address?
- Do we have contact details for someone at this address?
- Have we included all delivery notes, paperwork etc.?
- Have we specified the deadline for this order?
We will make sure we revise these items until we get it right. And if you’re in need of some complex graphic design assistance to get it right – we can help with that too.
We pride ourselves on viewing each artwork with the same scrutiny you would, we do our best to pick up spelling and grammar mistakes – as well as using our industry knowledge to make recommendations on print size (small text), low resolution imagery and contrasting colours. The ultimate goal is a product that you are happy with, and that represents your brand – we’d rather take that time now than regret it later.
Job goes to production
We’ve made the list, you’ve checked it twice – now it’s time to get these items underway.
All these items are going to different suppliers – the drink bottles, beanies, tee shirts (this one is going to two) and business cards. Every supplier has different ordering methods, artwork requirements, turnarounds, communication styles etc. But we know this, and we know just who to pick for each order based on the priority: speed, detail/quality, price.
We send the orders off to each supplier, approve their proofs/mock-ups/questions. We then approve pre-production images, making sure we’re still ticking all those boxes, reiterate deadlines, answer questions about the artwork, the brand colours, the delivery address, the size breakdown, the print method – and so, so much more.
We then send follow ups, reminders, check ins as we approach deadlines – ensuring our supplier is on the same page when it comes to the hard deadline. We then book couriers – selecting the right carrier based on the price, the location and the deadline.
Sometimes we might get all the items delivered to us, so we can deliver to you in one go (especially if it’s for an event where you have a specific delivery window).
All this time, you’ve been able to continue doing your own work – being updated by us along the way if any issues arise (but we’ve already found a solution by the time we email you).
We’re ready to answer your questions and concerns along the way, and we are 100% transparent on the status of your order. We won’t make you promises if we know it’s not going to get there in time, and we’ll find you a solution if it isn’t.
Job shipped
The items are done – it’s 3 days out from your hard deadline and you’ll receive an email from us with a shipping update. We’ll send you the tracking, re-confirm your delivery address and ensure that the courier has all the right information.
We will then track these items alongside you, call the couriers if there are delays, arrange re-directions – and sometimes, we’ll just go pick it up and deliver it to you ourselves if it means getting it there by your deadline.
Job Delivered
You’ve received your items – and all you had to do was pay your invoice and approve your artwork. We have handled every, other, part.
No back and forth about colours, delivery addresses, calling couriers or arranging re-deliveries. Now we just hope you’ll share some photos of them in the wild so we can post them on social media (our marketing person says we have to).
Still not quite sure if we’re the right fit? Have you had something done already and you love the product but didn’t love the service?
Let us quote it for you, no obligation – and see why our clients try us once and never leave.
