The Challenge
Scott Lawrence, Lawrence Tractor’s COO, found himself having to source thousands of promotional items each year. Prior to working with Smith Promotions in California, he encountered several challenges.
When it comes to branding, Smith Promotions is the only shop that Lawrence Tractor trusts. And they always do an excellent job.
Lawrence Tractor is a large, family-owned dealer and service provider for John Deere farm equipment in the Central Valley. For modern farmers (who have little control over commodity prices), remaining profitable means constantly finding new ways to increase efficiency. Lawrence Tractor works closely with farmers to provide them with leading-edge agri-business technology that helps optimize productivity. Lawrence Tractor has been trusted by Central Valley farmers for over 50 years.
Scott Lawrence, Lawrence Tractor’s COO, found himself having to source thousands of promotional items each year. Prior to working with Smith Promotions in California, he encountered several challenges.
“Whether it’s branded hats, jackets, coolers, or whatever, quality matters,” says Scott. “It’s your company’s name that is going on there, so your reputation is on the line. If the quality isn’t there, people won’t wear it and you’re essentially wasting your money — giving away stuff that people aren’t even going to use.”
Scott found that he couldn’t rely on other screen printing and custom embroidery shops to deliver quality. “We used to have relationships with other vendors,” he says. “But we couldn’t get a good thing going with them. We’d ask them to make us a thousand jackets and they wouldn’t show up on time. Or we’d order a thousand hats to give to our customers — and then we’d never even get them at all.”
“The worst part of it was the amount of time that it took away from the rest of my day-to-day,” says Scott. “Running around looking for an order of hats that didn’t show up, or worrying about the quality of embroidery, isn’t really a good use of my time. But it would suck up a ton of my energy — and cause a lot of headaches.”
As soon as Scott began working with Smith Promotions, he noticed an immediate difference.
“As soon as we started to work with Smith Promotions, it was not like dealing with one of the other printers,” says Scott. “Everything was on time. Everything was professional. Everything was done right. And on top of that, the prices were pretty good. Fast-forward nine years, and we’re still working with them.”
“When it comes to merchandise, Smith Promotions has kind of become like an extension of our company,” says Scott. “Anything that has our logo on it, they do it. Hats, ice chests, toiletries bags, laptop cases, golf bags — everything. From laser engraving to embroidery, they do it all.”
“It’s almost like one less thing I have to worry about now,” says Scott. “Because I just know the job will be done right. Like last year, they made our Christmas jackets, and there were hundreds of them. I didn’t even have to double-check the quantities that they put in the box. We’ve been doing this for a long time and everything is always right. It’d be a waste of my time to check it.”
“We order a ton of hats for our customers to wear while they’re out in the field. And they’ve streamlined our process to the point that I don’t really even have to put in traditional orders anymore. Our account reps just tell Smith promotions what they need and Smith will print it ad hoc. It’s just a non-stop, worry-free process.