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The Holiday Rush Is Here: 5 Ways to Make the Most of It
The holiday season is in full swing. The first orders came in over the summer (June counts, as always), and your team is deep in proofs and ship dates while you line up the clients who haven't decided yet.
This post is for the weeks ahead: five small things that help the busiest (and most fun) stretch of the year feel as good as it looks on the sales report.
These ideas come from distributors who've been through a lot of holiday seasons. Most come with a prompt you can paste into the AI assistant you already use.
If you took our holiday rush checklist, these are good next steps for whatever it turned up.
1. Start with the clients who ordered last year
The easiest holiday order to win is the one you won last year. Those clients already trust you and already have a budget for it. What they don't have yet is a plan for this year, and the first distributor to bring one has a head start. So get to them before they start shopping around!
You can start with a short look back at what you made together: how many people it reached, when it arrived and a photo of the best piece (think of it as a little holiday nostalgia before you plan what's next). Clients love a reminder of everything you pulled off together, and seeing it makes "what are we doing this year?" an easy conversation to start.
Try this with your AI assistant
Copy it, then fill in the highlighted parts
Here are last year's holiday orders for [client name]: [paste the order details]. Write a short, friendly recap I can send them, covering what we made, the quantities, when it arrived and one line on what went well. Then suggest three questions I can ask about their plans for this year.
To make it sound like you, paste in two emails you've written to clients first and ask it to match your tone.
2. Give every client their own order-by date
When clients see "Order early!" in a holiday email, it's easy to skim past. When your email gives them an exact date with their name on it, they notice it and act on it.
Start with the client's event and count back through shipping, production and proof approval. That gives you the one date they need: when they have to say yes to the order. It also gives your contact a clear date to take to whoever approves the budget.
Try this with your AI assistant
Copy it, then fill in the highlighted parts
My client's event is on [date]. Production takes [number] business days and shipping takes [number] business days. Build a timeline working back from the event, with the date they need to approve the proof, the date we need final quantities, and the date we place the order. Add a three-business-day buffer, and skip weekends and [any holidays in that window]. Then write a short, friendly note to the client with those dates.
Give the dates a quick look against a calendar before you send them. (AI is great at writing and a little less great at counting weekdays.)
3. Settle December's details in October
Most of the back-and-forth on a holiday order comes from small details that were missed at the start. How many people? Which sizes? One office, or forty home addresses? Who approves the proof, and are they away the week of the 15th?
Ask all your questions now, while everyone has time. Every answer you settle in October means one less thing to chase in December, more time to enjoy the season, and an order that goes to your supplier complete.
Try this with your AI assistant
Copy it, then fill in the highlighted parts
Here's my client's email about their holiday order: [paste the email or your call notes]. List everything we still need to know before we can place the order: quantities, sizes, decoration details, ship-to addresses, who approves the proof, and the in-hands date. Then write three friendly questions I can send today to fill in the gaps.
4. Line up your go-to suppliers
When a client needs something fast, you want to know exactly which suppliers to call. Distributors who are good at rush orders keep a short list of preferred suppliers they trust for quick turnarounds and accurate inventory.
Build yours by category (drinkware, apparel, tech, and whatever your clients order most), with a backup for each. Add one or two options that ship without physical stock, like digital gift cards, for requests that come in with only days to go.
Share it with the whole team, so anyone can answer a "we need it by Friday" request.
Try this with your AI assistant
Copy it, then fill in the highlighted parts
Here are the suppliers I've used for holiday orders, with notes on what they're good at: [paste your list]. Sort them into a shortlist by category (drinkware, apparel, tech and [your top categories]), with one main supplier and one backup for each. Add their usual turnaround time, and flag any category where I don't have a backup yet.
5. Have your last-minute answer ready
Some of your favourite clients are December clients. (And that's ok! They keep things interesting.)
The best reply is calm and specific. Skip the long apology and lead with what you can still do: two or three options, each with a date. Write it now, while you have time to think it through, and in December it only needs a few edits.
Try this with your AI assistant
Copy it, then fill in the highlighted parts
Write a short, warm reply to a client who wants holiday gifts for [number] people by [date]. Their first choice, [what they asked for], won't arrive in time, so offer these options instead: [option 1], [option 2], [option 3]. For each one, say what they get and when it arrives. Keep it upbeat and easy to reply to.
Bonus for bigger teams: host a holiday preview
Some larger distributors host a preview day early each season, where their top clients meet a handful of preferred suppliers and see the products in person. Those clients start planning holiday gifts months earlier. It's worth putting on next year's calendar!
For a version you can do this month, send your top five clients a small curated box, like an early holiday gift, with a few things they haven't ordered before, decorated with their logo, and a note about what you have in mind for them.
Where to start
Pick the one that would make your December easiest and try it this week. None of this prep takes long, and it's the kind you'll be glad you did in October once December is in full swing.
The AI Field Guide for Promo Distributors
Got the hang of these prompts and wondering which AI tool to use for the rest of your work? The guide breaks it down, tool by tool.
Read the guide →Frequently Asked Questions
How early should promo distributors prep for the holiday rush?+
The first holiday orders often come in over the summer, so prep starts early. By October, reach out to clients who ordered last year, give each client a personal order-by date, and settle the order details while everyone still has time to answer. That leaves December for production and shipping instead of chasing missing information.
How do you work out a holiday order-by date for a client?+
Start with the client's event or in-hands date and count back through shipping time, production time and proof approval, then add a few business days of buffer. Skip weekends and holidays. The result is the date the client has to approve the order, which gives your contact a clear deadline to take to whoever approves the budget.
What details should you confirm before placing a holiday promotional products order?+
Confirm quantities, sizes, decoration details, ship-to addresses (one office or many home addresses), who approves the proof and whether they'll be away, and the in-hands date. Settling these at the start cuts most of the back-and-forth and means the order goes to the supplier complete.
How should a distributor respond to a last-minute holiday gift request?+
Keep the reply calm and specific. Skip the long apology and lead with two or three options the client can still get, each with an arrival date. Options that ship without physical stock, like digital gift cards, help when only days are left. A reply written in advance only needs a few edits in December.
Which suppliers should be on a holiday rush-order shortlist?+
Pick suppliers you trust for quick turnarounds and accurate inventory, grouped by the categories your clients order most, such as drinkware, apparel and tech. Add a backup for each category and note usual turnaround times. Share the list with the whole team so anyone can handle a "we need it by Friday" request.
Can a general AI assistant help with holiday order prep?+
Yes. A general AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can draft client recaps, build order-by timelines, list missing order details, sort a supplier list and write last-minute replies. Paste in your own order details or emails for better results, and check any dates against a calendar, since AI tools can miscount business days.
