Approvals Stuck With Five Stakeholders? Speed Up Sign-Off

Five people are copied into your merchandise artwork email. Three have approved it, one wants a different logo size, and finance hasn’t replied. Meanwhile, your event date is getting closer, and the order still hasn’t gone into production.

If this sounds familiar, you don’t necessarily need to rush everyone into making a decision. A clearer approval process can help your team avoid repeated changes, conflicting feedback and last-minute delays. Here’s how to get your branded merchandise signed off without overlooking important details.

Why Do Approvals Take So Long?

The biggest problem is often unclear responsibilities. Marketing might approve the logo, procurement might check the price, and a manager might want to review everything before signing off. When nobody knows who makes the final decision, the artwork can end up going back and forth between departments. One person requests a change, another disagrees, and the supplier receives several different instructions. We’ve found it helps to separate product decisions from artwork approval. Your team should agree on the merchandise, quantities, and budget before reviewing the final branding proof.

Five Stakeholders, One Final Decision-Maker

You can involve several people in an order without asking everyone to approve every detail. Give each stakeholder a specific responsibility and appoint one person to send the final decision to your supplier. Here’s how you could divide the work:

For example, your marketing team shouldn’t need to reconsider the product price every time someone changes the logo placement. Finance can approve the budget earlier, leaving the relevant people to review the artwork. Mark Tyssen, our Business Development Manager, suggests that you choose one person to collect everyone’s feedback and communicate with your account manager. This avoids having five people send separate instructions about the same design.

How to Stop Endless Artwork Revision Emails

One of the easiest ways to delay an order is to send feedback in separate emails. You might approve the logo on Monday, request a colour change on Tuesday and discover on Wednesday that another department wants the artwork moved. Instead, ask everyone to review the same proof at the same time. Give them a clear deadline and collect their comments in one document or email. A simple process could look like this:

1. Share the latest artwork proof with all reviewers.
2. Ask each person to check their assigned details.
3. Collect feedback by an agreed deadline.
4. Resolve any conflicting comments internally.
5. Send one consolidated revision request.
6. Ask the final decision-maker to approve the corrected proof.

Try to avoid introducing new design ideas during the final approval stage. If your team wants to explore different products or branding concepts, settle those decisions before asking the supplier to prepare the final artwork.

Checking The Mockup We Send

To speed things up, here are a few details from the free artwork mockup we will send that you should keep an an eye on.

If you’re ordering branded polos for different departments, make sure someone checks every approved design.

What Happens If You Approve the Wrong Artwork?

Once you approve the artwork and production begins, changes may no longer be possible. Your supplier could already be preparing printing equipment, organising materials, or scheduling the order. That’s why it’s worth treating the final approval as a production decision, not simply another design review. Everyone who needs to check the artwork should do so before the authorised person gives written approval.

Finance Approval Delays

Artwork isn’t always the reason an order gets delayed. Sometimes the design is ready, but finance hasn’t approved the expenditure or procurement still needs supporting documents. For larger organisations and government buyers, internal purchasing procedures can involve several checks. You may need an approved purchase order, supplier information or confirmation of payment arrangements before production can begin. To avoid a last-minute hold-up, prepare these details early:

• Approved merchandise budget
• Correct billing details
• Purchase order, where required
• Product quantities and final specifications
• Delivery address and event date
• Internal payment authorisation

Our standard ordering process requires artwork approval and payment before production, unless approved credit terms apply. Getting your internal purchasing requirements sorted early can help prevent delays after the design is ready.

For Urgent Orders

If you need your orders to go through production immediately, having one person approve the artwork is the easiest way to do so. For urgent merchandise orders, we’d focus on three things:

• One final approver: Make sure they’re available to respond.
• Approved artwork: Have your logo files and branding requirements ready.
• Confirmed payment: Arrange finance approval before the production deadline.

We offer express dispatch on selected products, subject to availability and order requirements. If you’re working towards a fixed event date, tell our team as early as possible so we can discuss suitable options. Learn more about our express dispatch options in our Shipping and Turnaround Times.

Speed Up Your Next Merchandise Approval

Managing artwork approvals across several departments? Send us your chosen products, logo files and required delivery date, and we’ll help you prepare the details your team needs to review. Want fewer email chains and a faster sign-off? Call 1300 858 288 to discuss your order. We’ll help you get the artwork and order details organised before production starts.