Budget-Friendly Tips for Ordering Finance Awards

Settling on an appropriate budget for commemorating a financial transaction isn’t always so straightforward. Budgets for finance awards or tombstones are typically a function of the size of the deal. For the most part, the larger the deal, the larger the budget.

But there are other factors that might complicate this formula.

The importance of transaction awards also tends to closely track the importance of the deal to the participants. And this isn’t always just strictly a function of the deal size. The deal might, for example, celebrate a firm’s first transaction in a given economic sector, or in a geographic region. Or it might be the kind of transaction that sets it apart for participants (and, therefore, potential recipients of the tombstones.)

But What’s an Appropriate Budget for Your Awards?

So why is all this important to a discussion of ways to save money on financial tombstones?

Because how you approach or modify your tombstone budget should take these factors into account. A finance award celebrating, for example, a firm’s first foray into life sciences could be great for recognizing internal participants.

But the deal’s significance in that regard also makes that commemorative a highly effective marketing tool for the firm (or group) as well going forward.

This potential return on an award should be kept in mind as you consider if, and where, budgets might be trimmed on a specific deal. That said, you’ll still always want to spend money wisely, as well as strategically.

This post will offer some ideas on saving money on tombstones—on a general basis. As you review the tips below, keep in mind the goal of not only saving money, but also getting the most out of the overall spend on your specific transaction.

5 Money-Saving Tips for Finance Awards

1) Consider Aggregating Transactions

There are several recurring situations in which budget concerns can become especially daunting. One is when a firm (or group) is considering starting (or resuming) a tombstone award program. One common hurdle is that there’s a backlog of accumulated deals, or there are a number of relatively small deals in that backlog.

One solution is to combine deals in a single design.

As shown below, this format can not only combine deals in a single piece, it can also bring focus and coherence to a deal backlog. You might combine in a single design, for instance, deals from the same year, or the same region.

The marketing impact of graveyard pieces like this can be considerable. They can also be used to showcase transactions done on behalf of a certain client, or in an area/sector in which your firm is looking to establish (or showcase) its experience and expertise.

2) Choose Appropriate Materials

If you’re trying to stay within a well-defined budget, certain award materials aren’t likely to be a good choice. Almost all awards and tombstones involve some degree of set-up (fixed) costs. But for certain materials, namely pewter and resin, those set-up costs can be especially steep.

Both pewter and resin undoubtedly have their virtues, but they should be avoided if your budget is tight. Consider materials such as crystal or Lucite instead.

3) Keep Designs Simple (Though Not Necessarily Boring)

It may seem almost self-evident that simpler designs tend to be less expensive. (The only additional consideration here is size: larger pieces tend to be more expensive than smaller ones.)

But that doesn’t mean your simpler, “standard” design has to look meager or lackluster.

The gallery shown below, for instance, includes just a few essentially “basic” shapes. For other examples of standard-shaped designs with some cachet, check out our post on variations of basic designs, especially for some more expensive possible alternatives.

4) Consider a Signature Finance Award Design

If you have a slightly longer time horizon in mind in terms of cutting costs, you may want to consider a signature award or tombstone design. A standard, recurring design like this can have several advantages for your firm or group.

First, a signature award can save you money–particularly in the form of reduced set-up costs on future projects. Secondly, the design’s recognizability can have considerable marketing value (especially if that design plays off, or incorporates, a logo or some other aspect of your firm’s branding.)

Finally, a signature award can save you considerable time, a commodity that should always be taken into account when calculating “costs”.

5) Recognize Incremental Costs (and Value)

As noted above, even a small order can incur some set-up costs. So if you’re going to incur those costs, be sure you’re minimizing them. Obviously, even with a small quantity, each additional piece further amortizes those set-up costs (and reduces the price per piece). Therefore, if you expect to need extra pieces at some future time, for instance, to display in a conference room, reception area, or other offices, you should add those to your initial order.

Why not just order those additonal pieces sometime in the future as needed? You could. The only drawback is that the award firms tend to have different set-up policies. Most firms will keep your artwork in their system for years, but after a certain period after your order, you may be required to incur some set-up costs again. Make sure you’re aware of your options here early on.

Save Money on Finance Awards at The Corporate Presence

Over the course of 40+ year The Corporate Presence has accumulated a good deal of insight into how clients can contain costs on awards. In fact, over the years we’ve devoted a number of posts over the years to specific tops such as saving money on rush orders, and reducing costs (and anxiety) for those orders involving closing dinners and other deadlines.

See how we can help you implement some of the cost-cutting strategies above, as well as some others not mentioned here. Get the ordering process started. Reach out to us today.

David Parry is the Director of Digital Strategy for The Corporate Presence, and for Prestige Custom Awards, a designer and provider of custom awards, ranging from creative employee and client recognition pieces to the N.F.L. Commissioner’s Awards, and ESPN’s ESPY awards.