Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Elite Core lets you prepare estimates and customer-facing product presentations. Rather than emailing a bare list of item numbers, you can organize product choices into something a customer can actually review, then move the project forward when they are ready.

A good promo quote includes more than the price of the blank item. Check quantity breaks, decoration setup and run charges, shipping, taxes where applicable, and your target margin. A shirt at one quantity can have a very different unit cost at another—especially once a multi-colour imprint is added. Elite Core keeps product and decoration details in the sales workflow to help you build a more complete estimate.

Use (selling price − direct cost) ÷ selling price × 100. If an order sells for $1,000 and its direct costs total $650, the gross margin is 35%. Remember to include relevant product, decoration, and freight costs; overlooking a charge can make a healthy-looking deal much less healthy. Elite Core displays booked margin to help teams review the numbers during sales workflows.

They use different starting points. Markup is profit divided by cost; margin is profit divided by selling price. If a product costs $60 and sells for $100, the $40 difference is a 66.7% markup but a 40% margin. Mixing these up is an easy way to misprice a promotional order.

Yes. Decoration can involve setup fees, run charges, different imprint methods, and multiple artwork locations. Elite Core supports decoration information and charges alongside products, so the sales process can account for more than the cost of the blank merchandise. That matters when the logo work is a major part of the job.

Yes. A presentation is useful when a customer knows they need branded merchandise but has not chosen the exact item. Elite Core lets you assemble product options for review, then use the approved choices as the project moves into estimating or ordering. It is a more helpful conversation than sending ten separate product links.

Yes. A customer might approve the product but ask for a different colour, quantity, or delivery detail. Elite Core supports change requests and revised sales documents, so your team can make the adjustment and obtain the right approval before moving ahead.

Yes. In Elite Core, an estimate can be converted into a sales order when the project is ready. The goal is to carry the agreed product and order details forward rather than build the same job twice. Review the final quantities, pricing, addresses, and artwork before sending it on.

Start by looking at the customer’s previous project: which products were chosen, how they were decorated, and how the order was fulfilled. Elite Core keeps customer and project information connected, making it easier to reference the earlier job while preparing the new one. Still verify stock, supplier pricing, artwork, and delivery dates—last year’s details may have changed.

The best prevention is catching missing information before the order reaches a supplier. Confirm product variants, quantities, billing and shipping addresses, decoration instructions, and customer approval. Elite Core uses guided order workflows and validation steps to help teams identify gaps earlier, when they are much easier to fix.

Yes. Elite Core offers a guided customer sales order review where the customer can approve the order or request changes. The experience can also include artwork approval and deposit steps when applicable. This helps establish what was approved before purchasing and production proceed.

An artwork proof shows how a logo or design is intended to appear on the product before decoration begins. It is the moment to inspect placement, sizing, spelling, and other visible details. Catching a typo on a proof is a lot cheaper than discovering it after 500 items have been printed.

Keep the proof attached to the order, give the customer a clear approval step, and track revisions rather than relying on an email that says “looks good.” Elite Core supports proof uploads, change requests, approvals, and completion statuses. Teams can see whether artwork is waiting for the customer or ready for the next internal step.

Yes. Some orders need more than one logo location—for example, a left-chest imprint plus a sleeve design. Elite Core’s guided proofing flow can support approval of the complete package or individual locations, so the customer knows exactly what they are signing off on.

Keep the latest proof and its approval status associated with the correct order and decoration location. If a customer requests an adjustment, that should be visible as a change request instead of being mistaken for a final approval. Elite Core’s artwork workflow helps distinguish pending review, approved work, and work that still needs attention.

Approved means the relevant proof has been accepted. Proofing Complete is a separate internal milestone indicating the proofing work has been finished and handed forward. Elite Core keeps these stages distinct so a customer approval is not confused with an artwork team member finishing their production preparation.

Yes. A distributor may purchase blank items from one supplier and have another company embroider or print them. Elite Core includes decoration, purchasing, and supplier/decorator shipping information to help coordinate that handoff. Accurate destinations and artwork details are especially important when merchandise does not ship straight to the customer.

One customer order might include shirts from one supplier, drinkware from another, and a decorator handling the imprint. Elite Core connects the supplier purchase orders to the customer project so purchasing can follow each part separately while the sales team retains the bigger picture.

Yes. Elite Core can generate supplier purchase orders using sales order details. That reduces repeated entry, but purchasing should still confirm supplier instructions, quantities, delivery routes, and any artwork requirements before submission. A purchase order is where the customer promise becomes a supplier instruction.

Elite Core’s purchasing views show where purchase orders stand, including stages such as Created, Submitted, Confirmed, Follow Up, Partially Received, and Received. Instead of asking “Did we send that PO?”, your team can look at the workflow and focus attention on items that need follow-up.

Yes, in supported workflows. If a customer changes an order, Elite Core can regenerate a purchase order while respecting applicable approval, proofing, and purchasing controls. Always review the revised document before sending it—suppliers need to know exactly what changed.

Say 240 tumblers were ordered but only 200 arrived. That job should not be marked fully received. Elite Core supports partial receiving and quantity variance details so teams can record what arrived, identify what is outstanding, and keep the remaining units visible.

A production board is most useful when it answers two questions: What is ready? and What is holding us up? Elite Core includes production workflow views and connects them with artwork and purchasing information, helping staff identify jobs waiting on proofs, supplies, or the next production step.

Yes. Elite Core uses customer billing and shipping information in sales and fulfillment workflows. An order may have a billing address, a different final destination, and potentially a decorator or supplier destination along the way. Keeping those addresses clear helps prevent an expensive delivery mistake.

Yes. A promotional order may ship from the supplier directly to the customer or through a decorator first. Elite Core supports supplier and decorator shipping details, allowing teams to document the intended route rather than assuming every item follows the same path.

Work backward from the customer’s required in-hands date. Allow time for proof approval, supplier processing, decoration, transit, and a little contingency. Elite Core keeps delivery dates and order statuses within connected workflows, making it easier to spot issues early—but accurate dates still depend on timely supplier updates.

Elite Core includes invoicing within the order workflow, so billing is connected to the job rather than managed in isolation. Confirm the order amount, applicable taxes, deposit terms, and invoice status before treating the sale as settled. Finance and sales can then reference the same project context.

Yes. Some orders require an upfront deposit before purchasing proceeds. Elite Core supports deposit invoices and payment-readiness checks in applicable workflows, so the team can see whether the required payment step has been satisfied instead of relying on a verbal “the customer paid.”

Yes. Elite Core supports QuickBooks Online-related finance workflows, including invoice exports. That can help connect operational order details with accounting processes. The precise export behaviour, permissions, and setup depend on your configuration, so it is worth confirming your desired workflow during onboarding.

Yes. Elite Core has configurable commission settings, including workflows based on sales roles and booked margin. This is useful when more than one person contributes to an account or order. The company controls its commission rules rather than relying on someone to recalculate every sale in a spreadsheet.

Yes. Elite Core stores customer records, contacts, and addresses used across sales and fulfillment. That matters when one organization has several buyers, billing contacts, or shipping locations. The goal is to keep people and places associated with the right customer and project, not scattered through individual inboxes.

Absolutely. Elite Core supports sales, purchasing, production, shipping, finance, and administrative roles with permissions suited to their responsibilities. Sales can focus on the customer while purchasing handles suppliers, without everybody needing identical access to every setting.

At minimum, watch sales, booked margin, unpaid invoices, purchase orders requiring follow-up, and orders progressing through fulfillment. These measures tell different parts of the story: revenue is not the same as profit, and an order sold is not necessarily an order delivered. Elite Core provides reporting and operational views to help teams check the health of their work.

A company store is a branded storefront built around a particular organization’s merchandise. Think approved employee apparel, event swag, or a customer’s recurring branded essentials—not an endless general catalogue. Elite Core PromoStores supports these curated programs.

Start with the program: who is ordering, which items are approved, how they are paid for, and where orders should ship. Then select products and branding that fit the audience. PromoStores provides the storefront component for managed branded merchandise programs, including supported ordering and employee purchasing options.

Yes. Supported PromoStores programs can provide employees with points or wallet balances to put toward approved merchandise. For example, a company can allocate a merchandise allowance and let employees choose items from a curated store. The exact payment and wallet options depend on the store configuration.

Yes. PromoStores can be configured for organization-specific merchandise collections and employee ordering experiences. That makes it practical to offer approved apparel and gifts in one place rather than repeatedly emailing employees a new order form.

A public promotional products site helps shoppers explore a broad range of branded items. A company store is narrower by design: it offers a selected collection for one organization’s employees, customers, or program participants. PromoStores is intended for those tailored merchandise experiences.

Successful programs start with a defined product assortment, clear branding, ordering rules, and a fulfillment plan. PromoStores gives distributors a way to offer a customer-specific storefront for that collection. It is particularly useful for recurring needs such as onboarding gifts, employee apparel, and seasonal merchandise.

Yes. Supplier connections help distributors use product information while preparing presentations, estimates, orders, and purchasing details. Elite Core supports supplier and catalogue-related workflows; the specific sources and available fields depend on the integration. Confirm those details before designing a process around live supplier data.

Elite Core supports workflows using ASI product data for promotional product research and sales preparation. ASI information can help bring product details into the sales process, but available data and setup requirements depend on your integration configuration. Ask which ASI capabilities are enabled for your account.

ASI stands for the Advertising Specialty Institute, a well-known source of promotional product information and industry resources. Elite Core can use ASI-related product data within distributor workflows. For a sales rep, the useful part is moving from finding a potential item to preparing a customer-facing selection without losing track of the order details.

Elite Core supports supplier and product-data workflows, including ASI-related information. The promotional industry also uses standards such as PromoStandards to structure data exchanges. A standard existing does not automatically mean every supplier endpoint is connected, so ask the team which specific integrations and data types are available.

Elite Core provides supplier and product-related tools, including import-oriented workflows. The important question is not simply whether a catalogue can be imported, but which details are usable afterward—such as product descriptions, variations, pricing, and sourcing information. Available fields and supported sources should be confirmed for your account.

Bring a real example, not just a feature checklist. Ask to see a quote become a sales order, a customer approve artwork, purchasing create supplier POs, and finance handle the invoice. Then introduce a complication—perhaps a changed quantity or partial receipt. That is the fastest way to understand how Elite Core fits the way your team actually works.

There is no universal timeline. A small team with clean customer data and simple processes will have different needs from a multi-department distributor importing years of records and connecting accounting tools. The practical first step is to review your data, roles, integrations, and order workflow with the Elite Core team so implementation can be scoped realistically.

Elite Core includes customer import tools to help bring customer information into the platform. Before importing, review duplicate records, contact emails, addresses, and sales rep assignments. A careful test import is much easier to correct than discovering hundreds of duplicate customers after everyone starts using the system.

Visit the Elite Core Client Support page for contact details and support request options. Including the relevant project or order, what you were trying to do, and any error message helps the team understand the issue faster.

Reach out through the Elite Core website and tell us a little about your business—team size, typical orders, current challenges, and integrations you care about. We can focus the conversation on the workflows that matter to you, rather than walking through screens you may never use.