March 15, 2018
Business gifting is an art form that, when done correctly, can drastically increase sales while letting clients know how much they are appreciated. Sending a gift to clients to say thank you is something that is simple but elevates your business to a new level. When sending business gifts, think of the classic questions: Who, What, and When.
When? As you think business gifting, you might think of a break room in December stuffed floor to ceiling with boxes of food gifts for employees to graze. I encourage you to think outside of the typical “holiday” model of gifting. Why should gifts have to be sent during one month? In fact, it might help you to stand out, and show your gratitude to clients, to send a gift at a different time of the year.
Even Forbes suggests sending gifts at unexpected times of the year. Why not send a Thanksgiving gift, something for Valentines Day, or even National Client’s Day (March 19th)? We recommend sending a gift at a different time of the year as it will help your business to stand out from the pile of holiday gift boxes... and result in a more memorable gift for your clients.
Who? To whom will you be sending gifts? All employees? Clients? Others? A helpful place to start is determining the budget for gifts as a whole and breaking the budget down by group and then dividing the group budget by number of people in the group. This might look something like…
Employees (8): $250 = $31 per employee
Clients (50): $2000 = $40 per client
What? Once a budget per person or group has been established, the next step is to think about what you’ll be sending out. For employees, food gifts are one of the most popular tangible gifts. Part of this is because food gifts come in a variety of options to fit just about any budget. Not to mention bulk ordering for each employee is easy with most any service.
When it comes to clients, a consideration should be “am I thanking an individual or a group”? If you’re thanking a group, like a team or a small company, the gift should be sharable to ensure that no one gets left out (a major gifting faux pas). Adding a card noting that the gift is to all and thanking the group as a whole ensures that each person is included and feels equally appreciated.
While your business gift might be to genuinely thank a client or employee for their work or business, a hope would be to generate future business for your company. By sending an amazing gift at a unique time of year, clients will remember your company and think of you with the sweetest of sentiments.