Corporate Gift Giving

What makes a good business gift?

Thoughtfulness, practicality, uniqueness and personalization are the most important attributes of a good gift.

Giving a gift helps incorporate a personal element into your professional relationships.  Every business knows that the best customer they could ever get is the one they already have.  Gifts appeal to the emotional side versus the intellectual side of business relationships.  Remember, gift-giving with sincerity and kindness is never in bad taste.

Why Give Gifts

It is an excellent way to build or maintain business relations, whether with an important client or a valued employee.  Corporate gift giving can offer profound rewards for both parties when practiced appropriately.  A thoughtful remembrance can build a fortune of goodwill between associates and clients.  The key to successful gift giving lies in the intent and approach of the giver. Giving also makes us feel good. 

It's good business to let your customers and suppliers know how much you appreciate their continued support all year long.  While the holiday season is the standard time of the year for corporate gift giving, many other occasions merit gift giving and will make an impact on the recipient.  Your relationships with valued customers and suppliers can be strengthened by the selection of the perfect gift at the unexpected time. 

To Promote

·         A company’s products or services

To Show Appreciation To:

·         A hard-working employee

·         A client for new or continued business

·         Someone who has referred business to you

To Celebrate or Congratulate:

·         A business anniversary

·         The birth of a baby

·         A birthday

·         A retirement

·         A new job or promotion

·         Completion of an important project

·         The opening of a new office

To Motivate or Encourage:

·         Employees facing boring, unpleasant or difficult tasks

·         An ill client or employee

Expert Advice

For the uninitiated and even the experienced, corporate gift giving can be a daunting task. If done correctly, it can leave a positive, lasting impression on the recipient.

Good Gift / Bad Gift

Cash isn’t the only gift item that can swing perilously between good gift and bad gift. Merchandise with a Logo, for example, can make fine gifts depending on the nature of the item and its quality. Yet throwing a logo on everything and anything can end up looking cheap and tasteless.   

Etiquette to Remember in Gift Giving

Appropriateness

Keep in mind the closeness of the business relationship. If you have a client who is not particularly open or friendly, do not think that by sending a gift the individual will loosen up. This often backfires. Be careful not to create the wrong impression with a gift. Avoid extravagant gifts that could be misinterpreted as bribery. It is important that the recipient not feel uncomfortable when accepting the gift.

The Do’s of Corporate Gift Giving

Considering the emotional appeal of food and beverage products, they can make the perfect complement to your sales efforts. And sending out food and beverage presents for less gift oriented occasions will insure that your present won’t be one of hundreds.

Personalizing corporate gifts can be an effective attention getter simply because not everyone does it. Including a logo on the gift card or as part of the package can reap greater benefits than spending hundreds of dollars to have your brand etched into crystal, for example. Many a logo-bearing gift can be found in yard sales nationwide. Let the quality of your gift be what they remember about you.

Presentation

Nice wrapping paper and presentation are very important.
Remember to enclose a personal note with the gift.