Gift Well or Don’t Gift at All
Posted by AndyM on December 2, 2008 under Business Growth | 
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Why Give Gifts to Clients?
We’re all just recovering from the all-out eating fest. Now it’s time to get serious. It’s time to not only figure out what gifts to get friends and family this holiday season, but what to get YOUR CLIENTS too. How much to spend, where to draw the line on recipients…there is no right answer.
Much of what I do with my clients is shine a light on practices that they currently perform out of habit. Why advertise in the publications they’ve been advertising in for years, why target the current customer segment (or why is there no particular target in mind)?
So this holiday season, I recommend you ask yourselves this question — why am I really sending gifts to my clients? There are good reasons and not-so-good reasons. Here are a few tips to have in mind:
- Check to see if they can accept gifts. If you have corporate or government clients they may be restricted. If the organization’s web site doesn’t publish their policy, have an administrative assistant or other employee call on your behalf and ask the question.
- Make it personal. Assuming you’re thinking about a short list of your top clients, put some thought into what each individual may appreciate. A generic gift stands a greater chance of coming off as a selfish wish that you will get more business. If you have a long list of clients in mind, rethink your plan. A card may actually be more appreciated.
- Avoid unwelcome gifts. Avoid anything of a sexual connotation, such as lingerie for a woman. Also, it’s best to avoid food or alcohol that may conflict with their beliefs or dietary preferences. When you add up people who do not drink alcohol, have nut allergies, or follow Kosher rules, you’ve got a significant portion of the population.
Great ideas abound on the Internet, so I won’t list specific gifts here. Do some searches, but start by thinking about the recipient and what clues you already have about their hobbies and interests.
The Best Gift Idea for This Year
Okay, so above I indicated that I wouldn’t bore you with specific ideas — I lied. What is one of the best gifts you can give your clients? Un-matchable service throughout the coming year; the kind of service that will make THEM want to give YOU a holiday gift next year. How will you know what you need to do for that kind of appreciation? You gotta ask them.
But wait, I thought this was about giving, not asking! Here’s what you do:
- Pick your top customers; the ones you’d like to keep forever, do more business with, and clone if you could.
- Write a thoughtful letter thanking them for supporting your business. In this letter, indicate that their honest input about how you could provide better service, a more useful mix of products, etc., would be extremely valuable in your pursuit of excellence.
- Include a survey with questions about their experience with you, your staff, your products, which of your competitors they also patronize, etc. Give them opportunities to write about their experiences.
- Close your letter by indicating that in exchange for their returned survey, you will make a charitable donation of $10 or $25 in their name to one of two or three charities that you list (ask them to check their preference on the survey).
Your survey response rate will be high and your customers will feel better about you and themselves than they would if you gave them a gift card or other generic present. Moreover, you will set up the perfect follow-up in a month or so — a personal card confirming how much you raised for the charity they chose and thanking them for their support of your business and the worthy cause they chose.
If you don’t have the kind of business with a few key clients, you can easily adapt this idea. Just use a shorter survey and a lower value donation and send it out via email to a broader group. After you make the donations, just let everybody know the totals that were raised. You and your customers will like the results.
Bottom Line
If the whole topic of giving gifts to your clients is stressful, you’re not on the right track. What has their business meant to you and your family? Start there, give sincere appreciation, and you can’t go wrong.
