A thoughtful gift sent to a client not only sheds a positive light on the corporation that is doing the sending, but it also gives the sender a perfect reason to reach out to the recipient and initiate a conversation. Contacting your client to confirm that they have received your gift and to just generally touch base is a great lead in to a conversation about new services that your company now offers or discounts that you are willing to provide. At this point your client already associates you as willing to take care of their needs and in turn they will be even more willing to engage your services.
Remember, the act of sending a gift to a client is just as important as the gift itself. Corporate gift giving must remain on a generic, non-personal level in order to be successful. Sending a gift that is too personal or extremely targeted such as gender specific items or things that would only interest certain people can not only send the wrong message, but they can even seem offensive to the recipient. This is the exact opposite of your gift giving goals – you want to make your client feel important, yet you also want to be sure that you don’t overstep the confines of a business relationship and make the gift too personal.
Food items are a great choice for corporate gift giving. Things like popcorn and chocolates are perfect because they appeal to a majority of people. They can also be shared around the client’s office which gives you the opportunity to impress more than just your client contact. Charming the masses is a mail goal of any corporate gift campaign. Bite-sized handmade chocolates will definitely do the trick, as will large portions of gourmet popcorn in a variety of flavors including chocolate covered popcorn. These types of treats remain fresh for fairly long periods of time, can easily be shared with colleagues and office visitors and can be ordered in packaging that is appropriate to the season.
Don’t miss the opportunity to promote your business when sending a corporate gift to your client list. Be sure that the company that provides the gift giving service to you will also include a card or label on the package that includes your logo, some words of sentiment, and your contact information so there is no confusion over who has sent the gift to your client. After all, sending a gift to your client is part of your marketing plan so it should include some marketing information. Using the gift’s card to thank your client for their business is often the theme for most companies that engage in gift giving to their clients, and others use the opportunity to give discounts on future orders or to simply wish the client a safe and happy holiday season.
Be sure to choose a reputable retailer when ordering your corporate gifts. It’s important that your gifts are delivered when you expect so that you can follow-up with the client by phone with the pretense that you are checking to be sure they received the gift. Your phone call may go awry if the intended gift has not yet arrived at the time of your phone call. This could be detrimental to your relationship with your client, especially if the client does not currently spend a considerable amount of money with you. In turn, it could be even worse if the client does constitute a good portion of your business by basically portraying the image that you failed to check whether the gift was delivered and the client is simply another phone call on a list of phone calls that must be made. All clients want to feel important and it is imperative that you treat each and every one as such. But it is paramount that a very important client that is responsible for a sizable portion of your profits be treated with extreme care.
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