Stop! Just STOP! Wasting your money on corporate gifts that don’t work!
If you think that it’s only the intention that counts when giving the corporate gifts to your customer then it is not true. Every customer loves the high-quality corporate gift which is useful as well. To leave a proper impression on your customer’s mind it is important that you select a gift that looks appealing to your customers. Your gift will showcase who you are and what your business does, so exercising forethought is crucial for selecting your corporate gift.
Offering a bad corporate gift can be highly damaging for your business, as it will not leave a long-lasting impact on your customer. It is really important that you plan ahead the gifts that you are going to offer to your customer as recognition of all the trust that they have placed in your business. You can select a good impressive gift even if your budget is low by just being creative.
Gifts that you should avoid at any cost:
1. Cheap gifts – If the gift that you are offering looks cheap and inexpensive then the whole idea of giving gifts is a waste. Your customer really needs appreciation from your side and corporate gifting is one of the easiest ways to show gratitude. Don’t make it an opportunity to lose all the trust that you have built over the years. By offering cheap gifts you are losing your only chance to impress your customers. A cheap gift will tarnish your goodwill among your customers.
2. Gifts that are too personal – One of the biggest mistakes that a business can make while selecting the gift is choosing an item which is too personal for your professional relationship. While it shows that you tried really very hard to know what your customer wants, it also shows that you crossed your professional boundaries. It might go awfully wrong for your business and you may regret it in the future. Always follow the code of professionalism.
3. Avoiding the interest of your customers – When you are in a business you should know the interest of your customers. It is a good way to build a relationship with them. Before selecting a gift for your customers, trying to know about their hobbies is a good idea. Find out whether they love any sports or is there a specific wine that is their favourite. You cannot gift a woman a Columbian cigar! An example of a good gift will be tickets to a sport or music event which your customer would love to see. By knowing about the choices of your customers you can select the best gifts and your customer will also appreciate the hard work that you did in making the selection of the gift.
4. With or without logo – It is your decision if you want to put your brand name on the gift or not. Every business owner loves to see the logo of his business on the gifts but it should depend on the gift that you have selected. It is better to put your logo in less expensive items like mugs, pens, keychain etc but it comes to more expensive items you should refrain from putting it. If you have selected a good a gift that there is no need to leave a logo on it, your customer will remember it.
5. Promotional gifts – Giving promotional gifts to your customer is not a good idea. Sometimes business owners send their own gift cards. This appears as a marketing tactic to your customer. If your customer thinks that your gift is only for promotional gains then the entire purpose of giving a gift will become pointless.
6. Making insensitive choices – It’s not necessary that your customer follows the same religion that you follow. Some may have different religious preferences. While giving gifts you should keep this in mind. Offering gifts that your customer cannot accept can create a lot of tension. Avoid such situation by knowing your customer’s choices. Show your appreciation by selecting the gift that honours their preferences.
7. Useless and outdated gifts – People don’t use mousepad, stress ball and wall calendar these days so there is no point in gifting them to your customers. Money spent on useless and outdated gifts is just a waste. Additionally, it also leaves a bad impression on the customers. Choosing a valuable gift that your customer will actually love leaves a powerful impact on your customer.
Other than selecting the gift, the timing of delivering the gift is also important. Most of the companies like giving gifts on holidays but this is proved that offering gifts other times of the year have greater impacts. Making a note of the important dates like birthdays and anniversary of the customer and delivering the gift at that time shows that you care for your customer's important dates.
Another important thing that affects your business is how you deliver your gift to the customer. The best way to deliver your gift is to hand deliver it but in this busy world, this is not possible. So the second best choice is to hire a company that can drop your gift to the recipient’s address with an attached gift card. Don’t include bills and the cost of delivery in the gift package. If you are embossing your company’s logo then calculate in advance how much time the imprinting process will take. Other than that there will be shipping time too. It’s always good to tell your delivery company when you want your gift delivered by. A gift that is delivered late can be a big embarrassment for your business. So discuss in advance with the delivery company about the time that they will take to process the shipment.
Giving corporate gifts is not very difficult but to make it perfect you need to determine your audience, goals, and budget. Try to be more creative in selecting the gift and you will see that your customer will start appreciating your business.