Corporate Holiday Gift Giving: The Season for Brand Building

The holidays are approaching, and so is your chance to build your brand by putting your company name back in front of past clients, reach out to current clients whose business you’d like to keep, and to say “thank you” to all of the associates who help sustain your small business throughout the year.

Essentially, brand building refers to creating a set of customer expectations which your company fulfills, how you differ from your competitors, and what you can offer a client that is unique. When building your brand, you are creating higher standards for your company. The client gift provides for a personalized customer touch point – a chance for you to get your company name in front of the client. Whenever you present yourself to clients in the form of a touch point, you must ensure that it is done so in a premeditated and impeccable manner. Therefore, client gift giving isn’t as easy as sending a box of chocolates to your client list. It takes thought, reflection and planning – so get an early start! Gail Iwaniak, president and chief stuffologist of Presence Incorporated, meets with several dedicated gift giving clients as early as summer’s end.

“We review the previous year, their budget parameters, their client/employee list and then I go to work,” said Gail. Gail opened Presence Incorporated in 1989 and has helped business owners find the perfect holiday gift to market and build business relationships ever since. Presence Incorporated’s online catalog contains over 900,000 corporate gift and promotional items.

The List

Because most small business budgets don’t allow you to play Mr. Kringle by giving every business contact a handpicked gift item, you must carefully choose those business relationships that are essential to acknowledge in order to further your brand. So let’s begin by creating your gift-giving list.

Your list should include:

• Former clients you haven’t worked with in several months. Not every past client should make the list. Consider what type of work you did for this client and the duration of this business relationship. Can you think of ways you can help this client in the future through your services? If so, by sending them a gift with a personalized note, you can help them remember your business and its services and ways you can help them profit in the new year.

• Current clients who have a substantial financial impact on your business. Your biggest clients should receive special attention year round, and the holidays are no exception. These gifts should be thoughtful and build on the relationship you already have established.

• Clients whose business you’ve had for many years. Those long-term clients that helped get your business going in your start-up phase should be thanked for sticking around. Chances are that you’ve learned a lot about this client over the many years you have worked with them, so use this holiday gift as a way to highlight that relationship. Are you aware your client loves baseball? Perhaps give them a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat.

• The support staff that keeps your business going. Don’t forget your accountant, lawyer, public relations firm, etc. when giving gifts. They help you with the necessities of your business that you don’t have time (or expertise) to handle. The holiday season is a great time to say thanks!

“Everyone loves to feel appreciated during the holiday season, especially employees and clients,” said Gail.

The Gift

Once you’ve made your list and checked it twice, you now must focus on the type of gift you will give to each client. You don’t want to send a gift that is too expensive, as it may appear extravagant and may make the receiver feel uncomfortable; yet, neither do you want to come off as a Scrooge.

“Food gifts continue to be the most popular during the holiday season. With food gifts, there is no guessing as to whether the recipient will like the gift or not; everyone likes food. Other best sellers include leather tote bags, leather garment bags, crystal or glass ornaments and wine accessory sets,” said Susan Baker, president of Tastefully Yours, Inc. With their early beginnings in the gift giving industry specializing in corporate gift baskets, Tastefully Yours is approaching their 10-year anniversary. Today, Tastefully Yours’ main specialty is gift items with company logos.

When choosing a gift, think of these themes as options:

• A gift that relates to the project you undertook for the client. This gift will then serve as a reminder of the many ways you facilitated the project’s success.

• An addition to a collection. By building strong business relationships with your clients throughout the year, you can learn many interesting tidbits that can help you during the gift purchasing process – take note of them. By sending a gift with personal meaning, your client will know that you took the time to learn about him/her and value the relationship.

• A gift that can be inscribed with your company’s logo. Because the holidays are the perfect time to build your brand, send practical gifts inscribed with your logo such as desk sets, clocks or paperweights. For those with a tighter holiday budget, choose wrapping that includes your logo and company colors.

• A gift that the client can use during their day-to-day activities. Practical gifts stay in your clients’ offices longer, increasing the duration of the gift’s impact.

• Foodstuffs that can be shared among the entire office staff. Instead of sending each office member a gift, think about sending a fruit basket or cookie tray. This will keep you within your budget and show an entire office that you appreciate their business or the job they do for you.

Still unsure of what to present to your clients? According to both Gail and Susan, the biggest trend this year has been the environmentally friendly gift.

“We’ve sold environmentally friendly USB drives, organic cotton shirts, organic cotton bags, travel mugs from recycled materials, corn-based ink pens, water-powered clocks, holiday cards that can be planted to grow flowers … the options are endless with the eco friendly,” said Susan.

Timing

“Some clients prefer to give their holiday gifts at Thanksgiving, while others choose to give them as New Year’s gifts. This way, they don’t get lost with all the other gifts being received during the month of December,” said Gail.

The Wrap-up

While you are brainstorming gift ideas, put some creative muscle behind your holiday greeting card as well. ProMoter helps clients build their brand by designing specialized messages and images that take center stage in clients’ reception area displays.

You can also order cards specific to certain industries. For example, Cardphile Inc. (www.cardphile.com) offers notecards, calendars and greeting cards for constuction-related businesses.

As a small business owner, the importance of branding is great; in fact, it is your livelihood. While many other obligations are running through your head during the holiday season, it is important not to miss out on this convenient opportunity to build your brand while showing your appreciation to clients. So this holiday season, be sure that a snowman isn’t the only thing you build, and work on building your brand!