A Different Way to Think About Customer Gifts

As the holidays continue their unstoppable march toward us, you might be thinking about corporate gifts. (Even if you’ve already placed your order, bookmark this to consider for another time; in fact, go ahead and schedule a time right now to surprise and delight your clients with an unexpected gift.) Pause and think about what your customer would like rather than:

• What’s convenient for you

• What you’ve always done

• Something with your logo on it

If you have the time or mental energy to disrupt your corporate gifting, and you make the gifts about what your customer wants, I guarantee they will remember it – and you – with fondness. And that’s what you want, right? Otherwise, why bother?

Your corporate gifts should be as strategic as anything else that you do to convey your value to and your care for your clients and partners. In fact, I’d argue that a throwaway tin of grocery store cookies will undermine the work you’ve done all year, causing something to think – even for a moment – “huh, I thought we were closer than that.”

So, maintain and strengthen your key relationships this year, and gift with intent.