SMEs and Client Christmas Gifts – should we or shouldn’t we?
By Jo Macdermott
As a small business owner, I understand the difficulty in determining whether to give clients gifts at this time of year. In my previous life as a corporate Marketing Manager, I received many gifts, some of which were good while others were just…. Now that I have my own business, I have been wondering what I should do for my clients this silly season. Here are some of my ideas.
What did you give last year?
The first step in determining your potential shopping list is referring back to the notes you made last year about which clients received what gifts. If you don’t have any notes from last year, I would recommend starting to keep notes now. It might also be helpful to note what gifts your clients received from other suppliers, even if only to give you some ideas for the following year.
Who are my customers?
The next step is to complete a review of your current client database. If you don’t have a database, start now. From your database, make a list of people who you think are eligible for a gift this year. To narrow down my own selection, I used the following three criteria:
1) Level of support/sales during 2008
2) The extent to which I wanted to work with them in 2009
3) Whether or not they will receive gifts from other suppliers.
Why did I include the third criteria? If you have clients who are likely to receive gifts from other suppliers, and those clients are important to you, then include them on your shopping list. You really don’t want to be seen as the ‘no gifts this year’ supplier.
The gift that falls apart
Have you ever received a plastic pen that ran out of ink and broke within a few days of receiving it? Were you impressed? Purchasing quality and lasting gifts are a good reflection of your brand as well as on ongoing reminder of your business. In my opinion, if you can’t afford high quality promotional gifts, save your money and buy something better next year.
Five inexpensive ideas for gifts this year
- Tea (Coffee) drinkers – choose a gift from a retailer such as T2, a specialist tea company. They have great packs and quirky ideas that would impress even the fussiest of tea drinks.
- Wine drinkers – purchase a pocket book on award winning wines for 2008. Present the client with the book, as well as one of the wines featured in the book.
- Holidaymakers – if your client is heading to the beach for holidays, choose a magazine that is tailored to his/her age group/interests that would be great summer reading.
- People driving long distances – if your client is driving long distances over this summer season, create a pack of muesli bars/snacks from a premium manufacturer like Carman’s. If they have children, tailor the gift for the entire family with Freddo or Kinder surprise treats.
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Give to charity – if you are really stuck for a great gift idea, tell your client in your Christmas card that you are giving to a charity on their behalf. Send out a co-branded email in January from the charity and your company, explaining what the money donated has been used for. This also gives you an opportunity to contact your clients in the New Year and be top of mind. Another Win! Win! situation
If you do choose option five, make sure you do actually give to charity. I have known of instances where companies have claimed they were giving to charity but never actually did so. As a client, I was quite annoyed, not because I had missed out on a gift, but because I had been misled.
Start planning early
December is a really busy month. My experience suggests that you won’t get really great gifts at the last minute and for the sake of your clients, brand and reputation; start planning as soon as possible to ensure that you get great gifts, ideally suited to your client at a price that won’t destroy your cash flow!
No budget this year?
If you simply don’t have the budget for gifts this year, buy the best Christmas cards that you can afford and write a personalised message to your selected clients. Send them in the first week of December so that yours is the first to arrive this silly season. By doing so, you most likely have ‘got in first’ and aren’t competing with other cards/gifts that arrive on the same day.
If nothing else, the more you know your clients, then the easier the end of year gift selection process should be.
Good luck gift hunting in 2008 and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like a recommendation for a gift supplier this year.