Client Gift Ideas
The holiday season will soon be upon us and the time to think about celebrating your clients is now, before the rush descends. Here are the top five ways to celebrate your clients in a personal, professional way this holiday season:
1. Personal Notes
Depending on the size of your client base, nothing says you care more than sending a personal note to clients. In the note you can include something you really enjoy about your relationship with them, something they’re really good at, or something you’ve appreciated about your interactions over the past year. Though there are services to help you create personalized notes, even some that use your own handwriting template, try a simple handwritten, hand addressed note instead.
2. Small Items
Many businesses like to give branded apparel or stationery items to their clients for the holidays; rather than taking a blanket approach, take a bit of time to find out what clients really need and send them a non-branded item instead. They’ll remember who sent it whether or not your logo is on it and they’re more likely to wear or use the item without your branding on it. Your clients are not your billboards. Rely on great service and asking for referrals to build your business and save the branding for times when you’re not trying to give them an appreciative gift. You can still order items from your friendly promotional products company for good value, just skip the branding.
3. Multipurpose Gift Cards
Instead of offering your clients gift cards to your business (unless you’re Starbucks or a restaurant), try a multipurpose gift or credit card instead, especially if you don’t know them well enough to send a personal note or small item. Allowing clients to treat themselves on your dime is a nice gesture, rather than forcing them to use a particular service or shop.
4. Experiences
Create a memorable event to show your appreciation for clients, or offer them tickets to other events you know they’ll enjoy. Box seats to a sporting event, tickets to the theater or to movies, or passes to local activities such as skating, skiing, rock -climbing or tourist attractions will keep you in their mind as someone who values clients enough to want them to have a good time, whether they’re at your place of business or not.
5. Services
Clients love to take advantage of services they may not use on a regular basis. Think of five ways you could make your client’s life easier and offer them services as a gift. For example, if you work with a lot of new moms, you might gift them a cleaning service appointment, a diaper service for a set amount of time, or some prepared meal delivery.
The bottom line with gift giving is that the gift is for them, not for you. Set aside promotional ideas and think of what they might most enjoy and send that along instead. Whether with a gift basket, small item, an event, a card, a service or an experience, clients deserve your appreciation and care; think of a creative way to show it.
Happy Holidays!
