Corporate gifts are a great way to show appreciation (thanking customers for their trust or employees for their service) and deepen customer relationships. They also improve employee morale and keep them motivated, incentivized, and appreciated. And that’s not something you can take for granted.
This is why a great best practice is to create a “gift strategy” each year for both internal customers (employees) and external customers (actual customers).
If you don’t have a strategic plan and put your company’s logo on your “gadgets, give gifts only during the holiday season, and do so without a defined budget, you might want to rethink your strategy. We highly recommend you do: this is the opposite of what you should be doing when it comes to corporate gift-giving.
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Dedicated corporate gift strategy
The main benefit of having a corporate gifting strategy is that you will surprise and delight your clients and show them that you truly value and appreciate the relationship you have built. Overall, your clients will be happier, and you will be held in higher regard (due to a relationship strengthened by this simple activity).
When it comes to giving corporate gifts to employees, you can raise morale, happiness levels and boost work ethic. As a result, you’ll show appreciation for a job well done. You can also decide to give special recognition to the best performing employees and encourage friendly competition with a corporate gift-based incentive program.
How to organize corporate gifts
Not sure where to start? Here are three things you should consider when it comes time to plan your corporate gifting strategy.
Timing
The time when companies usually give promotional gifts is during the holiday and year-end holidays. This can be a pitfall for your gift strategy because it can become “expected” if you offer customers and employees a gift at the same time every year.
If you want to differentiate, surprise and delight, and make an impact, think about other casual times when you can give corporate gifts. You can also choose to send a series of gifts throughout the year to show even more appreciation. An easy way to determine the timing is to think about the customer and why you’re giving them a gift (ex: giving a gift to thank them for their purchase or to the employee for achieving a goal).
Customization and graphics
Consider how you’re personalizing the item you’re giving away. When you give a corporate gift, it’s not a gift if you print your company logo on it – that’s a gadget. When you put an imprint with your logo, marketing message, or call to action (CTA), you’re advertising!
If you want to give a gift, make sure it’s personalized and not printed! There are many corporate gifts that you can personalize with your client or employee’s name or logo. If you want your client or employee to feel appreciated and have received a gift, we highly recommend personalizing instead of “printing” the present.
Budget
When offering a gift to a customer or employee, you should look for higher-end items than items you can buy in large quantities to get price reductions (ex: pens that cost 50 cents, etc.).
To find out how much you should (and can) spend, be sure to create a budget. That way, when it comes to purchasing corporate gifts, you’ll know the appropriate spending amount that works for your company, strategy, and program.
Here’s some inspiration for setting a budget, in case you’re not sure where to start. Set your account based on:
- Years of continuous operation (clients) or years of service (employees),
- Nature of the program. Consider the outcome and desired results you want to achieve and create your budget based on a percentage of your products,
- Customer lifetime value. Think about what your client is “worth” – roughly what is the relationship worth to you? You can also set a random budget based on what you can reasonably afford (remember: relationships are valuable: don’t overspend and don’t overspend)
That said: good purchases of your corporate gifts!