Business Gifts and Who to Give Them to
Every year companies debate whether or not invest in business gifts and if they do, who they should give them to. Budget plays a large part in the decision making process but it is not the only important consideration. Matching the gift and perceived value to each recipient is extremely difficult even if you know your clients well, let alone if you don’t. The value of the investment made in the gift and the potential return is also something that maybe people don’t like to think about but nevertheless is equally as important.
We give gifts to our family and friends for special occasions and over holiday periods because it is customary for us to do so and we enjoy giving. To some extent it is expected of us because of the commercial hype that has developed over so many years. However, our business associates do not expect us to give them gifts and are usually pleasantly surprised if we do. A big problem arises if we have a huge number of business contacts because not very many companies can afford to give to them all. If they know each other, the problem is magnified because people who don’t receive gifts will be envious of those that do and offended because they didn’t receive one.
As John Lennon once said “there are no problems, only solutions” and this is certainly true of an experienced, professional business gifts supplier. You can make a list of names, placing the most important clients at the top of the list, work out the budget that you can allocate and then have a meeting with your supplier. In the armory of business gifts at his disposal he will be able to advise you on how many gifts he can supply for the money available and if he’s good he’ll be able to provide a gift for everybody. He will have access to personalized bags, clothing, caps, leather products; laser engraved metal pen sets, clocks, watches, backpacks, sports bags, crystal, USBs, umbrellas and so many more items.
You may also want to include some valued customers on your business gifts list together with members of your staff for outstanding achievements. However, tread carefully if you want to use them for new business because that can be a minefield of etiquette. If you are bidding on a contract, giving the decision maker a gift will be seen as a bribe. It would probably never cross your mind to bribe someone but no matter how good your intentions are – don’t do it.
Taking business gifts to a first meeting in China, Japan or Spain will make you very popular but it will be frowned upon in the United States and the UK so if you have international business interests some cultural education will benefit you if you are contemplating first contact business gifts.Every year companies debate whether or not invest in business gifts and if they do, who should they give them to? Budget plays a large part in the decision making process but it is not the only important consideration. Matching the gift and perceived value to each recipient is extremely difficult even if you know your clients well, let alone if you don’t. The value of the investment made in the gift and the potential return is also something that maybe people don’t like to think about but nevertheless is equally as important.
