Corporate gifts-How can they help your business?

Corporate gifts can be vehicles for motivation, incentive, retention, recognition, and appreciation in the business world. Employees can be your most important asset, but only if they are working to their potential. Giving employees incentives to make a sale, solve a clients problem, or simplify an internal process are all things that corporate gifts can accomplish. Furthermore, retaining your top performers and valuable executives is a sure way to keep your business successful and growing. When you show recognition to your most valuable asset, they are more likely to stay with the company and perform at a higher level. Corporate gifts are an effective alternative to cash compensation for your workforce. As opposed to cash, corporate gifts are tangible and visible to all and may be shared with fellow co-workers, who further recognize the achievement


Corporate gifts: are a product given by a business to its customers, employees, friends or other influentials for goodwill and without obligation.

Incentives and Awards: are recognition merchandise, often personalized, used to acknowledge performance and milestones and motivate people toward a specific behavior or objective, be it more sales, fewer accidents etc.


Choosing your corporate gifts.
So, you know you want to utilize the effectiveness of corporate gifts, but what do you get for gifts? Etiquette dictates that you present your recipient with a gift that is not too personal or could be taken in the wrong context. You want to keep in mind that you would like the person to remember the reason for receiving the gift every time they see it or use it. For this reason corporate gifts such as desktop items, clocks, gourmet food items, wine, and golf accessories are very popular among employers. Your choice for corporate gifts should be based on a case-by-case basis, as you wouldn't want to duplicate gifts that were previously given for a different reason.

"...Although it's traditional to thank customers during the holiday season, you'll help your business tremendously by sending thank-you gifts at other times during the year. Ideally, you should do this immediately after a customer has made a purchase.

...Clients, of course, shouldn't be the only people you thank when you make a sale. If colleagues, customers or friends have referred new business to you, don't forget to show your gratitude to them, either. Even if they pass along a lead that doesn't pan out, you should still show your appreciation for their efforts.

...And because so few otherwise savvy business people avail themselves of this valuable means of communication with clients, you'll undoubtedly stand out."
-Andrea Nierenberg, author "Nonstop Networking: How to Improve Your Life, Luck, and Career"

Presenting corporate gifts to recipients.
Once you've decided to give corporate gifts to your employees, and have chosen the items, you must now present them to their recipients. Appreciation and praise are powerful things, so use them to your advantage. With the proper words of recognition your employees will remember your kind words and cherish the corporate gifts long after they are given.

Setting up a program for corporate gifts.
If you want to reward corporate gifts more than a once, then you might consider setting up a program for managing corporate gifts. Occasionally Gifted offers reward programs and makes the process of giving corporate gifts very easy. Ultimately, it will be your company's bottom line that will benefit.
Courtesy Business to Business


Related Articles:

FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS
Wednesday, December 4, 2002
Show your appreciation to key clients without blowing your budget.
By Alan S. Horowitz

In an uncertain economy, it's more important than ever to show clients you appreciate their loyalty. And there's no more natural time to do so than the holiday season. But if you're like many small business owners, you may be facing a Catch-22, because your budget right now may be very tight. So how do you thank your customers without going into hock? By thinking creatively. These ideas will help get you started.

Personalize it The best gift isn't necessarily the most expensive item you can find -- it's one chosen specifically for the recipient. For instance, for a golf-loving client you might opt for a set of high-quality golf balls and emboss her initials on them. Laurie P. Selzer, national director of marketing in the Houston office of Metro Networks, a radio network, likes giving stationery items imprinted with the recipient's name. Tip: If you haven't gotten to know major clients well enough to select gifts based on their interests, make a mental note to have lunch with them in the coming year, so next year's shopping is easier. "Speak with the people you're giving a gift to, find out their interests," says Adrian Gostick, director of corporate communications at O.C. Tanner, an employee recognition company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. "You want them to know you've spent time and effort thinking about the gift."

Pay attention to packaging. Using creative wrapping techniques helps add flair to inexpensive gifts. David Little, president of the website, www.nouveautesusa.com, which sells marketing and promotional items, had a client who manufactured plastic tubes used as packaging for golf balls. He had the client place his logo on the tubes and fill them with candy. Tory Johnson, president of Women For Hire, a producer of career fairs for professional women in New York, gave customers coffee mugs imprinted with, "Smart Women Thirst For Knowledge," making sure each one was beautifully wrapped. Even gifts clients can eat can be personalized. Nouveautesusa.com, for example, will sell you chocolate with your product or logo sculpted into the chocolate. These types of gifts stand out but won't put you into hock.

Give something lasting. Many business owners send small gifts to all of their accounts, but spend more on key patrons. For a significant client, you may want to invest in a high-quality desk clock, writing instrument or picture frame.

Who to Give to and How Much to Spend

There's no hard-and-fast rule as to who should get a gift, but consider including all of those who work with you regularly. Johnson sends the same gift to her roughly 500 clients, but gives more personal gifts to people she interacts with frequently, such as those at her bank and accounting firm. The amount of money you have available to spend, of course, will determine how many people you thank. Establish a set budget and then add 10 or 20 percent because you'll always add people to your list later on, recommends Robyn Spizman, an Atlanta gift consultant. For an idea of what some companies are spending, corporate gifts bought at Mrs. Fields Cookies typically run $50 to $65, says Jodie Erickson, the company's brand manager. Colleen Goudie, vice president of corporate gifts at upscale pen maker, Montblanc, says this year the most popular gifts are in the $100 to $200 range. With the right amount of imagination and flair, however, creative entrepreneurs can get their message of thanks across for much less.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS
Thursday, May 25, 2000
Corporate Gift-Giving 101
Shelve the corporate mugs and bottles of wine. There's a better way to show clients you care about their business -- and it's so good it may win you new ones, as well.
By Laurie Joan Aron

When Scott Black, president of TimePiece Public Relations in Dallas, Texas, sent two dozen gift baskets to his clients, every single recipient called to thank him. Black's technique was to fill baskets with uniquely North Texan items, like hot and sweet jalapeno jelly, locally-made soap, and pecans he considers the best in the nation. "We wanted to communicate our Texas friendliness and generosity," says Black. It was a coup in corporate gift-giving, an endeavor that's often goes awry.


The safest turf in gift-giving is to choose something that's made in your locale and characteristic of it. It should also deliver the kind of message you want to convey about your business, says Cynthia Lett, head of The Lett Group, a consulting firm in Silver Spring, Md. Lett steered a major U.S. telecommunications firm in Virginia away from passing out cheap pens with their company logo that were made in Taiwan at a three-country Asian trade show, and got them to offer fine, solid pewter pieces made in historic Williamsburg instead. She similarly succeeded in persuading a business services firm in Stone Mountain, Ga., to distribute rulers made of locally quarried stone. And she gives her seal of approval to an Arizona graphic design house, which sends clients gifts of hot peppers, with a note declaring "Were hot for your business."

Development Counselors International, an economic development consulting firm in New York City, sends "Welcome to New York" bags filled with apples, tokens, maps and copies of New York Magazine to clients from other parts of the country who make occasional trips to Manhattan.

Letts' only warning about food gifts to teams or departments: they have to be shareable. Cookies, or even hot peppers, are a good choice, because everyone can get some. The last thing you want to be remembered for is the fight people had over who got the Brooklyn-made black and white cookie and who got the Fox's U-Bet syrup.

For business gifts to individuals, Lett suggests the most intellectual choices: books about the giver's town or region and classical music by a local composer. When she's called upon to choose a gift for a colleague based outside the United States, for example, she relies on recordings of Aaron Copland's works and a lavish book of photography depicting Washington, D.C.

Firms that want to showcase their own creativity to clients can also play on local themes. One Washington, D.C. photography agency distributes haunting black and white photographs of the city's monuments in mists, rain and snow.

People are tired of mugs, says Lett. And T-shirts, too.