Corporate holiday gifts can be be the most successful marketing campaign you will run all year. We will show you best practices that will guarantee a great return on your investment.
Why?
A great corporate holiday gift campaign will result in great referrals.
Very simple, the top 20% of your clients are responsible for 80% of your profits. If you are a typical business 95% of your marketing dollars are spent on attracting new relationships. Guess who pays for your marketing campaigns? That's right, your best clients.
The reason your top clients purchase your products or service is because you are providing them real value. They can be your best sales force!
Who do you want to be?
We all have been recipients of corporate gifts. Do you remember the last time you opened up an envelope and found a $25.00 gift card, with a token note thanking you for your business? Or how about the sales rep that stops by your office and delivers a small box of goodies, and apologizes for the cheapness of their company, but thanks you for the $425,000 in orders you placed.
On the very next day, the UPS driver drops off a package. Everyone in your office follows the package to your desk and stands over you as you open it up. They know that your company always sends the most delicious chocolates, in a stylish gift basket, with a personal hand written note telling them why you are thankful for your business.
How to get to happy?
Start early, and identify the clients that you want to impress.
Review what you have sent in the past. Which campaigns provided the most thank you phone calls? If you have a winner, stick with it. If you do not have a winner, keep reading.
Money cannot buy you happiness but it surely helps with a corporate holiday gift campaign. When you are searching for ideas, have two budgets; the one you are given, and one that is double. Select gifts for both budgets and compare. In the corporate holiday gift business, twice as much can equal ten times better.
Where to find great corporate gift ideas?
The Internet
Of course the internet has a million choices from "Mom and Pop's" to Hershey's. Remember you are buying a business gift and not a beautiful picture of one. Always pre-order a gift, and have the supplier ship it to you as if you were receiving it like one of your clients. It is important to order anonymously, if your vendor knows you might be ordering several hundred gifts, they will make sure your prototype is the best looking gift they will produce that year!
Look in your Neighborhood
Every community has great businesses that provide corporate holiday gifts. They can be a chocolatier, gourmet food business, or even a large food manufacturing company that does not sell retail but has a division that sells corporate holiday gifts.
Ask your Friends and Yourself
Have they already performed the leg work and have a winner? Did you receive a gift last year that was impressive?
The ABC's of preparing a Corporate Gift List
If you were able to double your budget, great! If not, use the ABC's of list management.
Identify your clients as A (the very best), B (best) and C (good) relationships. Spend 80% on A, 15% on B, and 5% on C.
This allows you to move clients up and down to ensure you stay on budget.
Examples
A - Customers receive an $80 gift basket
B - Customers receive a $15.00 chocolate caramel apple
C - Customers receive a simple holiday card
Why is Everyone so Late in Getting their List to You?
The reason they are late, is because you let them be late. When you send out an email to your associates asking them for their list, you really need to put in firm deadlines.
For example, "We are sending out corporate gifts on December 8, I need your complete list by October 30, if you do not have your list to me, we will not send them a gift --and you will have to go out and pay for one yourself. We will be sending you cards on November 15th, you will need to write a personal note to each of your customers and have the cards returned by November 25th or they will not receive a gift."
The hardest part of any corporate gift organizer will be acquiring names and ACCURATE addresses.
Delivereing or shipping your corporate gift
It is always best to deliver "A" and "B" client corporate gifts in person. If you are choosing a local company, ask them if they provide deliver service. Time and distance may require you to ship gifts directly to your clients.
It is recommended that you have the corporate gift supplier ship your gift. Always make sure that you receive a tracking number for all of your corporate gifts. Fed Ex, UPS, and the US Postal service provide softward that automatically tracks packages, and delivers an email to you that it has been delivered.
On the average, 3.5% of corporate gift shipments we send out are either returned or redirected because the recipient has moved. Make sure to ask your supplier to check the exception box in the shipping softward. This will notify you of a problem, and you will be able to call the delivery person and provide the correct information. If a shipment is sent back to the sender, it can take 1-2 weeks and that means no gift for your client.
When should my client receive my corporate gift?
The corporate gift season starts the Monday after Thanksgiving and runs until a week before Christmas.
Most executives take off a few days before Christmas, so make sure your gift is in their office.
If you want to send a gift they will share with their family, send it directly to the house. UPS and Fed Ex are great at being on time, even during the heavy corporate gift season.
So what are you waiting for, time to get started!
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The author of this white paper is Steve Shearer, owner of the Chocolate Storybook, and co-founder of Logos on Chocolate.com. He can be reached at info@logosonchocolate.com.
If you would like to receive old school service, I extend a personal invitation to place your corporate gift order online at www.logosonchocolate.com where there is never a set up fee!