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Giving Gifts to Your Clients- and 6 Reasons Why You Should Do It More Often

Are you giving your clients gifts as often as you should? If you aren’t, you may be missing out on some great benefits.

The concept of corporate gift-giving is nothing new. 

You send something nice to existing or prospective clients. Or, it could be a celebratory gift for a successful endeavor.

It seems like this is just something that businesses do and have done so for years.

However, you may feel a little uncertain about it.

Just because your company has a history of corporate gift-giving doesn’t necessarily mean it has benefits, right?

Maybe you’re thinking it's just something that costs the company money. And it’s money that may be better spent somewhere else.

But before you decide to cancel your gift program, there are a few things you should know. In fact, corporate gift-giving has quite a few benefits that you might not have considered before.

Check out why you should consider giving gifts to your clients, or continue doing so if you practice it already.

The List

Giving gifts to clients may be good business etiquette. But that doesn’t mean that your company isn’t going to get something out of it, too! Take a look at a few reasons why you should consider gifting regularly:

Reason #1 – Developing Stronger Relationship with Clients

You build a relationship with clients through regular interactions. Each time you exchange emails or phone calls, you learn who each other is the way you would in personal relationships. And each face-to-face meeting helps build upon that relationship.

When you solve problems together, that deepens your working relationship even more. And you likely celebrate those victories and resolve to work together in the future.

But why settle for a simple congratulatory email or phone call when you can send a gift instead?

Sending a celebratory gift lets your clients know that you appreciate the work you do together. And each time they look at that engraved glassware set or cigar humidifier, they’re also reminded of how well you work with each other.

Reason #2 – Creating Brand Recognition (In the Case of Branded Gifts)

Personalized gifts are always a better choice than generic ones. It’s especially true if the gifts have your company logo branding.

Giving corporate gifts with your branding helps clients associate the brand image with the gift. So every time they look at the gift, it will remind them of the company.

For example, suppose that you chose long-lasting and practical gifts, like writing instruments or key chains. Both are items that the recipient will likely see everyday. And that’s a consistent reminder of a company’s brand.

Also, you could attract new customers with your corporate gifts to clients. If you send out attractive and luxurious gifts, they could become the topic of conversation when someone else sees them.

So the next time you wonder if sending that a personalized cigar humidifier is the right call, remember that others may see it too. And it sends a positive message about your company and its appreciation of the finer things.

Reason #3 – You Create Another Avenue for Communication

Sending celebratory corporate gifts aren’t simply a means to an end. They can help keep lines of communication open, too!

Often after finishing a project with a client, it’s easy to put communication on the backburner. You have other clients and their more immediate concerns to worry about. So, you put off that follow-up call to that client week after week.

Before you know it, months have passed since you last connected with the client. And now it’s a little awkward to contact them.

But that scenario changes if you send a gift to clients in celebration for a successful collaboration. Those gifts can help prevent that tricky situation from occurring.

Even if you don’t send a gift right away, it’s not too late.

If you find that you let communication slip and you don’t know how to follow up with a client, send them a gift anyway. 

It can help smooth over those awkward pauses and give you something new to talk about.

Studies show that giving gifts ultimately has a positive outcome. According to a survey by Knack, 94% of high-level executives responded favorably to personal gifts. And it also helped to enhance their existing relationship with the company.

Reason #4 – The Client Remains Aware of You After Work Is Finished

Your clients have very busy lives, just like you. No matter how well you worked together, your name fades eventually. So the next time they need to work on a project, it won’t be your name that’s first on their mind.

That’s how it normally works.

However, there are things you can do to keep your name fresh in a client’s mind.

You can always try to stay in touch regularly. But that may not be the most practical thing to do, as you have your own projects to tackle in the meantime. 

The next best tactic may be to send a gift from time to time.

Personalized gifts are a great way to maintain working relationships. They send a two-fold message that you remember and appreciate them. And if you take the time to have corporate gifts personalized, they’ll see your company name every time they look at it.

Reason #5 – Cost-Effective Advertising

Can you really save money by spending money on corporate gifts?

It’s true, sending corporate gifts is more cost-effective than traditional advertising. 

Think of it in terms of retention. You already have the client, so it costs less to create a positive impression for existing clients.

Take a look at your numbers.

Your advertising budget takes a hit each time you need to entice new clients. And you never really know if the potential client is a good fit for your company.

On the other hand, you already have an established relationship with existing clients. The only thing you need to do to keep the relationship beneficial for both parties is to maintain what’s already there.

According to the study by Knack, 80% of the people surveyed believe in the great ROI gift-giving provides. And if you do it correctly, you’re in a position to keep your company at the front of a client’s mind for the next project.

Reason #6 – The Possibility of Creating Referral Business

Businesses give out corporate gifts for a variety of reasons. One of the most popular ones is to celebrate the completion of a project.

But there’s one other way to utilize gift-giving to generate more leads. 

It’s all about promotional products.

Customers are one of the best sources for generating referrals for your business. They have a vast array of connections at their disposal. And they can supply their own testimony when working with you.

So, what do you offer in return?

You can use promotional corporate products to encourage referrals. Offer customers these gifts as incentives for their referrals. Or, you can use them as incentives for signing up for email lists.

The possibilities are endless.

Customers generally like gifts. So, they’re more likely to respond favorably if you offer quality gifts in exchange for referrals.

The Manifold Benefits of Gift-Giving

Gift-giving is one of the simplest ways of showing your appreciation to a client. And carefully selected gifts can go a long way toward enhancing an existing relationship.

The right gift says, “I value you” and “I see you as a person.” Especially if you take the time to pick out gifts that the recipient finds meaningful.

Gifts are also a great way to generate referrals from existing customers. So, offer gifts as a “thank you” for connecting you with more potential customers. It’s more effective than traditional advertising in this regard and customers love incentives.

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