Give Gifts That Matter

Can you remember the last time a business gave you a really cool gift? A gift that mattered? One that made you tell your friends, family, and coworkers? You probably can’t.

Businesses have taken the approach of cheap and quick to the art of gift giving. They see gifts as a way to quickly get their name out in front of people.

The gifts you give speak volumes

Photo by Kira auf der Heide

The days of cheap gifts having an impact, if they ever did, is gone. People aren’t paying attention to you when you give cheap or uncaring gifts. Gifts like:

  • A stress ball with their corporate logo emblazoned on it
  • A t-shirt with their logo
  • A USB portable power bank with, once again, their logo
  • A cell phone stand with, you guessed it, their logo

Corporate gifts have become all about the gift giver. I imagine their marketers sit around the office and ask questions like:

  • How can we get our business name in front of our clients?
  • What’s the least amount we can spend and make an impact?
  • What’s XYZ company doing and can we copy them?

These questions are part of the problem when a business gives a gift. The gift isn’t a representation of the receiver. The gift is a representation of the giver.

When receiving these gifts, the receiver can tell there wasn’t much thought to the gift. They were just another checkmark on the list of clients to send out gifts to.

The good news is, you can change things up. You can give gifts that matter.

Giving Gifts That Matter

John Ruhlin was on a recent episode of the Zig Ziglar podcast. He shared tactics that will make your gift giving stand out.

This made me think about what you or I could do to give better gifts. To give gifts the receiver would care about.

I loved John’s idea of a personalized Cutco knife. The knife has the name of the receiver on it. When Carla picks up the knife you sent her and sees her name on the blade of the knife, she will smile. She will remember the gift giver and how they thought about a gift she could use on a regular basis.

Or there’s Steve Sims. He’s the founder of Bluefish (check out his fantastic book here). They’re a luxury concierge service and they make dreams come true through experiences. He’s helped one customer play on stage with their favorite band. Another time, he was able to get a museum in Florence, Italy to close for a private dinner.

These are a couple of examples from people who know how to give gifts. But what if you look at what they’ve done and tweaked it for your business? Could you find a way to give a gift that mattered?

Here are a couple of ideas of impactful gifts for varying industries:

  • Furniture manufacturers: Give a basic chair as a gift. Have the customer name embroidered on the chair.
  • Fitness coaches: Find a nice tech shirt or pair of yoga pants. Instead of putting your company logo on them, inscribe their favorite inspirational quote on the clothing item.
  • Personal development coaches: Create a set of self-talk cards to help your clients improve their self-image. On those cards, use their name.

Finding ways to add personal touches to the gifts you send will go a long way. Your customers and clients will rave about the gifts you give. Much more than if you had given them the standard gift with your logo.

Question: What are you doing to give better gifts? Let’s talk about it in the comment section below.

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