The Major Problem With Giving A Tiffany’s Corporate Gift

On the surface, Tiffany’s products seem like a great idea for corporate gifts. They’re expensive. Well-known.

But you will not receive the impact you expected. It will not land the way you want. You’ve been warned.

Over the years, Tiffany & Co. has made quite a name in the corporate gifting sector. But through a comprehensive take on corporate gifting strategy, this article will walk you through the major problems with giving Tiffany’s corporate gifts to your employees and clients.

But first, let’s rundown WHY strategic gifting matters in the first place.

The Need For Strategic Gifting

Strategic gifting does two things better than anything else.

First, it solves your marketing problems

Let’s say your business is struggling to grab the attention of difference-makers or you’re lacking frequent and organic referrals. Or perhaps, your cross-sell / upsell efforts are ineffective (or non-existent), leading to low customer lifetime value (LTV).

This is where strategic gifting comes into play. It primes the pump. It makes everything easier. If your goal is loyalty, referrals, retention, and brand building then gifting is your one big move.

For example, take your inbox. If you’re like me, your email is full of unread messages from people that need something. People that want your attention. People you don’t know or barely know.

And you know what?  Those messages are never going to get read.  I simply don’t have the time to respond to them all.

But a while back, having recently moved into a new place, I got a package in the mail. Cutco cutlery, best-in-class, with a Forever Guarantee. Oh and a handwritten note: “Saw you moved into a new spot. Wish I would have had these when I was your age.” Not only did it get my attention, but I’m now working at GIFT۰OLOGY full time.

Second, gifting protects your relationships

It builds a moat around you and your clients. It affair proofs (as John likes to say) the relationship between you and your employees.  This reduces customer churn and employee turnover.

If you’re struggling with client retention and you know your products are industry superior, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a problem with your offering – it means you have a blockage with the relationship with your client. 

Strategic gifting ensures that your customers remain loyal, even at times of adversity.

For example, imagine a scenario where you’ve been working with your accountant for a couple of years.  And for the most part, your accountant does a good job.  But, let’s face it, the only time you really think about him is during tax time.

But in this scenario your accountant appreciates you and your business so much, that he buys your wife a designer tote bag. Imagine he sends this in May (after taxes are complete) and includes a handwritten note (“thanks for carrying the family’s load during tax season”).

Do you think you could ever leave your accountant after that?  Or, do you think your wife would let you leave your accountant?

Absolutely not!  Your accountant has a customer for life. He abides by the same laws as every other accountant. The difference is the relationship.

And it’s not going to happen with a barely usable, ‘conical decanter in crystal glass.’ No matter what color box it’s wrapped in.

The Major Problem With Giving A Tiffany’s Corporate Gift

A high impact gifting strategy consists of a number of essential ingredients. And depending on the item you select, your Tiffany’s gift is likely to lack the most important one.

Is your Tiffany’s Product Best-in-class?

When something is the best-in-class, it lasts forever and is passed down through the generations. How do you know something best-in-class? Give it the heirloom test. Is it something your recipient would want to inherit? Is it something they’d fight over? If so – it’s best-in-class.

Longevity is essential. Because the longer something lasts, the more valuable it becomes. It gets used more. It’s part of more memories.

And because you gave the gift, now you are part of those memories. You’re a co-star. The gift mirrors the relationship in that it becomes better with age.

This means your gift shouldn’t break or need replacing. It shouldn’t be a faded bracelet or a plain earring coated in tacky enamel that peels off within the first few months.

Personally I know all sorts of people that own Tiffany’s products. Their brand is one of affluence. But affluence doesn’t equal longevity. See this one review on Trustpilot.

Source: Trustpilot

These stories might seem a little extreme.  I personally don’t think that Tiffanys is bait-and-switching products in their warehouses. However, it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what your recipient thinks.

And if your recipient is the above person – doesn’t seem like they’d be too psyched.

Are Tiffany’s Products Practical?

When you gift something practical, the recipient can use it every single day.

The more they use it, the more they think about you, the more they love it.

For example, our founder, John, recently gifted a key relationship’s wife a Logan & Lenora bag. Nobody (outside our team) knew it was coming. But immediately after she received it, he texted John: “congratulations, John. I’m literally sleeping with your best salesperson. ”

One of the best corporate gifting strategies on the planet is gifting the inner circle.

The reason more people don’t do this, however, is fear. Or because they bring their personal gifting experience to the business world. And they make all sorts of assumptions about impact that are, quite frankly, just wrong.

Studies show that gift givers believe there is a direct relationship between price of the gift and recipient gratitude toward the gift.  In other words, the more expensive, the more they’ll love it.

However, these same studies show the opposite. Unfortunately for Tiffany’s (whose products sell at a brand premium) there is no relationship between price and how much they like the gift.

Gifts that are most appreciated are those that can be used very often, regardless of price.

For instance, when was the last time you used your wine decanter?  If someone were to have gifted you that, yeah, you’d be appreciative, but then it’d sit in your curio, gather dust, and never be used.

This type of hobby gift is simply not practical for the average person. Yet Tiffany’s labels it a best selling gift on their website.

Do Tiffany’s Corporate Gifts Create Continuity?

Your gifts should have the ability to be a part of a gifting sequence, i.e. have a correlation among them. Connection breeds memory and memory is what we want to be part of. It’s the number reason to buy business gifts.

Let’s say your gifting strategy is to give someone luggage. Continuity suggests that you start with gifting them a carry-on bag, followed by a small suitcase, and finally a larger suitcase. This creates a goodwill snowball effect. And increases anticipation for the recipient.

Unfortunately, the majority of Tiffany’s gifts do not have the continuity through which they can remain related to each other.

What are you going to do? Send a $100 teacup every 6 months until they have a set?

So ok. As a corporate gift, Tiffany’s is shiny on the outside, empty on the inside. 

But then, what gifting strategy should you implement for your business? And what mistakes should you avoid while gifting?

5 Mistakes You Need To Avoid For Your Corporate Gifting Strategy

Thoughtless Gifting

In addition to Tiffany’s products violating GIFT۰OLOGY practices, here are other low impact gifts. 

• Baked food and cheesy gift baskets: If you don’t know your recipient well enough, this might be a horrible idea. What if your recipient is allergic to something you’ve given?
• Gift card/cash: Your affluent customers don’t need another Amazon gift card.  There’s no relational equity in paying somebody’s household bills.
• Electronic gadgets: Most people like to buy their own gadgets that cater to their specifications. That said, gifting the latest electronic gadgets may not be the best idea.

Yes, we’ve all given these as gifts. We chose them because they were easy or because, like Tiffany’s, we were told they were good.

We didn’t know any better at the time. But now we do. No more thoughtless gifting.

Gifting To Customers And Prospects – Only

Did you know that 42% of businesses send gifts to their prospects and existing customers? That’s a good thing, but what about the rest of your business equation. What about your employees?

If you keep your customers, but lose your team, it won’t be long before you underdeliver and lose your customers too.

For example, let’s say you have an employee who’s just worked her butt off completing a project.  She worked late every night for 2 weeks and sacrificed weekends to hit deadline. (sidenote, I’ve been there)

Isn’t that the kind of employee you want to invest in? I’m not talking about a simple ‘atta girl.’ Although you should always include a handwritten note with sincere appreciation.  You want to make an impact.

Sure, you can give her a couple extra bucks.  But you’re already paying her salary and cash bonuses become dangerous if your employees start to expect them. The easy solution here is a one-off appreciation gift.  Something that will make her happy every time she goes to use it (aka, NOT WITH YOUR LOGO ON IT!! More on that in a second.)

Including employees in your gifting strategy is just as important as incorporating your VIP. And not just once-a-year around the holidays. How often do you teach your kids to say please and thank you?

It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Make sure you’re doing the same thing in return.

Slapping Your Company Logo On The Gift

How many t-shirts with a company logo do you own that are lying at the bottom end of your drawer or being used as a dust rag?

Tiffany’s will be put your logo on anything. In fact, multiple engraving businesses have sprung up that’ll do just that.  Of course they won’t tell you that you’re turning an otherwise OK gift into a cheesy advertisement.

This is the difference between following advice from a manufacturer (who want to sell their products) and following advice from a marketing agency (namely us, who want to sell the method).

Gifts with logos seem more like self-promotion, and that’s a huge bummer for most of your recipients.

How many heirlooms get passed down with a logo on them? Don’t ruin a best-in-class gift. Put their name on it instead.

Only Gifting on ABCs

Most business leaders make the mistake of gifting only on ABCs (Anniversary, Birthday, and Christmas). The problem here is that most bosses cross off giving gifts like chores on a to-do list. Your gift reflects the sentiments of a to-do item because it is.

Instead of delegating gift giving to an office admin – have you ever thought about using a fulfillment service (like ours)?

You don’t want to give off the t0-do list vibe to a VIP recipient. Better just to take the time and write some meaningful handwritten notes. Because if your gift strategy isn’t personalized enough to form a meaningful connection with them, you’re better off not gifting at all.

Not Involving Your VIP’s Inner Circle

We touched on this above. But it is worth repeating.

Ever heard of the phrase Happy spouse, happy house? Did you know this can be perfectly applicable for your gifting strategy? Yes, involving your VIP’s inner circle can have a powerful impact on your recipients, making them feel loved and special. It’s a sure way to leave a mark on your VIP’s heart.

The Gifting Strategy You NEED For Your Business

When it comes to building a gifting system, here’s a simple fact you need to know – 90% of the business leaders can’t do gifting themselves, at least not the kind that would get them a solid return on investment.

The reason is simple – business leaders do not have the time to go through the vast principles of corporate gifting to determine the type of gift they should send to each individual. And while they want the ROI of a brilliant gifting strategy, they don’t want to put in the effort it takes to get there.

Lucky for you, we, at GIFT۰OLOGY, are here to do that job for you. As a fulfillment service that has written a book and built courses to teach business leaders the art of gifting, we know just how to prepare the perfect gift for every vital stakeholder in your business.

Our gifting agency ensures that each of our heirlooms tick off the following attributes:

• Best-in-class: The gift is everlasting and is made of the highest quality material.
• Practicality: Gifts that aren’t meant to be just ‘cute.’ We make sure recipients can use them at least 3-5 times a week.
• Luxury: Something your recipients would love but wouldn’t purchase for themselves.
• Personalization: Gifts that consist of a personalized touch with an engraving, monogram, or origin story.
• Includes the recipient’s inner circle: Something that would matter to the people who matter to your VIPs
• Continuity: A gift that can be part of a sequence
• Comes with a handwritten note: Having a handwritten note ensures a meaningful touch to your gift.

Final Words – Tiffany’s Corporate Gifting

Tiffany’s corporate gifts do not have most of the attributes essential for a complete gifting strategy, making your gifting efforts pretty futile, and your dollars wasted.

But if you’re looking for a fulfillment service that has ALL that and more, get in touch with us, and we’ll help you craft a gifting service that caters to your business needs.