You might be thinking that giving someone chocolate or a fruit basket might be a great gift idea to give to a prospective client.
You want to make an impression? Send some donuts to the prospect’s office.
Want to celebrate a milestone? Send them a box of chocolates.
It sounds so logical, doesn’t it?
After reading this article, we hope that you’ll reconsider your idea to gift food as part of a marketing campaign.
There are far better options for you that will have a much bigger bang for your dollar.
Benefits of Corporate Gifting
Before I share the reasons why food makes a bad corporate gift, I want to share the reason why you’ll want to send a corporate gift in the first place.
Helps You Build Relationships
A strategic corporate gift will help you build and solidify relationships with people who are going to move the needle in your business.
For instance, they may be prospective clients who are going to sign million-dollar annual contracts, or they are star employees who you want to make sure know how much they mean to you.
But this can only work IF the gift is used.
For instance, if your recipient is allergic to a particular type of food, then they may not be able to enjoy the food you sent over.
High ROR
We don’t use the term ROI as much as we use ROR, Return on Relationship.
Here’s why.
A solid ROI requires a return as quickly as possible. If you put $1 into a marketing campaign, you need to see $3 right away.
With a ROR, we are looking to build relationships over time. When we put $1 into a relationship campaign, we are going to see hundreds of dollars paid out over the course of years!
The 7 Keys to a Great Corporate Gift
1. Practical
Make sure your gift is beneficial to the recipient. A gift that can be used daily (or at least 3-5 times a week) is unquestionably more valuable than a fancy item that practically has no use.
2. Personalized
To stand out from the crowd, create some personalization in your gift. This can be done with an origin story for the gift or by giving it some sort of personalized branding.
3. Best-in-class
You absolutely can not compromise the quality in any way. So, try getting a product of the highest quality within your budget. Longevity should be your topmost priority in this case. You want to make sure their grandchildren are able to use the gift.
4. Luxury
To find an appropriate gift for customers, browse their social accounts to determine their interests and hobbies. Perhaps get them something they wouldn’t buy for themselves but would appreciate a lot if given to them.
5. Handwritten Notes
Don’t underestimate the value of personalizing your message by hand-delivering it or penning a handwritten note clarifying your intentions. Notes are always a way to add a special touch to anything.
6. Including Inner Circle
Another point to remember when you’re giving a gift is how you can make it useful for the recipient’s family.
We can’t tell you how many clients’s have come to us and said “my wife is your biggest sales advocate. She absolutely loves the gift that you sent us!”
7. Create Continuity
Try to create a theme or pattern with your gifts. In this way, you can make sure that the customers are looking forward to getting your gift. Multiple gifts can snowball an emotional impact on the customers.
3 Reason’s Why Food Corporate Gifts are a Terrible Idea
Not Practical
Let’s face it. Food, by our definition, is not practical. We define practicality as a gift that is used at least 3 times per week.
Once food is consumed, then it isn’t going to be used again. And six months from now, the prospect will have forgotten all about you and your gift.
Now compare this to a set of beautifully designed cutlery. That gift will get used 3 times per day forever.
And every time the prospect uses the cutlery set, they’re going to be reminded of you and your business.
Your gift BECOMES your salesman.
If they haven’t followed up with you in a while, they’ll use the cutlery you gave them and remember to give you a call.
They’ll remember about the business idea they need your help to execute on.
You’re going to win their hearts and minds and build a relationship with them.
Not Best-in-Class
I’m sure you’re going to send over the best possible chocolate or wine or whatever you possibly can.
Best-in-Class isn’t defined JUST by quality.
When we send a gift, we want to know: can your recipient’s grandkids or great-grandkids use the gift?
Food is a perishable product. They’re not giving their great-grandkids that chocolate, no matter how many preservatives it’s made with.
Excludes Inner Circle
And finally, you want your gift to be as inclusive as possible. You want their wife/husband to be able to use it. Or you want their assistant to use it.
I can’t tell you how many clients have come to us and said “My husband/wife loves the gift you got us. That’s the reason why we’re working with you.”
But with a food gift, you risk excluding members of the inner circle.
Imagine you send a beautiful chocolate decor, and the person’s assistant is allergic to nuts – and can’t eat what you’ve sent over.
Are they going to remember you the next time you call and put you through to their boss?
Probably not.
Final words…
Unfortunately, food can seem like great corporate gifts, but after further analysis, I hope that you can see that you wouldn’t want to waste your money.
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.
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