Designer luggage.

Normally we absolutely LOVE to gift luggage to prospects, clients, and star employees.  As you’ll see in a minute, luggage checks off a lot of the boxes that we have found make a great gift.

However, when it comes to gifting Tumi to your clients, prospects and employees, we think that is a terrible idea.

After reading this article, we hope that you re-consider including Tumi luggage as part of your overall gifting campaign.

Benefits of Corproate Gifting

Before I share the reasons why Tumi corporate gifts are a waste of money, 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 you give your recipient a mug with your logo on it, do you really think they’re going to use it?  Or are they going to burry it in some desk drawer and never think about it again.  Out of site, out of mind.

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

In this section, we’re going to discuss the key factors that make a great corporate gift – including why we absolutely love to give luggage as a gift.  (The following section is why we don’t recommend giving Tumi as a gift.)

1. Practical

Make sure your gift is beneficial to the recipient. If your recipient travels a lot for work, then luggage is a very practical gift that can be used several times per month.  Your recipient will think about you every time they pack for a trip, either for work or with their family.

2. Personalized

To stand out from the crowd, create some personalization in your gift.  People tend to feel good when they see the gift is personalized.  And with luggage, it’s very easy to embroider your recipient’s name or a nice message letting that person know what they mean to you.

3. Best-in-class

You absolutely can not compromise the quality or experience in any way. So, try getting a product of the highest quality within your budget.  This should be a gift that your recipient’s grandkids will want to use down the line.  And a nice luggage set is exactly the type of gift that your recipient’s grandkid’s will be fighting over years from now.

This is where Tumi falls really short.

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!”

When your recipient’s family goes on vacation, EVERYONE in the family will have the opportunity to use the luggage gift that you’ve given.  

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.

2 Major Reasons Why Tumi is a Bad Corproate Gift Choice

Is it REALLY Best In Class?

When you think of Tumi luggage, you think of a best in class product.  At least you’re paying for one.

When you pay thousands of dollars for a single piece of luggage, you expect the highest quality product and experience.

But check out this review from a person who tried to send a piece of Tumi luggage as a gift.

Source

Imagine you spend $700 for a Tumi gift, and the recipient has to go through hoops in order to return it if they need to.

Not exactly a best in class experience.

Your Recipient is a Walking Advertisement

When you want to personalize your gift, you want that gift to be about them, not about you, or the brand that you’re buying.

But with Tumi, your recipient’s name, or company name will be right next to the Tumi logo – making them a walking advertisement for them.

When we give a gift, we prefer NOT to be billboards for the brands that we are purchasing.

We want to make the gift 100% all about the recipient and their company.

Final words…

Unfortunately, branded corporate gifts can seem like a great idea, 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.