Harvard Business Review says it’s up to 25 times cheaper to keep an existing client than it is to find a new one.
Which, if you think about it, makes sense because you don’t have to spend the money prospecting, building sales pitches, traveling to close deals, and investing in marketing.
You just have to do two things:
Thing 1: You have to keep providing your existing clients with high-value products and services.
Thing 2: Continue to invest in building and strengthening the relationship throughout the lifetime of the customer.
We’re going to leave the first part to you. No doubt you and your business are already providing an excellent service to your clients.
So, let’s talk about investing in the relationship with your clients.
Gifting to Increase Lifetime Value
When entrepreneurs and executives think about gifting in a marketing campaign, they usually think about it as a function of client acquisition.
However, we’ve seen some of our best results come about in terms of client retention.
For instance, we recently ran a gifting campaign for a personal injury law firm out of Louisiana.
We identified their top 25 clients who could be referral sources for new cases.
And one of those clients referred a 7 figure billable case to our law firm client.
Talk about increasing the customer’s lifetime value!
The 7 Key Ingredients to a Successful Client Gifting Strategy
As you’ve just seen, having a client gifting strategy is an effective way to improve your company’s growth and development. But what can make your strategy more successful?
Let’s find out as we state the 7 key ingredients to a successful gifting strategy for businesses.
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 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 client’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.
7 Client Gift Ideas that will Help You Build Relationships and Increase Customer Lifetime Value
Cutlery
Of all the gifts that we give, a beautifully designed cutlery set is up there with our favorites. And when you analyze the 7 key ingredients to a successful client gift, it’s easy to see why.
First of all, they’re practical. Not only will it be used several times per week, it’ll probably be used several times per day, as members of your client’s family prepares meals.
This also means that the gift includes the inner circle. Each member of the family is going to use it.
Cutlery is very easy to engrave with a personalized message.
And it is a luxury item. EVERYONE uses knives. But most people just buy their set from Costco. Utility over luxury. But when you send a beautifully designed set, it is a luxury item that they probably wouldn’t have bought themselves.
Refresh Glass
One of the great benefits of a practical and unique gift is that it is a conversation starter. Chances are, your client’s have a network of high-worth friends who also need your products and services.
Now, imagine your client is hosting a dinner with some of his friends. And he uses the engraved Refresh Glass set to serve cocktails.
It’s going to start a conversation.
Your client is going to tell his friends that Refresh Glass takes recycled bottles and turns them into beautifully designed glassware.
And then he’s going to tell his friends about the person who gave it to him.
The gift is going to sell your business for you.
Glassybaby
Glassybaby is another glassware company that we’ve really grown to love.
Each glass, rocker, and candle is hand-made by a professional glassblower in their Seattle shop. So when you give a Glassybaby as a gift, you can be sure that you are giving a one-of-a-kind item.
Here’s what John Hall, had this to say about GlassBaby
“I was given a Glassybaby votive from the company’s founder after we met at an event and she said she wanted to work with my company. My wife fell in love with the product and constantly mentions it to me. I’m a believer in the “Happy wife, happy life” principle, and when my wife is happy, I have warm feelings about the person who gave her that gift. I’ve worked with the founder on different projects since, and I can’t see myself ever not advocating for Glassybaby.”
Luggage
If your clients routinely travel as part of their job (or their family life), then the gift of luggage from a company like Leatherology is a great choice.
You can engrave your client’s initials or name into the side of the luggage to make sure that is a personalized, one-of-a-kind piece.
Luggage is a GREAT continuity gift. You can buy someone a small travel bag on the one year anniversary of them signing on as a client.
Then you can graduate to buying the overhead piece.
And finally, you can complete the set and purchase the client the bigger check-in bag.
And finally, good luggage lasts forever. It can be passed down from generation to generation. Your client’s grandkids will be fighting over who gets to inherit the beautiful luggage set that you bought them.
Aura Frames
One of the most personalized gifts you can give to someone is their memories for the world (or their office) to see.
You are sure to win the hearts and minds of every client that you send this gift to.
An Aura Frame will allow your clients to upload pictures from their phone in real time, curate the pictures into albums, and eliminate any duplicate or blurry pictures.
So, if your client only wants to see pics of their grandchildren during Christmas, they can very easily create an album to do just that.
Virtual Experience
Let your client know that you appreciate their business by offering them and their spouse a virtual experience.
Imagine your client and their spouse doing a joint cooking class in the evening. Or if they love wine, imagine them learning how to taste and analyze wine like a sommelier.
Experiences are memories that will last a lifetime and people will always think back fondly on the experiences they’ve shared with their family and friends.
And if you’re the one who contributed to that experience, you will be forever in their heart – and building that relationship with them.
Now, when you talk to them, they can tell you all about the dish they learned how to prepare, or the new wine they tasted.
There are numerous companies that offer virtual experiences that can blow your team’s socks off. Everything from appreciation dinners to zoom trivia and more. Contact us 1 on one for recommendations.
LSTN Music Accessories
We’ve included LSTN music accessories here because for us, personalization also includes unique origin stories.
When you give someone a LSTN Music accessory, you can be assured of two things:
First, it is made with a sustainable material such as Zebrawood.
And second, proceeds of each item you purchase will go to helping someone purchase hearing aids so someone can hear for the first time.
To date, the company has donated over 50,000 hearing aids through the proceeds of their headphones.
Final Words
There you have it. Above are 7 amazing gifts that you can give to clients that will absolutely impress them.
These gifts are all personalized, will last forever, and do the hard work of sales for you.
You can incorporate these gifts into a comprehensive relationship building campaign with existing clients that will help increase the lifetime value of the client – just like we did for the law firm out of Lousianna.
To sign up for a free consultation to see if a client gift strategy will help you grow your business, click here, fill out the form, and tell us a little bit about your business.
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