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| | Post New Topic | | What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | Views: 73 | | Oct 25, 2009 12:20 am | | What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # | 
Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | The holiday season is fast approaching. What works as a good gift for the holidays for business clients? When I worked in the investment banking world, Christies Cookies was a popular choice, followed by big canisters of flavored popcorn. More often than not, the gift from one company to another was something to eat. Therefore, within days of the gift being received, it was all gone.
Now, family members would like to send fruit baskets or boxes.
But, suppose you could collaborate with other Ryzers on business gifts for businesses, what do you think would be a good idea to pursue - calendars, cookies, magnetic to-do-list boards, Pulse Pokens, what?
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!
Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Oct 25, 2009 6:35 am | | re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # | 
Kurt Schweitzer | | Lamar,
You never, ever, send a gift to a business. You send it to a person who just happens to work for a business, and you send it to their business address because that's the only one you have for them.
So what do you send? How about something that PERSON might appreciate?
You send something inexpensive for two reasons: the IRS (and many businesses) has rules about gifts so that they're not considered bribes, and you don't want to go broke gifting your customers.
Food is popular because it is perishable. It can't be hidden away in a drawer, it has to be eaten, and soon. It also promotes good associations about the giver at a subliminal level. A good "gut feel" if you will!
A friend of mine gives out tiny imprinted page-a-month calendars. Most people who receive them stick them to their computers and use them figure dates for appointments. The rest of us just toss them.
From the sender's perspective you want to send something that will stand out from the crowd. In a cup full of imprinted pens another one doesn't get noticed.
Think of the recipient. What does he or she like?
Kurt Schweitzer
Urban Village Scooters
Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer | | Oct 25, 2009 11:27 am | | re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Kurt,
I agree with you. If you send a gift to a business it should be addressed to a specific person at the business. No problem. But, let's be real here. If a huge container of popcorn is sent to one person at a business. That one person is not expected to eat all that popcorn. No, he's expected to share it with his entire department. And, that's likely the reason the sender sent the gift. He's branding his business identity with the entire department - not just one person - through the sending of a single gift to that one person. The problem is the impact of that gift is short-term.
What kind of a gift can have a lasting impact through one person to many people? For example, many business offices have a kitchen. And, if they have a kitchen, they have a refrigerator. If they have a refrigerator, suddenly the gift of a magnetic to-do-list board just might make a good business gift for branding one's business and providing a useful service all at the same time.
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!
Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Oct 25, 2009 11:52 am | | re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # | 
Scott Wolpow | | Most offices also have a bulltin board and a white board. Many do nto want ot be seen as endorsing and company. In fact many large companies forbid hanging of signs that could be deem advertisements.
Private Reply to Scott Wolpow | | Oct 25, 2009 2:42 pm | | re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Kurt Schweitzer | | Why would any business have a to-do list on its refrigerator? That just doesn't make any sense for a business.
Business to-do lists belong in the office, not in the kitchen.
A home might have a to-do list in the kitchen because the kitchen is the primary workplace in the home. A homemaker will spend more hours in the kitchen than in any other room in the house.
So, are you targeting businesses, or homes?
Kurt Schweitzer
Urban Village Scooters
Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer | | Oct 25, 2009 5:29 pm | | re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # | 
april weston | | I personally enjoy mugs with the company name on it.
Our specialists that we refer to at the dental office send popcorn,candy, nuts and one makes homemade cookies.
They are the most appreciated.
The reason I like mugs is that when you give one, your company name stays out there all the time.
Every time you use the mug, you see that company's name.
You can even fill it with candy or gourmet tea or coffee.
It makes a lasting gift.
aweston39
Private Reply to april weston | | Oct 25, 2009 6:40 pm | | re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Kurt,
I am targeting businesses. However, the targeting of a business is usually done through a person or persons. If a person gets a to-do-list board, where he decides to put it is really his decision, not mine. However, the fact the to-do-list board I would be sending has a magnetic backing, makes it ideal for a refrigerator door. Scott is correct in saying some businesses do not allow such boards to be placed on refrigerator doors. However, many offices really do not care one way or the other. If the office will not allow the placement of a magnetic board on its refrigerator door, the person who received the gift can simply take it home and use the board on his own refrigerator. Problem solved.
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!
Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Oct 25, 2009 7:22 pm | | re: re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Scott Wolpow | | Problem not solved, they are two differant markets.
Private Reply to Scott Wolpow | | Oct 25, 2009 8:38 pm | | re: re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Kurt Schweitzer | | Lamar,
It sounds like you have a solution in search of a problem. Your "solution" is the to-do list. You're trying to find places to put it.
Think about the customer! Do they NEED a magnetic to-do list? Is there something else they need (or want) more?
Pretend you ARE the customer. Put yourself inside their head. Better yet, put yourself in their office. What do you see? Is there a white board? Are there post-it notes stuck to their computer? Is the desk tidy or cluttered?
What's missing from their workspace? Is there any evidence of improvising a solution to some problem they have?
Think about their office dynamics. Does the office have an open layout, cubicles, or offices with doors? How do the people interact? Is it noisy or quiet? Is there evidence of a corporate pecking order?
I spent two decades working in corporate environments ranging from suit-and-tie (and dresses!) oppressive.to shorts-and-sandals relaxed. What fits in one doesn't work in the other.
Find the right gift for the customer!
Private Reply to Kurt Schweitzer | | Oct 25, 2009 10:30 pm | | re: re: re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Kurt,
If all your customers are local, perhaps you do have the luxury of visiting each office and taking note of physical needs. But, that sounds like a lot of extra work to me. Do you think that is really necessary? However, if your business clients are not local, the local visit to the office is not possible. Now what?
In all the years I worked at Bear Stearns, my department never asked any client what it needed for Christmas. It simply gave everyone the same gift - Christie's Cookies. Do you think every customer wanted those cookies? I doubt it. That was simply what Bear Stearns decided to give them.
I doubt most small businesses have the luxury of taking time to uncover what holiday gift best suits each individual business client. That is why gift baskets, calendars, popcorn canisters and Christie's cookies are so popular during the holiday season. But perhaps, this year magnetic boards of various genres and Pokens will be added to that list - especially by networking-affiliated groups like the Chamber of Commerce. A Chamber of Commerce can have itself branded by both a To-Do-List Board and a Pokens and not pay any money. Instead, the individual members as advertisers or sponsors pay the money. The Chamber gets a "free ride."
Lamar Morgan
CDMM - Synergistic Business Marketing
(707)709-8605
Need PR?...Call Lamar!
Private Reply to Lamar Morgan 707-709-8605 | | Oct 26, 2009 8:41 am | | re: re: re: re: re: re: re: What Works As A Good Business Holiday Gift? | # |
Kurt Schweitzer | | You don't have to visit every office in person - you can sample a few of your customers, or survey them, or even simply do a thought experiment based on your own experiences of corporate life.
My point is to put yourself in the customer's shoes. What are they goind to do with something they receive from you?
You mentioned sharing popcorn. That won't happen in a one-person office.
Does someone have to be a coffee drinker to appreciate a mug?
How about refrigerator magnets? I have a small refrigerator in my shop, so any magnets on it are down below my knees. But I do have a few magnets stuck to my file cabinet.
What about pens? My shop has about half a dozen places where pens get used. Grab and jot - not much of an advertising experience, and if a pen starts skipping it gets tossed immediately.
Perhaps you should give out teddy bears. CafePress will print your image on a shirt that's put on a 9" bear for less than $15 (http://www.cafepress.com/NISC.339406768). Maybe that would be a good choice for some of your customers - it certainly would be distinctive!
I've had businesses give me pens, mugs, t-shirts, calendars, briefcases, backpacks, magic 8 balls, software, key fobs, sunglasses, hats, windbreakers, ice scrapers, business card holders, post-it notes, pads of paper, thumb drives, lapel pins and buttons, brownies, popcorn, cookies, gift certificates, footballs, tape measures, return address labels, million dollar bills, books, and greeting cards. I'm sure there was other stuff that I just don't remember anymore.
The one I had the most fun with was the magic 8 ball. It came from a software support company that I never did any business with and can no longer remember its name. (People used to come into my office and ask me to do something, and I'd shake that ball to determine whether or not I'd do it. Good for a laugh!)
Keep thinking about your customers and you'll come up with a good gift or two.
Kurt Schweitzer
Urban Village Scooters
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