Corporate gifts: The nice and the naughty
Art Bouzounis

The holidays present a great opportunity to celebrate relationships with your customers and coworkers. Sending gifts is a time-honored way to express gratitude for their patronage and hard work.

Careful preparation ensures you send the right message. Nice choices in holiday gifts invoke goodwill for the year to come, but naughty, unsuitable gifts can destroy important relationships.

Some extra thought and a little creativity will guarantee your offering stands out among all the cards, popcorn tins, coffee cups, key chains and calendars that stuff office mailboxes this time of year. After all, your goal is to make a positive and memorable impression.

So what do your customers and employees really, really want? In October, Artina Promotional Products surveyed corporate shoppers at our Ideas in Promotion trade show. Here's what we learned:

• Forget all the fruitcake jokes. Food is the number one gift people like to receive. A creatively packed gift basket makes an appropriate group gift to an entire office or department.
• Other popular gifts included desk and office accessories, wearable items, bags and portfolios, gift certificates, sporting goods, leisure products, calendars, planners, glassware, clocks and writing instruments.
• When asked what they were likely to purchase as gifts, buyers ranked wearable items, writing instruments, desk and office accessories, sporting goods, leisure items and food most highly.
• Corporate gifts need not cost a fortune. The vast majority planned to spend between $2.50 and $25 per gift. Only 6 percent budgeted more than $25 and just 4 percent did not have a budget in mind.
• About half of the show attendees put customers on the gift list. A third distribute gifts to employees. About 17 percent remember vendors and business colleagues at this time of year.

How you send gifts is as important as the gifts themselves. For divine results, follow these guidelines:

• Check your list twice. Leaving off an important client or employee earns you a lump of coal. Don't forget to verify names, titles and addresses.
• Research corporate gift policies. Many organizations restrict the value of gifts or dictate when and how they may be exchanged. Don't place your customer in the awkward position of having to refuse your gift.
• Only give gifts to current customers or business colleagues. Sending gifts to prospects during negotiations is inappropriate at best and smacks of bribery at worst.
• As your mother always said, thoughtfulness counts. When possible, tailor each gift to the recipient's tastes and interests. Sending golf accessories to a duffer or a Three Tenors CD to an opera buff shows you've taken the time to know the recipient.
• In this age of multiculturalism, be careful about sending greetings with a religious tone. It's safest to stay secular, using tags with "Happy holidays" or "Season's greetings." Research the religious and cultural customs of your recipients. Never assume. A person from India, for example, might have a Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Zoroastrian or Jewish religious heritage. Each religion has different customs and taboos.
• Avoid alcohol or cigars unless you know the recipient will appreciate this gift. Many people have religious or personal issues with alcohol and tobacco.
• Avoid extravagant or too personal gifts that could be misconstrued. Steer clear of cologne, jewelry and other personal items, especially when crossing gender lines. Your gift should evoke feelings of pleasure - not guilt or suspicion.
• Be even-handed with employees. Even if you choose personal gifts for everyone, give items of the same value.
• Presentation makes perfect. If you can't tie a bow to save your life, have the presents professionally wrapped. Enclose a personal note, preferably handwritten.
• If possible, deliver gifts in person. Face-to-face interaction builds relationships. If you can't deliver the gift yourself, use priority or express mail.
• Be careful about labeling gifts with your corporate logo. If you want to give the impression that you selected a gift just for that person, it is more appropriate to choose an item that can be personally engraved with the recipient's name or initials. It's fine to put your logo on gifts that your sales team hands out informally or that will be used daily, such as mugs, key chains, notebooks, calendars, etc.

Finally, don't forget to acknowledge the gifts you receive. Keep track of what customers and vendors send so you can thank them in person if you meet during holiday gatherings. Put a thank-you note in the mail before the end of the year. Good manners can be the best gift of all.

Reprinted from Columbus Business First