Client Christmas Gifts: Hot or Not?

[linkartist]

Well given that we aren't religious and try not to support such things, I prefer to send a "Thank you for you business" thank you card for the New Year. It also gives me an extra week or so to get organised so I am glad I thought of it.

hahahaha

As a designer, I use the opportunity to thank everyone for their business but I also design the cards myself and have them printed. Adds a personal touch but also helps to remind people of why they hired us in the first place

I also plan on selling naughty greeting cards, so its a good way to get moving on that as well.

[Justin Bregar]

We have too many clients to give them all something, but we do have loyalty cards throughout the year, so they do receive freebies through that.

At Christmas time I give out gifts to a few of our very best clients, usually a product, the value of which depends on how good a client they've been.

[Mark@Unique]

We have more than 150 clients and a further 100 internal clients (our staff) all of whom receive a hand written Christmas and Birthday card. The response form our clients and staff is one of thanks and appreciation, our staff are particularly surprised as they generally have never received one from an employer before.

Our clients and staff also receive a Christmas gift...our staff receive something work related like a notebook or mini torch etc. Our clients presents (usually a bottle of wine) are hand delivered which takes pretty well the entire month of December. We start writing our Christmas cards in November.

We do it because we like the gift of giving (it does sound corny but it's true) the shock and surprise our clients get is invaluable.

My advice to anyone is you do what you want to do...give, don't give...doesn't matter, whatever works for you. One issue that we are now dealing with is what happens next Christmas when we have 500 clients!!

Incidentally, in Easter our 5 and 7 year old boys hand deliver Easter eggs to our employees...they get a kick out of it...I can't seem them wanting to do it when they are in their teens though :-).

[willy ersel]

I think throwing out a party is better than sending gifts.


top load washing machines

[AnaLucia]

I personally find that a handwritten card by you to your customer (whenever possible and depending on the size of your organization) is a very nice thing to do. While about giving them a present could make them feel that you are only interested in them spending money on you. And even that is the whole point: it needs still to be done nicely. Everytime I get a present from any of my suppliers i think... mh!
So: a personalized and handwritten card!

[akagrp]

Hello Mark

We do it because we like the gift of giving (it does sound corny but it's true) the shock and surprise our clients get is invaluable.

I am with you, this is what we do, it is not to suck up etc, just part of the way we were brought up.

The important thing is that it comes from the heart, and it can be a bit of promotion, I remember one year we had diaries made up, but did not brand the cover just an insert page, clients loved it, and some even were disappointed when we did something different the year after.

This year I wanted to show our clients we really do see them as part of our extended family that I personally sat and made 10kgs of Handmade Chocolate Truffles and Gluten Free Cookies due to there allergies,
because I simply wanted to say thank you.

We do also give gifts to our team members, and yes we get same reaction they are shocked.

All I can say if its not coming from your heart then do not do it, if it is keeping doing it.

[Chris Bates]

Can't wait until Christmas then Anna! Hahaha

[BrightSpark]

Depending on the size of your customers and of your own business it will vary, for example a BBQ at the beach might be fine for a small business, while a full sit down meal would suit others. Also this is where you can promote your GOOD customers. The annual employee awards could also be at this time as well.

[JamesMillar]

We send out cards with $1 scratch lottery tickets in them. Its a bit of a novelty and there is always a remote chance that one of them will hit the jackpot.

[kathiemt]

I was doing a search at the forums here and came across this thread and was very interested to read all the responses.

I was sending out Christmas cards to clients that I'd bought from a charity or one of those foot painter organisations. One way of giving back to a group as well as acknowledging clients I appreciate.

One of my long-term clients every year sends out Christmas Cards, New Year Cards, and Easter cards, usually with small gifts. She got me to handwrite them for her (I've been her Virtual Assistant for over 12 years) and to purchase small Easter eggs or other gifts relevant to the time of year. She's done this with all her major clients and they've stayed with her, year after year. She also would send me a birthday card when it was my birthday and occasionally a thank you card acknowledging the work I've done for her.

The value of receiving a card in the mail should not be underestimated. Emails are easily overlooked and/or deleted and phone conversations are nice but you can't put them on a shelf and re-read them over and again. Cards you can.

I've recently set up a blog about the value of sending cards personally to people and the 'gift of encouragement'. I've recently set up an account with Send Out Cards where I can personalise the cards with my own photos (some samples are on the blog) but I can choose to use any one of their 10,000+ templates also. Although the system is US owned, the printing and postage of the cards sent to Australian addresses is done here in Australia. And the cost is considerably less than it would be if I had to print up my own cards or even in going to the newsagents. Added benefit is that these cards are printed on recycled paper.

If you write another article for this year about acknowledging clients at Christmas time I can't emphasise enough how cards can speak volumes long after they've been received.