Giving Gifts to Clients: How to Avoid a Generic Choice

The holidays may be over, but that doesn’t mean your days of gift giving have come to an end. In fact, a recent survey of major corporations showed that more than 70% of people prefer to get gifts for major milestones such as a work anniversary or a birthday rather than a Christmas present. Gift giving is difficult for a lot of people, and it can have a direct impact on your business. It requires major research, and if you have a bevy of clients, that can be tough. However, a well-timed gift can mean a lot to a client and can help keep a client relationship strong.

The perils of poor gifting

Think about how you feel when you get a gift that you know you’re never going to use.

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Maybe you get a fancy bottle of wine, but you gave up drinking a while ago. Maybe you get a batch of expensive brownies when you’re health conscious. Maybe you appreciate the fact that someone thought of you at all, but clients (for the most part) do not feel particularly excited when they receive a gift that clearly is not aligned with their interests. And, too often, this is what happens!

A poorly chosen gift can have the reverse effect from showing a client that you care; instead it sends the signal that they are not valuable enough to receive a gift that actually means anything to them. This happens with gift giving on a large scale as well as personalized gifts. Too often, at a conference or convention, the 500 branded stress balls you hand out are destined to be repurposed as pet chew toys.

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An opportunity to ‘wow’

With every gift given, you have to think carefully about the exact message you’re sending to the client. Perhaps your company has beautiful, expensive jackets made for specific clients in their size — with your company’s name plastered all over them. The underlying subtext here is that you want more business, and that you’d like the client to do the advertising for you.

Research from the 2016 Alyce Corporate Gifting Survey reveals that 90% of people simply aren’t interested in swag. Yet, a large portion of the $120 billion annually spent on corporate gifts still goes towards these unwelcome gifts. It’s a waste of time and money on a monumental scale.

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Instead, business owners, account managers, and sales reps should choose to give clients a personalized gift that tells them how much you value them as a person first and as a customer second.

How to deliver a gift at the right time

When you give a gift matters; examples of inopportune times include the day you announce a price increase or when you decide to reach out to a customer to pitch them a new product or service. Rather, you should be looking for reasons to give gifts several weeks before a major deal goes through or a new product launches.

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These gifts should come across as a gesture of goodwill rather than a bid for new business. It’s especially crucial that your top clients are treated with extra care when it comes the timing of your gift delivery. This can be done in a number of ways, such as celebrating unconventional dates like the one-year anniversary of your first contact with that customer. The key is knowing the client and what they’ll be most likely to respond to.

Curbing your costs

The best thing about thoughtful gift giving on this kind of scale (in addition to the development of stronger relationships with buyers) is that it can end up saving you money overall.

Regardless of whether you’re giving out hundreds of pens or one $300 bottle of champagne, you can find ways to cut your costs while maintaining a strong reputation. It could mean offering a client a $50 cooking lesson rather than spending $100 on a gift certificate to a fancy restaurant they have no interest in dining at.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform to network with great people to help you in your career and businesses. However, with over 575 million people on the site, who should you follow? This list will steer you to the right people to follow, organized by categories of expertise.

Job Search Experts

You will likely have several jobs throughout the course of your career, and you will constantly need advice on new trends and strategies out there in the job market. Here are the LinkedIn experts who you should follow on these matters.

1. Liz Ryan is the CEO and founder of Human Workplace. Her articles on job searching are filled with creative and colorful cartoons.

2. Lou Adler is the author of The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired.

3. Dr. Marla Gottschalk will help you make an impact in a new job.

4. Hannah Morgan runs CareerSherpa.net, where she gives expert advice on job searching and how to be more visible online.

5. Alison Doyle is the CEO and Founder of CareerToolBelt.com.

Management Experts

They say that people leave managers, not jobs. These experts in LinkedIn will help you become your employees’ dream manager.

6. Jeff Weiner. How can we leave out the CEO of LinkedIn himself?

7. Nozomi Morgan is an executive coach. She can help you transition from a boss to a true leader.

8. Mickey Mikitani is the CEO of Rakuten. He constantly shares his expertise in managing a global player in e-commerce platforms.

9. Andreas von der Heydt was the head of Amazon’s Kindle Content and now the Director of Talent Acquisition. He has extensive experience in management, branding, and marketing.

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Productivity Experts

By maximizing your productivity, you can win in all aspects of life. The following LinkedIn experts will help you win big in your career.

10. Gretchen Rubin is a happiness coach and the bestselling author of the The Happiness Project.

11. Carson Tate is the founder of Working Simply. She advises us to include play in our schedules.

12. Greg Mckeown is an essentialist. Part of being an essentialist is saying no to many things so that we can focus on the things that matter.

13. Brian de Haaff, CEO of Aha! Labs Inc. provides strategies on how to be productive and happy at work at the same time.

Marketing Experts

14. Sujan Patel is VP of Marketing at When I Work, an employee scheduling software. He is an expert in content marketing and he even shares his ideas on content marketing in 2020.

15. Megan Berry is the Head of Product Development at Rebelmouse, a content marketing and AlwaysOn powerhouse.

16. Sean Gardner will help you navigate the social media landscape. This includes how to use different platforms to help accelerate your career. He is also the bestselling author of The Road to Social Media Success.

17. Christel Quek is an digital and marketing expert. She is the VP of South East Asia at Brandwatch. Their products help businesses utilize social media data to make better business decisions.

18. Jeff Bullas is a digital marketing expert. His blog has over 4 million readers annually.

19. Michael Stelzer is the CEO and Founder of social media powerhouse site, Social Media Examiner.

20. If you’re looking for inbound and content marketing expertise, follow Dharmesh Shah, Founder and CTO of Hubspot.

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21. David Edelman is a McKinsey partner and is at the helm of the Digital Marketing Strategy Practice Department.

22. Dave Kerpen leads the social media software company Likeable Local. He is the author of Likeable Social Media: How to delight your customers.

23. Clara Shih is the CEO of Hearsay Social and the author of The Facebook Era.

24. Aaron Lee is Grand Master of Customer Delight at Post Planner. He is an excellent resource for everything social media.

25. David Sable is the CEO of Y&R, one of the largest advertising firms in the world.

26. Content marketing trumps traditional marketing these days, and who else better to lead you in this area than Joe Pulizzi, Founder of Content Marketing Institute.

Personal Branding Experts

Part of what we market in our personal career is our brand. When people hear your name, what kind of brand comes into their mind? What traits and qualities do they associate with you?

Here are some personal branding experts from LinkedIn to improve your own brand.

27. Dorie Clark is the author of Stand Out and Reinventing You. He can help you craft the professional image you’ve always wanted.

28. Dan Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennial Branding. If you’re a millennial, Dan is the guy to help you craft your personal brand.

Other Notable Experts to Follow

29. Lisa Gates is the expert to follow if you’re negotiating for higher salaries and promotions.

30. If you’re a Baby Boomer, Marc Miller will help you navigate the continually changing landscape of the workplace.

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31. To avoid getting your resumé moved to the “No” pile, read Paul Freiberger’s excellent advice.

32. James Caan provides insightful ideas on careers in general. He is also a serial entrepreneur.

33. Jeff Haden writes on various topics, such as leadership and management. He is the owner of Blackbird Media.

34. If you’re looking for expert business advice on getting new customers and keeping them, follow Jay Baer.

35. Suzanne Lucas, aka Evil HR Lady, is a great human resources specialist.

36. If you need help in using Twitter to boost your career, Claire Diaz-Ortiz can guide you in the right direction.

37. Ryan Holmes is the CEO of Hootsuite, a social media management tool.

38. Customers are the lifeblood of a business and Colin Shaw focuses on revolutionizing this customer experience.

39. Brian Solis often reflects on the future of business and how technology can disrupt our world.

40. Nancy Lublin provides advice on more lighthearted topics, which are perfect after a long day’s work. She is the CEO behind Dosomething.org, a portal designed for social change; and the founder & CEO of Loris.ai and Crisis Text Line.

41. Katya Andresen provides advice on how to manage your career. She was the CEO of Cricket Media and now responsible for the SVP Card Customer Experience at Capital One.

42. Gallup has created a system to test what your strengths are and how to use them at work. Jim Clifton is the CEO of Gallup.

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43. Adam Grant is a Wharton Professor and the author of Give and Take, which provides advice on why being helpful at work can accelerate your career.

44. Hunter Walk is a partner at Homebrew Venture Capitalist Company and has specialty in product development and management.

45. If you’re running a nonprofit organization, follow Beth Kanter for expert advice on this area.

46. Emotional Intelligence is necessary to succeed in your career, and Daniel Goleman is your expert for that.

47. Rita J. King connects science, technology and business.

48. Tori Worthington Rose is a Creative Director at Mary Beth West Communications, LLC. She has extensive experience in sales and digital media.

49. If you’re looking for some advice on how to use writing and personal content marketing to boost your career, follow Ann Handley.

50. Tim Brown is the CEO at IDEO and shares his insights on Leadership and Creativity.

These are just some of the key thought leaders and movers in various industries. They will provide you with constant inspiration, as well as the willpower to pursue the career that you’ve always wanted. Their stream of expert ideas in their respective fields will help you become well-equipped in your professional pursuits.

Giving Gifts to Clients: How to Avoid a Generic Choice

The perils of poor gifting

An opportunity to ‘wow’

How to deliver a gift at the right time

Curbing your costs

50 Great People To Follow On LinkedIn, No Matter Your Industry

Job Search Experts

Management Experts

Productivity Experts

Marketing Experts

Personal Branding Experts

Other Notable Experts to Follow

More Articles About Successful People

Giving Gifts to Clients: How to Avoid a Generic Choice

The perils of poor gifting

An opportunity to ‘wow’

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