How Corporate Gifts Can Help You Stand Out
The corporate world is a world in itself, with its own conventions and etiquette to follow. Because of this, the interactions between two businesses tend to take on some social norms that don’t always have an equivalent in personal society. The culture around corporate gifts is just one such thing. They are meant to show an appreciation from one business to another for the time spent together and any potential deals that have been brokered. However, there are a lot of other things accomplished by corporate gifts. Here are those:
Celebration of Achievements
After a particularly stressful deal or a large order that went off without a hitch, sending a gift to the other company involved can show that you were very attached to the success of the interaction for both parties, and the gift serves to sweeten things up a bit and as a thankful gesture. This way, while they are still freshly thinking about the deal that just passed, they have a direct reminder as to who helped make it all possible. Consider it as the business equivalent of cheers before dinner.
Indirect Advertising
One somewhat selfish aspect of corporate gifting is that these gifts often bear the company name or logo and can be on a variety of different things, whether they be pens, water bottles, anything. These products can serve as part of your advertising wing as people will be exposed to your brand daily by using the products you’ve provided to them as a gift. If you sell paper and everyone in a particular office uses your pen, it’s more likely that they’ll remember you as a provider compared to the competition. Plus, if your item is extremely useful in someone’s day to day life, they will feel as if you’re at least partly responsible for the utility of the item.
Letting Your Clients Feel Appreciated
Most people expect their communications between them and the service provider to be mainly business-oriented only. As in, the lines of communication are only open when there’s money to be made, nothing more and nothing less. When an unexpected gift shows up at a client’s place of business from you, you take them by surprise by letting them know you appreciate being chosen by them and that you do think about them from time to time. This helps break down the walls between two businesses both trying to protect their best interests, which can lead to much more gainful collaboration down the road.
Conclusion
A gift should always be treated as just that: a gift. It would be wrong, however, to assume that there aren’t direct benefits from giving corporate gifts that can and should be properly taken advantage of for the betterment of your own business. By showing that you’re willing to give gifts, you give off an air of legitimate care about your clients and there is, of course, the side effect that if you have enough money lying around to give out gifts, you probably know a thing or two about how to manage the finances of your business. If you want to make a client feel special and like they won’t be treated the same anywhere else, a gift is a fantastic option.
