Gifting: As A Growth Strategy

By: Betsy Buckley

Posted on 01/11/2011 - 12:34pm | From the Growth Strategy Blog

 During the last 30-60 days, if you sent holiday cards to clients, delivered special gifts to key referral sources, distributed gifts to priority customers, entertained your A list or celebrated with your employees,  you weren’t alone. More than 68% of American businesses were expecting to send cards, gifts or both this year, according to a recent poll by AOL Shopping.
How--- if at all--- did you tie your gift giving to your overall growth strategy?

Practical business growth strategies these days are not about impressing, persuading or even convincing. Growth strategies designed to increase client satisfaction, increase employee engagement and /or expand referrals, all work when the connections are real. And the right gifts well conceived and authentically offered, go beyond saying “thanks” and truly strengthen relationships that matter.

First: Do some brainstorming about the purpose of your gifting
• Is your intention to link your appreciation for the client to something that you share together? In many business relationships, something that stays on a desk (think: executive toy, anything from an engraved yo yo, to a dice set, to a puzzle) offers a daily “we’re here for you.” 
• Do you want to offer treats--- whether holiday, birthday or acknowledging recent successes? Food is great, but unless it’s truly different (or special), it may be just forgotten shortly after it’s been consumed.
• Are you trying to say thanks with a reminder about how you value the recipients?  Our IT service always sends warm chocolate chip cookies and milk, a great metaphor for how they keep us--- a team of non-geeks—feeling comfortable and confident.

Next: Share your thinking with an expert… and let them be the expert. Gift giving sometimes is delegated to a staff person who isn’t as tightly connected with the intended receivers, or assigned to someone who doesn’t have the time. Experts in this field who go well beyond showing you strengthen and broaden our understanding of purpose and help us find just the right connection. My recommendation: www.askhillarys.com, an amazing local MN resource that is all about authentic engagement.

Finally: Recognize that gifting is more than a once a year experience. Particularly for those of us whose growth strategies are driven by the desire for meaningful connection, gift occasions range from congratulations, to celebrations to appreciation, even to hopes for the future. Years ago, when I was leading business development for a global firm that won most business via competitive RFPs, we created a “so excited to be working with you” signature gift. We’d plant a company mug, with the logo printed on both sides, with pothos; the most versatile of plants, a pothos is virtually impossible to kill, even by someone with the blackest of all thumbs. We’d wrap the plant in a lovely green (part of our corporate colors) clear plastic, tie with green ribbons, and attach a handwritten note on our corporate informals. The message: “We’re looking forward to helping you grow.” 

Clients loved it--- and when I realized that it would also be the perfect gift to send when we weren’t the winners, magic started happening. This card read “Thanks for giving us the opportunity to be considered as a firm that could help you grow. Know that if you ever need us, we are here to serve.”

Once placed on the recipient’s desk (after all, no one is going to throw a growing plant out, just to place one more mug in the kitchen), the logo would be seen coming towards the desk and again after sitting down in it. And, in those situations where the prospect had additional needs, we consistently got the call… and, then the business.

Gifts, like any other growth strategy, need to demonstrate focus, alignment with your ideal customer/client’s values, a message that matters and your desire for partnership. Think about it. Talk to and rely on an expert. Then, take action. And, in case you forget that process, call us. We have a clock to remind you!