Gifts can go a long way toward building business partnerships, reinforcing employee relationships or creating customer loyalty. However, there are corporate gifting mistakes that can leave recipients questioning the gift-giver’s common sense or even damage a relationship beyond repair.
Waiting until the last minute – It’s immediately evident when a gift is hastily chosen and packaged. Bringing a corporate gift campaign together often falls to an administra- tive assistant at the last minute. Gift cards may be easy to administer on short notice, but even they should be accompanied by a handwritten note whenever possible. Jerina Vincent, founder of JNJ Gifts and More, said gift suppliers need four to six weeks’ notice to properly tackle a corporate gifting campaign – more if it’s at the holidays.
Choosing the wrong gift – One would think it goes without saying to not send a basket of sweets to a diabetic or a fine wine to a teetotaler, but the gift suppliers we spoke with said it’s an embarrassingly common mistake. Market researcher Arizent reports that 40% of all corporate gifts end up in the trash. A campaign that includes hundreds or thousands of recipients may opt to use a broader gift such as a gift card, an opportunity to select a gift online or an apolitical charitable donation. One size definitely doesn’t fit all.
Turning the gift into a marketing tool – Rose Molz, co-founder and president of EZ Office Products, said she never uses branded swag or anything her company sells as a corporate gift. “Sometimes I get the feeling businesses are cleaning out their old inventory when they send me a gift,” she said. One company sent her a logoed tape measure that was stuck in its casing. Another sent her a Starbucks gift card that had expired.
Cutting corners can cut effectiveness – It’s better to send nothing at all rather than something cheap and unlikely to ever be used. “If it’s not thoughtful, useful and of high quality, it’s a wasted opportunity,” said Sara Celotto, founder and CEO of The Vision Catalyst, a consultancy and fractional COO. That includes spending a bit more on packaging to make your gift stand out.
Poor timing – It’s easy to get lost in the clutter of corporate gifts that arrive at the end of the year around Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Instead of sending a “Thanks for the business” message at year’s end, why not send it on your company’s anniversary? Surprise is half the delight of receiving a corporate gift, and the surprise is lessened at the holidays.
Repeating the same gift – Remember, an important aspect of gifting is to surprise. If you repeat the same gift year after year, the surprise element is lost and the gift is less impactful. This is especially true if you’re not personalizing the gift to each recipient’s tastes. Sending an unwanted gift once is careless; doing it repeatedly is insulting and a self- inflicted wound you may not survive.
Tiering gifts – This one’s debatable, but giving different clients different gifts with substantially different values can get you in trouble. In most industries, word gets around more than people realize. If one of your gift recipients learns that their gift from you was two or three cuts below what you sent another customer, it can be a business blunder that is hard to overcome – often, without you even realizing it.
