A common and egregious error with corporate gifting is treating it as a task that needs to get checked off a to-do list. That’s when authenticity and genuine gratitude are susceptible to being overrun by frenzy and an aura of obligation.
Cultivate, a corporate gifting specialist, offers an online gifting platform as well as on-site gifting experiences that take the hard part of gifting off a gift-giver’s plate. Using Cultivate’s digital platform, a company can create a gifting program for one recipient or several thousand. Each recipient can choose from a collection of items that the Cultivate team has curated to match the targeted audience’s tastes.
The company was founded in 2012 by Tom Romine. We interviewed him for a podcast episode that you can listen to here. Here are some highlights from that interview.
On one unique way a company is using the gifting platform
We’ve got a SaaS company right now that’s actually testing a sales velocity opportunity where they’re trying to improve their chances of booking meetings with high-value target prospects — C-suite mostly. They’re using the platform and inviting them to select
a gift just to thank them for their time in advance, and then they let them know that they’re going to bring the gift to the meeting. They’re measuring that against not using gifting in any way, which I think is great, because they’re trying to actually prove the ROI on it.
On the risk of gifting being cut from budgets in a down economy
Gifting doesn’t get cut as often as you might think. When you look at the percentage of dollars spent on gifts, it’s still pretty low, and it’s a risk probably not worth taking. There’s been so much evidence now that, when there is this history built up, when you take it away, it serves as such a negative that they don’t want to risk it. When you look at businesses that are going through cycles of challenge, the last thing you want is your top performers to not feel appreciated. The easiest tangible way to have them not feel appreciated is to skip the gifts.
On the risk gift cards pose when included in corporate gifting efforts
I was talking to a client who [uses] a massive reward and recognition platform where they track progress and you can measure all types of behaviors across all different departments. This client was just sharing that when they look at the redemption of [reward] points, 95% of the redemption is going to gift cards.
The No. 1 gift card right now is Amazon; No. 2, I think, is Target. When you redeem for those types of gift cards, you’re essentially redeeming for cash, because you’re taking that Amazon card and you’re spending it on household purchases. The company is missing an opportunity for someone to really celebrate and redeem those points right then and talk about it. No one’s going to, months later, talk about the Amazon gift card they got for their work anniversary and how they spent it on dog food and diapers. We’re spending all this money on these points, and it’s just going to household purchases. There’s a big miss there that we can improve upon.
On gifting as a means to tackle new business challenges
We’ve got remote workforces — [some companies] are trying to bring some back. And there are different generations of people that have lived through COVID.
What we’re trying to do is help build connection back — [connect] people to their company and their teams — and trying to use gifting as a way to make a tangible connection among people.
That’s why they really need to know their audience when they’re doing their gifting, so that they’re not tone deaf on sending a collection out to folks that are going to go, ‘Wait, what? Why would I want this? This is not me.’ It’s the first question we ask any client: Tell us about the people that you want to appreciate. It’s the most important thing. It’s trying to understand where these people are at, so we can meet them where they’re at and find things that that they’re going to go, ‘Wow, That is me! That’s thoughtful! That’s personal!’ That’s what we’re trying to help our clients do.
Listen to the full podcast interview with Tom Romine and check out our full archive of podcast interviews at salesandmarketing.com/podcasts.
