The instant gratification of an on-site gifting experience is key to their popularity, but it’s important to keep some important tips in mind when using these programs.
- Keep “packability” in mind if you are sending guests home with their rewards. Glassware and other fragile items are discouraged. You don’t want someone’s memory to be of a beautiful set of wine glasses that were broken by the time they got home. Similarly, Romine, a cooking enthusiast, says a premium kitchen knife is a gift that all foodies would appreciate, yet some people don’t like checking baggage and couldn’t bring such an item on a flight in their carry-on luggage.
- Be cognizant of taxes and tariffs. Some exotic destinations come with extremely high shipping and tariff costs. Paul Gordon, senior vice president of Rymax Marketing Services, says in some cases, it’s smarter to drop ship the products after the event and limit the number of samples on site. The benefit of working with veteran incentive suppliers is they are familiar with most destinations’ tax and duty costs.
- Let suppliers ship the merchandise. Romine says Cultivate used to let suppliers ship the recognition merchandise with the rest of their supplies for an offsite, but gifts often got flagged in customs and delays occurred. Not only was there no merchandise for the pop-up stores, the client didn’t have its materials for the meetings they were having. Leave the shipping to the pros.
- Don’t outsmart yourself. A lot of clients – especially repeat clients – request something new for merchandise or ask to go with something thematic. “We remind the meeting planner of the big-picture objective of achieving a ‘wow’ factor and rewarding with something their recipients will love and use when they get back home,” says Romine.
- Use suppliers who know their product. Hatch says Maui Jim was hired for a Google conference and the millennial participants peppered the Maui Jim team with questions about the different styles of sunglasses they were offered. “Every event we do, it’s our employees who know the product that are working it,” he says.
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