Top 6 Reasons For Giving Your Clients End-Of-Year Gifts

The holiday season is fast approaching, and it’s time to start thinking about how to thank your clients for all of their support throughout the year. Some might ask, is it really worth giving clients gifts at the end of the year? The short answer is – Yes! Aside from the fact it is a nice thing to do, there are a number of business benefits to gift-giving for clients at the end of the year – read on to find out more.

The Value Of Repeat Business

Often the marketing focus of a business sits squarely on attracting new customers, but retaining your existing ones can be just as important - if not more so.

You might be surprised to learn that it is true what they say about return business being more valuable than new business. According to Business.com, returning customers spend an average of 67% more than new customers. Plus, the cost of getting new customers is 5 to 10 times more than keeping your existing ones!

How Do You Hold On To Your Existing Customers?

In today’s business climate, it’s more important than ever to let your clients know just how much you appreciate their business. It is in these trying times that businesses need to rely more heavily on their repeat customers to grow their businesses from within.

Building good business relationships is one of the best ways to work on client retention. Providing exceptional customer service, personalised discounts and loyalty programs are good examples of this process just to name a few, as is sending out thoughtful end-of-year gifts to really show your appreciation while working on keeping your brand at the forefront of customers minds.

Why You Should Give End Of Year Gifts To Your Clients

With retaining existing clients by building better business relationships in mind, here are our top 6 reasons why you should give your repeat customers a gift at the end of this year.

1. To Say Thank You! Thanking clients for their business is generally the primary corporate gift-giving reason, no matter what time of the year. It is helpful to remember that at the end of the day, your clients are keeping you in business, without them, there is no business.
2. For Greater Impact. A thoughtful gift carries a far greater impact than just saying “thanks” or sending an email or card, it is far more likely to be remembered making your business stand out from the rest while also making the client feel special.
3. Convenient Advertising. A gift at the start of the holiday season is a great way to gently remind your clients about your business. Receiving the gift from you catches their attention without coming across as too sales-focused. And having your brand front and centre means they are more likely to remember your business next time they need your services.
4. A Personalised Touch. Client gifts offer an added bonus to the customer service process making your customers feel extra special. Gifts are almost always assured of a good response – who doesn’t like getting free stuff, right? Putting some thought into and personalising client gifts goes a long way to showing you care about building long-term business relationships.
5. Potential Referrals. Gifts received by clients have been known to encourage referrals to friends and family. This is because your business is more likely to be remembered when questioned about potential business recommendations within your industry. Think of it as access to free influencers!
6. Self-Promotion. Sending out end of year gifts to clients is a great way to promote your business without coming across as pushy. This doesn’t mean the gift needs to have branded products or a corporate theme to them, but incorporating your company’s logo in a tasteful manner is acceptable. This is an excellent way to remain at the forefront of your customers’ minds with added feel-good vibes.

Gift Ideas To Impress Your Clients

Having trouble thinking of what you could give your clients? There are three main tips on assembling a gift for your clients, make sure to include the following:

1. A treat
2. An item they will keep
3. Something useful

Following along with this train of thought, the logical solution to corporate gifting is carefully curated gift boxes. They are practical, courier-friendly, the easiest option for client/customer end-of-year gifts, and even a great option for staff, managers and colleagues.

What makes gift boxes the perfect choice for clients? Gift boxes are easily tailored to a wide range of people, budgets and circumstances. They have the ability to be highly personalised or more generalised depending on the situation. Plus, you can put them together in-house, or the best part is, you get a reputable gift box company to do the whole thing for you, including selecting appropriate items, packaging and distribution. This can be particularly useful when things are a bit hectic leading up to the holidays!

What To Put In A Client Gift Box

While every business will have different requirements and ideas, there are a few items that generally prove popular for corporate gifting. The key is to look for a good combination of items to suit your client’s interests and needs, take a look below for some quick ideas.

• Custom Printed Apparel. This could be anything from a polo shirt through to jackets, shoes, scarves and hats. Generally, these items will be branded merchandise that matches your company’s brand principles and message. For example, don’t send out cheap tee shirts if your brand represents a more luxury approach. Be careful not to overdo the brand bashing with this one, you don’t want it to feel like a promotional exercise as this can lessen the gift’s value in the eyes of the receiver.
• Branded Water Bottles/Mugs. Easy to work in with any theme, custom water bottles or mugs are great for ticking the “something useful” box. Plus, these items are likely to have extended lifespans which adds to their value. The best part is every time someone drinks from this item they will think of your business!
• Amusing Gadgets Or Toys. Tossing a stress ball into your client’s gift basket is a great corporate gifting extra, as can be a humorous toy or novelty gift. Why? Because most people don’t go out and buy these kinds of things, but when one gets gifted to them they like the novelty of it and tend to use it frequently or sit it on their desk at work where it acts as a constant reminder of your business.
• Sports Related Items. If your clients are generally the sporty kind there are a wide range of sports themed items you could use to personalise your gift box while also ticking the “item they will keep” box. Examples include golf balls or tees, books on sports, yoga accessories and sports memorabilia. This concept could also extend to other themes such as gardening.
• Sweets And Snack Food. While it is possible to think of other things to tick the “treat” box, generally speaking most gift boxes will contain some kind of sweets or snack food. The usual suspects are chocolate, nuts, chips, popcorn, lollies, honey, Christmas cake or BBQ-style condiments. Stick with locally made products if possible – always support Kiwi-made!
• Luxury Items. Everyone loves to pamper themselves. This one could mean beautiful candles, luxury skin products, handpicked linens, stationery, boutique food items and pretty much anything that feels different from everyday items. Luxury items are a great way to increase the perceived value of the gift while adding to the feel-good factor.

Don’t Forget About The Packaging

While a lot of thought often goes into selecting the right contents for a client’s gift box, it is important not to forget about the packaging. Gift boxes don’t necessarily mean it’s packaged in an actual box. There can be any number of ways to contain your carefully chosen items, the packaging can really finish off the entire gift making it just that little bit more special.

To make gift boxes extra distinctive, look out for handcrafted quirky gift containers, unique ways of incorporating the business logo or branding, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box, as it were. Cardboard gift boxes are ideal for sending on the courier, and they are recyclable or reusable, good old gift baskets never go out of style, and the baskets themselves can generally be re-gifted or reused, woven bags made out of recycled materials are also great. One last thing, don’t forget the embellishments!

Need more corporate gifting ideas for your client gift box? Check out what’s trending in corporate gifting here. Or still not convinced on the reasons why giving client gifts is a great idea? See here for more on the marketing benefits of gift boxes in the corporate gifting arena.