Valentine’s Day was last month. It is a time when you acknowledge the people you love and care about, often with a gift. I’ve written a number of articles about customer and employee gifts on Valentine’s Day and other obvious gift-giving holidays. It seems that the traditional holidays toward the end of the year are when companies or employees typically send or exchange gifts and cards.
Valentine’s Day is interesting. For personal relationships, it’s almost an obligation to give a gift. While it’s not directed toward professional or corporate relationships, some companies have found a way to have fun and send a card or gift to customers and employees. Unlike personal relationships, the choice to do so is optional. The same goes for other holidays throughout the year. How many companies send their customers or employees gifts for Independence Day or Thanksgiving? Depending on your country, there are plenty of holidays to give gifts outside of the traditional celebrations.
Just before Valentine’s Day, I was interviewed for an article by Bored Panda about corporate gifts that are “tacky, cheap, and insulting.” This made me reflect on my mentor of gift giving, the late John Ruhlin, author of Giftolog,y and his latest book, Beyond Giftology (released posthumously), who taught me the dos and don’ts of corporate gifting.
The point of gifting to customers and employees is to be remembered. However, not everyone does it right. So, for this article, I’ll share a few ideas on what NOT to do.
For Customers:
Don’t turn your gift into a marketing promotion with logos branded all over the gift.
For Customers and Employees:
Be careful about sending food. First, once they eat it, it’s gone and will soon become a distant memory. Second, if the customer or employee is on a specific diet, they may not appreciate or enjoy the gift.
Be careful about sending alcohol. Unless you know what they will enjoy (such as a favorite bottle of scotch or a special bottle of wine), avoid alcohol. Some choose to abstain from alcohol. Whatever their reason for doing so, you don’t want to appear to be insensitive.
For Employees:
Money is nice and a pleasant surprise, but it may be quickly forgotten and considered part of their compensation and not a true gift. Instead, consider giving employees a bonus day (or two) off or an experience, such as tickets to a sporting event or concert. Those are memorable.
Swag in the form of clothing is nice, and employees are proud to wear a logo on their sleeve but don’t turn your employees into walking billboards of your products and services. Subtle logos are the classy way to go.
So, those are some of the “don’ts” of corporate gift giving. There are many ways to do it right, and for an over-arching gifting strategy, consider that the gift should be unexpected, appreciated and memorable.
I’d like to close by mentioning my friend John Ruhlin once more. He left us on August 15, 2024, at the young age of 44. He was the greatest relationship builder I’ve ever met. Everyone who knew him felt a connection. He had many “best friends.” While he was a master at gift-giving for corporate relationships, every gift he ever gave, including his love for his friends, was genuine. John will be missed, but his legacy lives on. Thank you, John, for your gifts, which include knowledge, friendship, and love for all.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
Shep HykenShepard Presentations, LLC.
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