Plan Early and Beat the Holiday Rush

This season I will plan to send out corporate holiday gifts ahead of time. Horror story. Last holiday season I thought there was no hurry and that I would get big deals by waiting until mid December to order gifts for my clients. Client gifts of gratitude for their business is really important and if you fail to send a holiday gift you have botched the regular gift that has come to be expected yearly. Don't forget how important and necessary these gratitude tokens are. Three years ago I decided to skip the gifts because of a budget crunch. Thinking it made very little or no difference I felt quite smug about the amount of money and time and headache I would save for this extra frivolous expenditure. Was I ever completely wrong. In fact many of us were wrong. The other company people I meet with weekly all talked it over and were in agreement that one year couldn't make that much change and we were quite smug about our money saving strategy. In my business my principal competitor is someone who has tried to get my clients but I've always gained their devotion. Unfortunately for me he chose to take the risk and send out gifts early. The next year I found I was losing some of my clients because they had decided to take a look at other corporations that could deliver the same or equivalent service. As we called on new individuals many of them had already signed up with the major competitor and my laid back and secure style that I would easily keep clients was slipping away. I had to work really hard to keep the clients I had and put in a lot of time and effort for the next few years to get some of my original companies loyalties back. Maybe it wasn't just the holiday gift, but the next year I took note. Listening and asking questions of good friends and relatives about what made them faithful and things that made a difference I noted that follow up letters of thanks,telephone calls, and gifts aren't just tokens they are are reminders and stamps of self confidence for the clients. So two years ago I made sure I had money for gifts at holiday time budgeted. I started looking for gift ideas and sent them out the first of December. What I recognized was that I immediately got cards and calls from clients. They loved them plus mine were the first gifts to arrive at their workplace. My secretary and I were talking and she pointed out the gift we got at Thanksgiving one year with the note that here's your first holiday gift to enjoy. Since it was the first and only gift at that time it did make a big difference. Most gifts of food, gifts baskets, and cards come that last week before December 25 and although we appreciate them they sometimes get tossed in and mixed up and we can't remember exactly who gave what. Besides staff are bringing in treats and food for each other all week. So my secretary and I started talking and analyzing that the first gifts that come in are the most observed and appreciated and you normally remember them. That brings me to our approach for this year. We have already contacted a basket business to send out holiday gift baskets to be delivered no later than December l. Why? Because last year we thought we'd get them later and they were sold out of the one we really wanted. Since we have clients in 10 states we had failed to note that many would not arrive on time because of shipping days needed. We gave up after checking about sending flower arrangements or poinsettias which seemed useless for a few days in the office. As a last resort we scrambled to get gift cards for nearby restaurants or bakeries near each client. It took way too much time. We were able to find some gift cards in food market, but they were not the right denomination. We also felt uneasy that the exact amount we were spending was evident, putting a dollar value on the client. But we got the cards sent out. It was fine and at least we sent a gift. However one of the more vocal and brazenly honest secretaries called to thank us and did say she preferred the gift baskets because she was the one who had to order and go to the eatery to bring back what was ordered with the gift card. She also made it clear that to feed everyone they had to add more money. Yikes, not a good plan. This year I called Baskets by Rita the first of October and placed my order for gourmet gift baskets and Denver gift baskets to be sent out just before Thanksgiving so they will arrive that first week of December. They explained to me that they have to order all holiday products in August and September to have enough stock to not run out additionally suppliers run out early. We're feeling really smug. Our clients will know these are gifts of appreciation, there are food items to be shared by all, they come packaged wonderfully giving that WOW factor and our card and gift will be the first one they get and will be hanging around the break room all holiday season. It won't get misplaced with all the other gifts. Since there is not a dollar amount attached you are not blatantly telling them what money amount they are worth. Plus my secretary is so happy because this is a slower time for us and she was able to make all arrangements in a more relaxed way. We found another money-saving hint for giving holiday gifts. We will have baskets shipped to 9 other states, but the majority are in the Denver area. My secretary has arranged to save some of the shipping and delivery costs by going to pick up most of the baskets and deliver many herself. We've added a wine and cheese FAC the first Saturday in December in our office for clients and we'll give most of them out then. If not, it would be good for me to take them and give them myself and make the personal call. The lesson of the story is do not underestimate the power of the holiday appreciation gift and order early.