Unique Serving Platter

Anyone who has spent time building a business should take time maintaining his relationship with his clients. There are many situations that may leave a business owner wondering which client gifts are appropriate, if any at all. The dilemma is relevant for employees who provide services through an agency as well.

In order to maintain friendly, but professional boundaries it is good practice to think about what is and what is not appropriate when choosing client gifts. The first thing to consider is how well you know your customers. For example, you may think that the bottles of wine that you bought are the perfect thank-you presents, but these client gifts are not for everyone. Your customer may not drink and he may not enjoy the token.

Another thing to consider is the customer’s background. Not everyone celebrates the same holiday and some may not appreciate receiving client gifts for holidays they do not recognize. If you are not sure whether or not your associates celebrate a certain holiday, try sending client gifts that are non-specific and appropriate for several occasions.

I worked for an agency that provides services to families who have autistic children. Since the child is the actual consumer, I had to be extra careful not to overstep professional boundaries by buying expensive client gifts for the children I worked with. This was especially difficult when working with needy families who could really use nice presents for their children. As a rule, it is best to keep client gifts under ten dollars in these situations.

Some customers are difficult to please and you may not find any present that they will enjoy. My sister bought an optical illusion puzzle for one of her customers. The person who received the gift called my sister and asked if she thought that he had the time to waste on puzzles. He interpreted the gift as an insinuation that he wastes time and does no real work. Although she still conducts business with him, she keeps the client gifts very ordinary when dealing with him.

Just about every business has a secretary. If I have a relationship with a business, I always make sure to include the secretary in the client gifts because she is one of the most important contact people in the company. It is good practice to send a greeting card or flowers on Secretary’s Day. The receptionist is the bridge between you and your customer.

In summary, make sure that you know your client before buying presents. Keep it clean and simple and keep it professional. Even if you are able to have a comfortable lunch with a customer and even if you can exchange a few jokes, the nature of your relationship is business. This should be reflected in the kind of client gifts you choose.

Holiday time brings thoughts of friends and family exchanging good wishes and treasured gifts, but few of us have lives composed only of friends and family. Our business lives also add co-employees and contacts that we are happy to acknowledge at holiday time. One good way to do this is with the corporate Christmas basket.

Office Party

A very welcome addition to your office party is a basket of holiday goodies for everyone to share. Gourmet chocolates, cookies, cakes, wines, coffee and tea can all be arranged in a fitting container, adorned with ribbons and presented with a plush toy included. Make sure that the boss’s favorite weakness, whether pretzels or cigars, is included and make sure there’s enough to share.

When you want to acknowledge your customers or suppliers, send an office party in a corporate Christmas basket. To the usual goodies add something that displays your name and contact information and your company logo. Flowers, decorated cookies and gourmet goodies can be sent in a picnic basket or other attractive container and sent with a big bow.

Buy Or Make

If you have the abilities, you can put your own office party corporate Christmas basket together. Bake the cookies or muffins; add candies and goodies that are wrapped for the holiday, some poinsettias and candy canes. Mix for hot chocolate is a nice touch along with a bag of mini marshmallows and tiny candy canes. If your office parties are evening affairs, then switch to appetizer-type snacks with a bottle of wine. You can use a champagne bucket or ornate bowl for the basket. Include a miniature tree or other centerpiece. Colorful tissue paper will make it festive.

If you go the commercial route, you will find no shortage of companies ready to make up a corporate Christmas basket for you. Unless your company is related to food or crafts, this is the way to go for your client gifts. Local stores as well as Internet companies offer a mind-boggling array of creative ideas. Many kinds of “baskets” are available from wicker to metal planters, to porcelain and ceramic keepsakes to towers of boxed goodies. The decorations areas tasteful as the contents are tasty. And don’t overlook the addition of office “toys” like a small putting game. The corporate Christmas basket is perfect because it’s festive, colorful, creative and yummy: all the things that make the holidays so memorable.