Show Some Gratitude

An industry article I read recently was discussing the business impact of the economic dips. The focus of this particular piece was the relevance of promotional products regardless of the state of the economy. While the article contained a good deal of great points, what really caught my attention was a single sentence… “The expectation of a gift during the holiday season is not necessarily there this year, so businesses that thank their customers and potential customers will stand out.” Why did this sentence catch my attention?

Two key reasons:
One – it is a simple truth. 

Two – it indicates an opportunity for savvy business owners/managers to capitalize on sincere gratitude.

In the new business model of “do more with less”, most clients understand that companies are running on lean margins and displays of gratitude must adjust to the financial times. This thought process supports the simple truth of the sentence statement. The bi-product of doing more with less, however, is that companies have learned to be more creative with their resources. This sometimes means that what used to be simply a thoughtful gesture now doubles as marketing allowing budget resources to be successfully combined. The economic reality in which we are all now conducting business requires this balanced blend of fiscal ingenuity and sincere appreciation for customers. What exactly do I mean by this? When you find a reason to reach out to a customer be sure that it is for a sincere reason – a birthday, a thank you for a piece of business/purchase, etc. Try to avoid inventing reasons to contact them as it is easily spotted as a marketing ploy dressed up as gratitude. Once this happens any sincerity your gesture included is immediately lost.

Once you have identified a genuine reason to contact your customer you can begin to consider ways in which you can provide a legitimate gesture of gratitude that also incorporates your company’s marketing efforts. This, I believe, is the point of the sentence quoted above. Invest your marketing dollars in a few key promotional items that can also provide exposure for your business and use them for sincere displays of gratitude. This will allow you to capitalize on your gestures by gaining face time, as well as building a reputation worth claiming.

Over the years I have been in the position of both developing these gestures and receiving them. Below are a few that I have enjoyed as the gift giver and receiver.

Customized Coffee Break – If you know that your client/customer is a coffee lover, put together a little coffee break kit for them. Include items such as a coffee mug, coffee beans, peppermint sticks for stirring, flavored syrups and for a playful touch add breath mints for post coffee needs. Pick just one item in the kit as your marketing touch – perhaps the coffee mug with your company information – to ensure that your business gets the recognition while the gift still maintains the integrity of a sincere gesture.

Customized Soda Break – One of the most clever gift ideas I have encountered was given to me by a vendor seeking to educate about the depth of their service offerings. The worked with Jones Soda to create customized labels for various flavors and cleverly linked the featured service to the style of soda. The batch of beverages was delivered in the afternoon just about the time that we needed an afternoon brain boost so the gesture was immediately appreciated for its legitimate need fulfillment while also leaving us with creative reminders of what they have to offer their customers. If you don’t have the time or budget to invest in customized labels, you could achieve a similar impact delivering an assortment of popular sodas along with koozies sporting your business logo.

Just some food for thought…