Gifting is a form of communication. Whether personal or business, a gift can tell the recipient what you think of them, how important and appreciated he or she is or even your perception of them.
When you give a gift without putting time and effort into making the right selection for the person receiving the gift, it can give the impression of giving a thoughtless gift.
Personal Gifting:
The biggest mistake in gifting is giving the recipient something you like and not thinking about what they would like. Just because you feel someone should love chocolate-covered espresso beans because you do, or buying your friend (who you’ve only seen in a suit when he attended a funeral) a sports coat because you liked it, doesn’t mean they will.
If you go as far as thinking of someone to give a gift to, go a step further and consider them when you are purchasing the gift. And yes, you can put you own personal spin on the gift, however never forget the recipient entirely.
Business Gifting:
Most of the time in business gifting, we don’t know our recipients likes and dislikes. There are many reason corporate gifting is necessary, even if you don’t know the likes and dislikes of the receiver, however there are two reasons that should be on every businesses gifting reasons list. One of those reasons is thanking them for their business and two is staying top of mind, keeping your name in the front of their rolodex (or smart phone) for whatever you do.
Deciding on a dollar amount can be the easy part, picking a gift can be the hard part (that’s where we come in). Use the gift as a way to display your talents and skills as well as saying thank you or we appreciate you. Your customer will remember unique gifts especially those gifts that add a personal touch or show that you know them (because we should know our best customers…right?).
So no matter who you’re buying for; business or personal, just know that what you send is just as important as who you’re sending it to.
