Creative Christmas Gifts for Clients
Getting Christmas gifts for clients is often stressful for business owners and sales people. The challenge is always that people want to get something the client will remember; something that stands out from the boxes of chocolates, mixed nuts, cards, and doughnuts. Sure, you’re sending the present as a “thank you” but it’s nice to be remembered for it, too — you know, to get a little “branding” out of it.
Get Fun Client Gifts
It’s the holiday and even the grumpiest grinch likes to have a little fun and you should contribute to that. In fact, you should have fun with it, too.
By “fun”, we actually mean fun. Not stupid; not a sleazy novelty toy or Santa pulling his pants down. Get your clients something that makes them play a little or laugh a little. In fact, you have a great opportunity to get attention from the whole company because most gifts just go to the company owner, a manager, or a buyer. The right gift will get people out of their offices to see what’s going on and get in on the action.
Here are some gifts we’ve given to clients over the years:
Fish (yes, a live fish): We gave clients a betta one year, complete with a nice little 1 gallon fish bowl, rocks, food, and instructions for proper care and feeding. Yes, I was a little nervous about it but the reactions were great! Several of the clients simply took them home to kids or whatever but some clients had them in their shops or offices for several years. One of our clients named theirs Jesus (as in Christ) because “it was a miracle he survived so long.”
RC Helicopters: You know, the little double-rotor things you see in the mall kiosks? Yeah, those. Some clients got 2 or 3, in hopes mini-wars would break out. We also supplied the batteries, of course, so they were ready to go. This one gets people up from their chairs to take part. Clients — and staff included — had a lot of fun with them.
Man Skills Book (ok, only for male clients): This one was a pretty big hit and I still see it on bookshelves. Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Man Skills
Mulled Wine Mix: Fun but different — and it was delivered along with wine and chocolates. I actually classify this as one of the more lame gifts we’ve given (but still more memorable than a ham) and it got some good conversations started. The product — Gluhwein, German mulled wine — is from one of our other clients.
Pick a Theme
A good way to narrow down your selection is to pick a theme for gifts. Some gift theme ideas could be:
- Get everyone in the office playing
- Get them to go outside
- Get them to do business with each other — get gifts for your clients from other clients and tell them about each other
- Abnormal Experience — tickets to the zoo, funeral history museum (yes, that’s in Houston), or The Orange Show (also a thing in Houston)
Focus on the Fun
The point is to focus on delivering a fun experience for your customer, whether that means that they and their staff play together in their office for 20 minutes or they get to go out and do something unique, or that they have an office mascot for a few years. Don’t worry about your logo or making sure your business card is visible on the gift bag. Just make it good ol’ fun and they’ll remember you for it.