Christmas Gifts and Cards

When promoting your business, it is often difficult to be persistent without becoming a nuisance. Once you've crossed the line to, "Oh, no. Here comes old what's his name trying to sell his stuff", it's almost impossible to retrace your steps. Christmas cards and gifts offer an opportunity to contact your customers and suppliers and to say thanks for business received and for support.

When sending gifts, it is important that the customer doesn't feel that he is getting a gift just so you can get more business. When I was working for a large multi-national, I regularly received two bottles of wine at Christmas from a particular supplier. I started receiving the two bottles before we even did any business. I received them when we signed a multi-million dollar order; I received them when we were in a dispute about costs and I received them when we did little business. What this meant to me was that the supplier considered me a valuable partner for a long term relationship and not just a short-term source of orders. The important thing is not the gift, it is the message that the gift sends.

In any case, gifts should not be expensive. Everyone knows small businesses are run efficiently, without a lot of overhead so noone should expect an expensive gift. Consumables or things that wear out are also appreciated more than stuff which just adds clutter. While anyone can appreciate fine chocolate or wine and most people can use another pen or mousepad, I can certainly do without any more paperweights or "executive toys".

Cards are easier in some ways because there is no monetary value but you want the card to reflect and re-inforce the image your business is trying to project. If you have any capabilities in that direction at all, an original card created on your computer and printed out with an ink-jet printer on high quality card stock will always be impressive as long as the result is reasonably professional. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you can make it match your business image and objectives very closely.

For more on gifts try the Promo Super Center. They have a lot of categories which will give you some ideas or try typing "business gifts" in the address box in Netscape to get a lot of additional links.

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