The holidays are a time for giving. For businesses, they can be an opportunity to acknowledge those who have stood beside you on your journey over the past year. However, with so much festivity, gifts and sentiments in the run-up to the occasion, it can be all too easy for your gesture of goodwill to go unnoticed. After all, many of your clients are likely to be receiving gifts from other businesses and perhaps even joining them for Christmas celebrations. So, how do you make your Christmas client gifts memorable?
Here are our guidelines for choosing the right Christmas gifts for your clients this year:
Choose Sustainable Christmas Client Gifts
With businesses becoming ever more mindful of our impact on the planet, many companies are on a mission to reduce their carbon footprint. However,
Christmas can be a time when some businesses part ways with their eco values as they order branded items in bulk to send out to clients with a generic holiday message. If you want your Christmas client gifts to be memorable for the right reasons then we advise ensuring they’re sustainable.
There are many reasons to opt for sustainable Christmas gifts for clients and you don’t have to be a B-corp or a purpose-led company to do so. Businesses of all types and across all sectors are choosing eco-friendly corporate gifts in order to reduce their impact on the planet. In fact, plastic and single-use items are fast becoming a stigma, especially in future-focused companies, modern workplaces and for the highly influential generation Z.
Sustainable Christmas gifts can be food and drink-based gifts which are always well received. This might include hot chocolate kits and festive treats. All of our foodie Christmas gifts at Out Of The Box are vegan and ethically sourced. However, plants, reusable water bottles, seed bombs and items made from recycled materials (such as our gorgeous notebooks made from reclaimed kiwi fruit in our Keep Growing Sustainable Corporate Gift Box), are also very popular amongst ethical businesses.
Choose Comforting Gifts This Christmas
It’s been a tough couple of years and what most of us are most in need of is a big dose of TLC. It’s the feel-good gifts that are going to be most popular in 2022 and they don’t just have to be for friends and family. Historically, client gifting has been quite corporate in nature and somewhat practical or even directly work-related. Yet, company culture is changing and so is the working relationship between companies. With a more holistic approach to work, the world of business is transitioning to a people-focused model where who we work with is as important as what we do or what we're selling,
Gifts of a comforting nature are highly memorable because they’re designed to be. Enjoying rewards, such as chocolate, brownie bites, self-care and uplifting gifts, can release oxytocin which gives us that lovely warm and fuzzy feeling. Being such a welcome emotion, our brain stores the source of the state, thereby associating the gift giver, as well as the gift itself, with that feel-good factor. As a result, wellbeing and comfort-inducing gifts can be particularly good for nurturing a positive connection with a new or existing client.
Check out our Wellbeing Gift Boxes - brimming with positivity and cheer.
Choose Unique Christmas Client Gifts
Standing out in a crowded marketplace is not easy but you already know this. If you’ve built a business then you’ve been making a success of getting noticed, so don’t forget to carry this uniqueness through to all parts of your business, including corporate gifting.
It probably takes only a few minutes of unbiased thought to realise that no one wants a pen, an umbrella or a desk calendar with your company logo on it. No matter how much they might like working with your business. Just because client gifts fit into the corporate category does not mean they have to have anything to do with the world of business at all. Show your clients the personal touch with unique Christmas corporate gifts.
Being creative with your gifting can certainly help you stand out. However, it’s also important to balance this with giving something that will be genuinely well received. We love positive uplifting gifts that can be treasured, including luxury items such as environmentally friendly candles, self-care promoting gifts and bamboo desk organisers. However, those we can’t wait to tuck into also never let you down, including speciality teas and coffees, luxury vegan hot chocolate spoons and seasonal treats, such as our mince pie slices. In fact, we have a highly popular seasonal snack box that’s a big hit as a Sustainable Christmas Hamper Gift. Plus a food and beverage box has the benefit of containing multiple treats so your client is reminded of your gift again and again over the holidays.
Top Tips For Corporate Christmas Gifts
It’s not just about what you give it’s about how. Whilst it’s often a company’s marketing department who will order the gifts, ensure that each one contains a personal note from the person at your company most connected to the client.
Most clients will feel more comfortable and valued receiving a gift signed by their account manager or liaison at the company, than a CEO they have never met. The best Christmas corporate gift cards are usually signed off by the key contact ‘and the whole of the team at (company name).’
Here are some last top tips from us on getting your corporate Christmas gifts right:
- If you can’t give gifts in person make sure they’re gift-wrapped or boxed (in eco-friendly wrap)
- Include a personal message that thanks them for their support and wishes them happy holidays
- Ensure that no gifts compromise your company values
- Make sure gifts are not too expensive or given during a time of tendering as they could be considered a breach of the Bribery Act 2010
- Send gifts early as some clients may take early leave for the holidays
- Avoid anything too luxurious that could be interpreted as overtly lavish or inappropriate
Have you checked out our new brochure for Sustainable Corporate Christmas Gifts For 2022?