With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s a good time to start planning how to thank those who make your business thrive. It’s a very humbling gesture to give back to those who support your company’s business goals.Here’s why:

The primary reason for investing in a gifting program is to show your appreciation, so it’s best to select items that are valuable to the recipient. But hold on – that doesn’t necessarily mean monetary value. You can find great gifts within any budget, and that budget doesn’t need to be astronomical. Whether gifting to employees, clients, or suppliers, you are ultimately nourishing the relationship by showing gratitude.

Branding should be discreet on holiday gifts, but that doesn’t mean it should be omitted completely. After all, it will help them remember who acknowledged them, which isn’t a bad thing. Here is a brief guide from Emily Post that provides excellent tips on showing your appreciation during the holidays, even when adding your corporate logo.

If you really want to make an impact, feel free to bypass the traditional holiday gifting season and aim for a gift in the new year to thank your teams for their business or contributions for the previous year. That pretty much ensures that you’ll stand out among all the fruitcakes and popcorn tins.

Here are 3 things to remember when developing your gift plan:

• Always establish a budget. Start with a total dollar amount, and then separate the total into different recipient group (employees, clients, supplier, etc) so you don’t get too carried away.
• Create a recipient list. We suggest creating this list in a spreadsheet, and create one spreadsheet for each recipient group (see #1). Technology is good here, as you can usually run a report from your system and save it as a CSV (comma delimited) file.
• Divide the total budget between groups, then by recipient. Here are some examples (just random amounts, as budgets vary):
  • Employees: $2,000 budget ÷ 50 employees = $40 each
  • Clients: $5,000 budget ÷ 200 clients = $25 each. Many companies offer tiered gifts for their clients based on the total annual sales received
  • Suppliers: $500 budget ÷ 20 top suppliers = $25 each. Tiered gifting ranges are often acceptable here as well.

In regards to employee gifting, engagement ranks third as one of the most critical factors to success, and gifts are a great way to boost employee morale by acknowledging their part in the overall success of the company. That’s the kind of culture every business needs anyway, right? A culture that promotes engagement by showing that one of the most critical components of the business – the employees – are appreciated. That’s an easy way to maintain and even magnify productivity.

As mentioned previously, our new 2018 Holiday Gift Guide offers some trendy and unique gift ideas at nearly any budget. There is a form to subscribe to our blog on this page — just complete the form, then click the download button to submit. The free gift guide will emailed to you immediately.