The 5 Most Common Gift Giving Mistakes

With business gifts, we aim to show how much we value our relationships with customers, employees, business partners, and suppliers. Such gifts build strong long-term relationships with your target groups, and grow your business. However, we have to be wary of certain gift giving mistakes that we are all guilty of making.

Business gifts can have a tremendous impact if they are chosen thoughtfully and if given gracefully, at the right time. The mistakes we make can make us come across as quite unprofessional, consequently damaging our relationship with a business partner or client. But, naturally, it’s nearly impossible to keep in mind all the dos and don’ts of corporate gift giving – this is why we’ve prepared some useful tips on what NOT to do when surprising clients with freebies.

1. Do NOT Skip Planning

If you don’t spend enough time planning the gift, you’re bound to end up disappointed with the final product. Why is that? Well, for one, last minute orders often do not arrive on time due to all the processing and transportation taking place. Due to time pressure, there is no possibility to make alterations in the case of misspellings or damages to the items. When produced in a time crunch, gifts can be made poorly, giving your company a bad reputation among customers.

Such gifting is not the most successful and does not bring the desired results. Add in your time spent dealing with complaints due to poor execution, and you’ve failed the project with a budget deficit. The purpose of gifts is to build long-term and sustainable relationships with your target groups. As with any marketing project, strategic planning is mandatory for success in gift giving. We suggest you build an internal team to handle gifting and relationship building, facilitating you in this process. If this is not possible, choose external experts.

‍2. Do NOT Stick to Christmas and New Year

When we talk about the psychology of gift giving, we also talk about expectations. It is a well known fact that it’s impossible to ever reach or exceed people’s expectations regarding gifts, no matter what we buy. For this reason, instead of doing what everyone else is doing, we should choose a path that is not expected, but is at the same time sure to impress. What we mean by this is to not rely on holidays as the perfect time to give out gifts – your employees, clients, and business partners will expect gifts on such occasions, thus eliminating the element of surprise. After all, the most important factor in successful business giving is timing.

Review your business strategy and vision, and set dates that coincide with your activities and target group. Create an annual gift giving plan with specific dates. This way, you will have the gifting planned and prepared in advance, but it will be unexpected for your recipients. With this, your gift will achieve its purpose of surprising and delighting. However, if you do plan on sending out gifts for Christmas, don’t forget that not everyone celebrates the same holidays! So, if one of your employees is Jewish or Muslim, keep that in mind when choosing their gifts.

3. Do NOT Chicken Out

Many business owners tend to avoid giving gifts out of fear that the recipients will not like them. However, even with business gifts, we must realize that we’re all different -it is completely normal that not everyone will like a certain gift. Don’t let this take away your courage to carry out gift giving and build important business relationships – as long as your main aim is to make the best impression on your clients and to remain in their memory, there’s nothing for you to worry about. Most people are open to new opportunities, especially when you approach them with a good offer that ensures their success.

Nevertheless, be careful about giving out inappropriate or unwanted gifts. These usually include certain food and drink items, such as a bottle of wine given to a recovering alcoholic, a box of sweets given to a diabetic or even an assortment of cheeses given to a vegan. While these are all great gifts in themselves, it’s imperative you know the person you’re giving them to well. For instance, if you know that your business partner likes the taste of Irish coffee, surprise them with chocolates with a similar taste. But, since in most cases you won’t know the person on a very personal level, it’s always a good idea to choose a safer gifting route instead.

4. Do NOT Personalise Without Thinking

If and when printing a logo on a product, your gifting purpose applies. If your goal is to promote your company and its visibility on the market, then adding your logo or brand name on the product is expected and an excellent marketing move. However, if your aim is to either impress a specific person or express your gratitude, you should approach personalisation with the recipient in mind. For instance, you can choose to include a personalised message (especially in cases where the person is just starting out, retiring, or celebrating a personal achievement) or you can simply opt to print the recipient’s name.

If you do decide on branding the product, though, always remember to not exaggerate with the amount of information – all too many entrepreneurs forget that business and promotional gifts are ultimately just gifts and not advertising flyers or posters. Covering a T-shirt in all the possible information and addresses of your company in most cases means that it will end up in the trash or will be worn as pajamas, which was certainly not your intention. In marketing, the following still applies: less is more. Therefore, be very careful with branding if you want your gifts to become part of the recipient’s everyday life, which should be your ultimate goal.

5. Do NOT Settle for the Bare Minimum

We recommend that once you’re satisfied with your design, you order a gift sample if possible; this way, you can check the quality, material, details, print, and functionality. Don’t rely solely on the photos from the catalog, as the final product may not be what you expected. If you order a sample, you’ll still have the time to make alterations.

Once you’re satisfied with the item and ready to order gifts for everyone, think about the presentation. A simple box or bag won’t cut it – this is a business gift, which means you should put effort into the presentation as well. Firstly, it should be clear to the recipient that the gift is from your company, which is why the packaging should include your logo and company’s name. If the gift is of a more personal nature, a short, handwritten message is preferred. The recipient will remember you many times throughout the year. And another thing, don’t forget about quality wrapping paper and packaging. The way the gift looks on the outside will reflect your company and contribute to its image.