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Corporate
Gift-Giving Guidelines
by Susan Kurth
Clot deBroissia
TOPICS
General
Guidelines...
Gift giving is an excellent way to build
or maintain business relations, whether with an important client
or a valued employee.
Before sending corporate gifts, be sure
to check the corporate policy on gift giving. Some companies
have strict policies concerning gift giving. For example, many
companies place restrictions on the value of the gift or on the
situations in which gifts may be given. Ask the personnel department
for the company's guidelines.
Once you have checked the corporate policy
on gift giving, keep in mind that gifts should reflect careful
attention paid to the recipient's tastes. Try to choose gifts
fitting to the client or employee's hobbies, interests, or employment.
Gift
Occasions...
While the holiday season is the standard
time of the year for corporate gift giving, many other occasions
merit gift giving and will make an impact on the recipient:
To Promote:
Your company's products or services
To Show Appreciation To:
A hard-working employee
A client for new or continued business
Someone who has referred business to you
To Motivate or Encourage:
Employees facing boring, unpleasant or
difficult tasks
An ill client or employee
To Celebrate or Congratulate:
A business anniversary
The birth of a baby
A birthday
A retirement
A new job or promotion
Completion of an important project
The opening of a new office
Etiquette
to remember in gift giving...
Appropriateness
- Keep in mind the closeness of the business
relationship. If you have a client who is not particularly open
or friendly, do not think that by sending a gift the individual
will loosen up. This often backfires.
- Be careful not to create the wrong impression
with a gift.
- Avoid extravagant gifts that could be
misinterpreted as bribery. It is important that the recipient
not feel uncomfortable when accepting the gift. Any gift seen
as inappropriate could quickly damage or even destroy a business
relationship.
Personality
- Gifts should reflect the interests and
tastes of the recipient whenever possible.
Timing
- Frequency of gift giving should be limited
to major holidays and special occasions. Depending on the nature
of the relationship, it is appropriate to send gifts on personal
occasions, such as to mark the birth of a child.
- Avoid gift giving during a bidding process.
Presentation
- Nice wrapping paper and presentation are
very important. Remember to enclose a personal note with the
gift.
Customizing
- While the corporate logo on a gift provides
free advertising, it could be interpreted as tacky. It is more
appropriate to leave logo customization to gifts that will be
used daily such as mugs, keychains, notebooks, etc. Never put
a company logo on a gift when you want to leave the impression
that it is coming personally from you.
Some
appropriate business gifts include...
- Desk
accessories, such as pens, desk
blotters, letter openers, clocks, business card holders, calculators
- Travel accessories, such as travel
alarm clocks, carrying cases
- Food or gift baskets
- Picnic
Baskets
- Electronic gifts
- Entertainment tickets to sporting events,
the theater, the opera, etc.
Done properly, gift giving is an excellent
way of showing appreciation to long-standing customers and valued
employees. For tips on giving gifts to international clients,
please see our international gift
giving protocol page.
This article may be reprinted,
provided the following notice is used on the same page as the
article:
This article has been reprinted
with permission of the copyright owner,
Netique.com, which
offers unique and elegant gifts, as well as gift-giving suggestions,
for holidays and special occasions.
The Netique®
Gift Boutique extends special terms and services to corporate
gift buyers. For information call...
1-800-WEB-GIFT
This page is part of the Netique®
Gift Boutique.
We make gift-giving
effortless! We giftwrap, prepare your personalized enclosure
card and ship.
To visit the Netique Home Page,
click here.
Netique, Ltd.
819 Monroe Street
Herndon, VA
(703)689-3700
Fax(703)689-3703
e-mail webmaster@netique.com
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