To Give or Not to Give?

Photo By: Steven Depolo

It’s giving season again. While you’re contemplating holiday presents for family and friends, you might find yourself going back and forth regarding business gifts. You might be wondering if you should give your clients, prospects, suppliers or other business-related relationships some type of thank-you gift during the holiday season.

Some people do this without fail. Others simply don’t. Some are somewhere in between. What do you think is appropriate? Before you answer, let me share a little something from someone I’ve coached for several years.

A Thoughtful Approach

During one of our sessions, the subject of holiday thank-you gift giving came up. Our conversation went like this:

Me: “So, are you going to give any of your clients gifts this year?”

Him: “Yes. I do that every year.”

Me: “What are you going to give them?”

Him: “I’ve decided to stay with the same thing I gave them last year — gourmet cheese from a farm in Tennessee. It comes with a wood block and a cheese slicer.”

“Sounds nice,”  I said, “but it also sounds expensive.”

“Well,”  he admitted, “it does add up. The gifts cost about $95 with shipping, and I’m going to send them to my top 35 clients.”

“Wow,”  I said. “That’s a lot of money. You’re going to spend over $3,000 for holiday gifts?”

And he replied: “Marc, here’s how I look at it. The gifts total about 1% of my total income. I believe it’s reasonable to spend 1% of my total income on those who make up the bulk of that income. Because of them, I make a good living. It’s really a small way to say ‘thank you.’ Actually, I can’t imagine not giving them a gift during the holidays.”

Clearly, he had thought this through. And listening to him explaining the reason and significance of corporate gift giving made me a believer for life. Up to that point, I had based my giving of gifts solely on my cash flow. If I had extra cash, I gave. If cash was tight, my inner “Scrooge” made the decision for me.

Do What You Can

As we approach the holiday season, make sure you do something to say thank you to those business relationships that account for your financial and business-related success. Your gifts don’t have to total 1% of your salary. You could send a restaurant gift card to extend your gratitude. Or you could make cookies or an ornament for those you want to thank. You also could send a donation to their favorite charity or to their church or synagogue. There are a million ways to say “thank you” — including a simple, handwritten thank-you note.

I should have known this all along really.

Mama used to tell me: “Nobody ever got mad at you for saying ‘thank you.’ Everyone likes knowing they are appreciated.” She was right. Of course.