Studies reveal that 63% of companies have credited better customer/client relationships to giving gifts in order to stand out. Aside from building loyalty with your current client, gifts can be a tremendous marketing tool as well.

Choosing the perfect gifts for your prospective clients may not only breed brand awareness but may lead to customer loyalty to your business as well.

Once you have finally made the well-curated list of the Dream people you want to work with, your next goal is to get a hold of these people.

Chet Holmes, one of greatest, if not America’s greatest sales and marketing expert, had found that one of the best ways to get noticed by your Dream Buyers is to send them small gifts every two weeks.

The Gift Should not be Expensive.

You may want to consider many gift ideas for your Dream Buyers. Whatever those are, you keep them inexpensive. You do not want your future clients to see your gifts as a bribe. Expensive gifts may come off like you are trying to bribe them.

Remember that not all of them merit expensive gifts or tokens. Some businessmen and executives will see lavish gifts with discomfort.

There will always be those clients who will not let you buy them anything expensive as a token of your appreciation, not even if they are paying you millions.

Even Holmes once had a $1,000 pen thank-you gift sent back to him by one of his clients. Gifts can be as simple as a Rubik’s cube. It is an inexpensive plastic puzzle that you can buy almost anywhere.

Helpful Tip. Choose simple gifts over expensive gifts. Prospects smile at the gesture and not at the price value of your gifts.

The Gifts Should Be Useful.

Another key to choosing the right gift for your Dream Buyer is that the gifts should be useful, things that they will want to keep or play with – or take home to a child.

You want to make your gifts useful so the prospect will keep them. You do not want your gifts to land in the wastebasket, do you?

If you send them a fake $100 bill keychain, it is likely to go right in the garbage. But if you send them a penlight, a tape measure, or even a squirt gun, the executives are likely to put it in their drawer and hang on to it.

In a 2014 study commissioned by ASI, the top three most popular gifts companies give their prospects/clients are food and beverages (53%), desk accessories (35%), and writing instruments (31%). Calendars, drinkware, and gift cards also made it on the list.

In his book The Ultimate Sales Machine, Chet Holmes shared a story about an incident when a salesperson in a trade show he organized gave him a light pen as a thank-you gift. He put it in his jacket pocket, thinking he would give it to his kids later. That was the day of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

He was sitting in his office when an earthquake struck. When the shaking stopped, Holmes and some of his staff headed to the emergency exit, descending 13 stories in a concrete-encased, windowless stairwell. The emergency lights were not working, and the stairwell was pitch-black. They were feeling their way along the walls trying to find the next landing or set of stairs. He suddenly remembered the flashlight in his pocket.

He pulled it out and clicked it on. He had never forgotten the faces that lighted up in the total blackness.

The point of the story is that you never know when your gift will come in handy. Useful gifts like the one exemplified in the narrative above can make your client think of you often. Are you wondering what happened to the salesperson in the story?

After the incident, Chet Holmes used that salesperson every time for all his incentive needs.

Helpful Guide. Here’s a quick list of great gift ideas. Prices may vary due to inflation.

• Magnifying glass, 100 for $60
• Calculator, 120 for $200
• Miniature tool kit, 120 for $120
• Paddleball, 120 for $50
• Glider, 1,000 for $70
• Rubik’s Cube, 120 for $40
• Metal whistle, 120 for $100
• Plastic dinosaur, 100 for $26

The Gifts Should be Personal, Not Promotional. 

68% of gifts that companies are giving out have their logo imprinted on them. Do not be part of that percentage. If you’re sending gifts that contain your business name or logo, it is not a gift- it is a marketing piece.

While surveys show that 24% of gift-giving generated a lead or sale and 27% resulted in referral, your gifts should be personal, not promotional. Choose gifts that reflect your clients’ passions, hobbies, or lives. If a client loves wine, a wine opener is a great option.

If one of your prospects plays golf, a divot tool or ball marker would be a perfect gift idea. Personalizing your gifts is a no-fail idea. You may engrave their names on the gifts you are sending them. The personal touches that you put on every gift is a great way to create a lasting impression.

If you want to incorporate your brand into your gifts, do it in a very non-intrusive way. You can do this by choosing a color or design that matches your brand. It is a subtle approach to still raise brand visibility without making it the main focus of your present.

Helpful Quote.

“If you are giving a meaningless gift, then you better have your logo on it. That way, whoever pulls it from the garbage will know who it was from.”
– John Ruhlin, Giftology: The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Client Retention. 

In Summary

The goal of sending your Dream Buyer gifts is for you to stand out. “Gifts keep you at the top of clients’ minds year-round,” says John Hall, Forbes contributor.

Continuously sending gifts to your prospective clients increases brand awareness, builds trust, and develops customer relationships.

Gifts can be a deal maker or deal-breaker. It can either have a positive or negative impact on your prospective clients’ opinion of your brand.

We aim to focus on the former and avoid the latter. And even if you do not make a sale or acquire a new client, your effort will still raise brand awareness. Choose thoughtful gifts over expensive gifts. Remember, it’s the thought that counts.

Want to learn all of the tactics, scripts and worksheets to make your Dream Buyer Strategy a success? Get the full course now and get on your path to potentially doubling your sales with the biggest most loyal buyers your company could ask for.