The Promo Coach

In recent years, gift baskets have become extremely popular, with an increasing number of options available; plus a number of specialty baskets, such as golf enthusiasts, new baby and gourmet baskets. Another type of basket in great demand is the corporate gift basket. When choosing corporate gifts, a company has to decide what it is trying to achieve in giving the gift at all. Like any marketing decision (and let’s be honest, this is marketing), the choice needs to take into account costs, purpose and likely benefits, as well as any possible adverse reaction if a bad choice is made.

So, your corporate gift basket, if that is the general choice you make, should be appropriate not just to the recipient but to the level and importance of the business relationship you have with them.

I am stating the obvious in saying that the corporate gift basket you send needs to both please the recipient, and further your business relationship with them. But it should also be kept in economic proportions. When making your choice of gift basket, and what to include in it, think it thourgh very carefully. The best marketing and the best customer relationships are built on an individual basis. Ask yourself: do I not prefer to be treated as an individual, and receive gifts that are personalized? Of course you do; it shows the giver has thought about you and taken you into account as a person. If you treat the gift process like a mass mailing addressed “Dear Sir or Madam”, and you will damage your customer relationships.

It follows, then, that your choice of gift baskets should be well tailored for the recipients. An element of personalization is very important, especially for large (spending) customers and their company executives. Just having something engraved can bring a touch of personalization, even if all customers have exactly the same contents in their gift basket!

Today we live in a world of competition, so if you want to score extra points ahead of your competitor in the market, you obviously need to offer a little extra. By providing a promotional gift, a corporate organization is actually increasing its sale opportunities by generating awareness and promoting its own goods or services. This is one of the reasons why such gifts are given away; they seem like a reasonable price to pay for increasing profits.

A corporate promotional gift helps to create as well as strengthen the brand image of any company. For example if it is a new company, then giving away these gifts can not only please the people, but also let them know about the launch of a particular product of the brand or the company. If the company already has an established brand name in the market, then the gift will only re-enforce the brand’s identity, help promote further sales, and help refresh the memories of clients and potential customers by generating buzz about the particular brand.

Giving out gifts helps create goodwill among the people who matter to the organization. This means the employees of the organization, the investors in the company, the company’s existing clients as well as potential customers. It’s an easy way to remind your employees that you care and it helps express your gratitude towards your investors.

If the company is planning to have some major or even minor changes in their products or services, then giving out corporate promotional gifts might actually be a great way to communicate the change to the employees and clients, as well as to investors. These gifts have been effectively and popularly used as a medium to communicate to all the people - be it the clients, employees, investors, or potential clients. Communication is one of the important tasks accomplished by such promotional tactics. So get in the game and get your promotional products out there!

Businesses that like to use promotional items and gifts spend a lot of time brainstorming to identify the best item for their marketing campaigns. It is a challenging task to identify the best ones because there are so many options available.

Select an item that can be connected to or reflect your product or service in some way. This may not be always possible. However, if you find such a thing, then it should be on the top of your list.

Your promotional items and gifts should be something that can be used round the year. You should not select something that can be used only n during a particular period of the year or particular time of the year. Such an item will minimize your exposure level. The product that you choose should be something that will stay out of people’s drawers or cupboards. It should be seen by the users as well as everyone that sees the users. If you select such an item, you are most likely to achieve maximum benefit.

Try to avoid edible items as your promotional gifts because such items have the shortest visibility period. Do not select items that are cheap looking because they can negatively impact your brand name and reputation. The quality of the product selected will be compared with the quality of your company’s products or services, even though there is no actual direct link between the two.

Select an item that you would be happy to receive as a free gift. If you are not going to appreciate the free gift yourself then do not expect your target audience to appreciate it!

Do not choose items that are too personal; you should always try to project a professional image. Pick colors that will remind people of your logo, products or services. Each brand has its own official colors, and by choosing those brand colors in promotions can be beneficial. You will certainly be able to find promotional items that will fit well within your budget. You just need to put a little thought into it. It is always good to go through a gallery of products - this will give you some sense of direction in your selection process.

Maybe it is better to give than to receive. And when it comes to taxes, it’s definitely better to give business gifts than personal gifts. Business gifts can be deducted against your taxable income. And in some cases, what might be thought of as a gift might even be an ordinary — and fully deductible — business expense. You can deduct up to $25 in business gifts to any one taxpayer per year. There’s no limit on how many people can receive business gifts during the year.

However, for tax purposes, a husband and wife are considered to be one taxpayer, so only $25 in total gifts to the two of them can be deducted.

Oh, and just to complicate things a bit more, that rule also applies to gift givers as well as recipients — you and your spouse also are treated as one taxpayer. So even if you each have your own businesses, the two of you combined can’t take a deduction for more than $25 in gifts to any individual.

Business gift-giving gets more complicated when you give a client something like tickets to a concert or a football game. Sure, it’s a gift . . . but it’s also entertainment. So how do you treat it for tax purposes? The IRS gives you lots of leeway on this. If you go to the event with the person, then it’s probably a business entertainment expense. That means no $25 limit, but you only get to deduct 50% of the total cost. If you give the tickets and don’t go with the client, you can choose whether to treat the expense as a gift or as entertainment. If the value of the item is less than $50, do yourself a favor and treat it as a gift.

The things that businesses often “give” (such as year-end bonuses to employees, awards or trips to outside salespeople, store certificates to clients) are not disinterested gifts. They are often connected to rewarding people for past business, encouraging them to provide future business or promoting current business. The expense might be promotional or advertising-related or marketing or compensation, but if the motive for it is business-related, then it’s probably not a gift, and no gift means no $25 limit on the deduction.

That doesn’t mean the road is clear for handing out big-ticket, year-end “thank yous” and incentives. For one thing, a gift of a meal is still a meal — not a “promotional item.” For another, in an audit you may find yourself having to defend your characterization of these expenses. And you’ll always have to show that the expense was ordinary and necessary in your business!

When people retire today, they no longer get the gold watch with their name engraved on the back and the dates they worked for the company. These were old retirement gift ideas and they went away when companies started to cut back. It is just too expensive and not realistic!

Instead, the happy retiree gets a mug with the company logo (most likely the same as the one he/she got instead of a Christmas bonus), a t-shirt with the name of the company every time he wears it, or if the boss sincerely likes the worker, a plaque.

Retirement gifts are difficult for both bosses and coworkers to choose. They should not cost a lot of money so most people resort to choosing a pen, a mug, or again the t-shirt that is always a size too large. (Really, one size does not fit everyone!)

Most retirement gift ideas that co-workers come up with tend to be gag gifts. Why? Because they are not only funny they often say so much more. A good, well thought out, gag gift lets the recipient know that you think they have a good sense of humor, you know something about them, you think of them as a friend and you feel comfortable teasing them.

People that get gag gifts tend to cherish them because they do mean fun and friendship. Consequently, they keep them in a prominent spot in the home. They also are in full view so the recipient can show the gift to someone else and get a laugh too.

Retirement business gifts require thought and a good gag gift is not any different. If you choose a gag gift for a retiree, do not make it a run of the mill idea that could fit your Uncle Ned or even Crazy Cousin Bill. Make it unique to the individual so that they truly cherish and appreciate it.

Make sure your gift reminds them of an activity they love or is something they will find useful. Yes, it will take a little more snooping then you are used to, but a figurine that says World’s Greatest Golfer just won’t be that personal and is only useful if your hobby is dust collecting.

If you are exhausted of coming up with gifting ideas for your business gifts, then you should reach out online. Searching online opens up a new world of business gifts with different styles and price ranges, and that suit different purpose. Like the written icing on a cake, you can get gifts customized as per your business requirements. In addition to your company’s logo, you can get the gift customized with your corporate colors that reflect your company’s image or anything else related to your company. It is a good idea to have your brand name and logo on the gifts.

Prominent reasons for getting your business gifts customized are because it helps create brand awareness, it helps stick in the minds of clients, and you can change the appearance of the gift based on your client’s style and personality.

These are the things that make your business gifts amazingly interesting! Get them perfectly designed for your esteemed client, whether it is for an existing client’s retention or to allure a new client towards your new projects or new establishment. Recognizing your employees for their accomplishments is another great reason for gifting. It is good to know that an employer cares about their employees who put in extra effort and hours of work to enhance the company’s revenue.

Go for personalized gift ideas and make your gifts perfect for your client, shareholder, vendor, customer, partner, or employee. Understand your customer’s or client’s requirement, based on what kind of business he or she is into. Everyone likes to have a free gift and if it suits them well, then, you have struck the right chord!

So go online and start searching, you will be pleasantly surprised. Variety, convenience, and cost savings - you can get it all online – and you can personalize or customize your gifts with an online vendor. Check out www.corportaesnobs.com for some great business gifts!

Build up a rapport or strengthen ties with your prospective business clients and share a good relationship with your business partners and share holders. If you want to present an unusual gift, check out online gift suppliers; you don’t just get to choose the items but also get them custom made as per your business or corporate requirements.

Reach out for exclusive or unusual corporate gift ideas from business gift experts. Business gifts can make or mar a business proposal, so they should be attractive, convincing, and appeal to your prospective client. This is a way of attracting new clients towards your business, creating awareness about your company, and enhancing your brand image. You can maintain good e-client relationships with a new client and stay in touch with your old clients too. It can also be used as employee incentives, and keep them motivated to do good work. A huge range of custom printed corporate gifts are available online.

Make your brand’s presence felt – with unusual gift ideas! Gain 100% guarantee on best value, lowest prices, quality and service by comparing corporate gift rates online. You can opt for sim card readers, stylish mouse pads, or a unique range of phone holders that feature a 2D version of your logo embossed on the phone holder. There are budget friendly gifts to executive gifts, which are suitable for all kinds of events, be it conferences, business meetings, contracts, corporate events, trade shows etc.

Conference bags with many storage sections made out of different materials such as leather, or other materials are available in different colors. So you can choose your company’s corporate color, in order to represent your company’s image. Get them customized, add your logo to it and get suitable changes done on what is available online, by selecting a customize option. Get different degrees of logo and brand name customization done on your favorite business gift!

We live in a business culture where corporate gifting is an expectation. When you’re dealing with executives whose annual compensation is high six figures into the seven figure category, a beer couzy or a logo’d plastic pen just won’t make the grade. Generally, the gift’s value should correspond to the value of the potential contract or book of business that is under consideration along with the particular executive’s compensation. Most companies now target the value of the product or service being purchased.

Consider a formula of 0.5% of contracts valued under 2 million dollars and 1.0% from 1 to 10 million dollars. Sales over 10 million dollars should be addressed by the corporate board of directors. These are loose guidelines. Only you know how crucial a particular sale is to your organization. A start-up might want to consider upping the ante on an executive gift because it could be a major turning point in the fledgling businesses development.

Once a determination is made on the value of compensation, the type and form of the gift takes center stage. Here you really need to do your homework. Do not offer tickets (with a private jet to your corporate box at the super bowl) to someone who hates sports. We assume that when you’re courting an executive such as CFO or COP for a large contract you should have had enough contact with this person to have assessed some of their interests.

Vacation packages are a great gift. Treat your executive to a luxury cruise, or a spectacular golf outing at a world class golf resort. An individual gift such as a piece of artwork or a new car would not be appropriate. More importantly be aware that many executives are prohibited from receiving any gifts as this would be viewed as a conflict of interest. More and more companies have a policy that once a contract has closed you may make a contribution to the target corporation’s charities.

Do your homework, be careful not to offend, and leverage your executive gifting in a manner that is win win.

As an executive, all eyes are on you. You always need to maintain an image of success and an air of confidence. The way you dress and accessorize counts - and your promotional pens to fellow executives. These are people who many times use pens that cost a lot of money, are high-end, high quality, and high priced! A bright purple and orange plastic pen won’t appeal to them and they’re not likely to use it in professional meetings or occasions.

Black and silver are the classic colors for high-end pens. Remember — presentation counts! Give a pen that comes with a complementary executive gift box. For a sophisticated look that’s also fun, hand out Balmain Rollerball Brass Pens. Recipients will instantly recognize the Balmain name, and will be impressed with your good taste. The black and silver plaid design is a step out of the ordinary. Its eye-catching design is sure to elicit lots of comments and compliments.

For the utmost in luxury, give your clients and fellow executives a Cutter & Buck American Classic Leather Wrap Roller. The bottom barrel is wrapped in top-of-the-line black leather. This handsome pen says your company is serious and seriously successful! Present them in style with a complementary 2-piece gift box.

Usually, when people think of pens and promotional products, they think of cheap, inexpensive items purchased in bulk and handed out to large groups or crowds. However, people should think out of the box and realize that pens can also be sophisticated and practical items that executives can use and show off. Give pens as gifts that are high-end and classy. These are right for professionals that use pens regularly, and fancy ones at that! So think about ink and order your pens today!

Product placements in film and television are a way to put your product in front of a large audience. In fact, the rare high impact placement, such as Reese’s Pieces in the movie E.T., can catapult sales. Even more mundane placements, that are not at all integral to the storyline, can help promote your product or your brand. Such placements used to be reserved for large national companies, but as numerous cable channels and independent film companies emerge, small businesses can also benefit from placement deals. This is just another method and venue to use promotional products to your advantage. There are several ways to go about placement. For example, you can try a placement agency.

Before signing with such an agency, however, make sure research and find out about the agency’s reputation and track record. Try to learn more about how many other products they are trying to place, particularly competitive brands.

Alternatively, you can try placing your product yourself. Very often, barter deals are struck where you provide the cast and crew with your product to eat, wear, carry, or use in some manner; and they provide a product placement. In other cases, it’s a cash deal, not unlike advertising, but somewhat less expensive. While advertising tends to mean running a commercial frequently, placing a product is usually a one-shot deal that airs repeatedly at no extra cost to you. However, you do run the risk that your product ends up in a movie that bombs!

You can always look for films shooting in your area and offer a barter deal. Independent film companies are easier to reach and may be less besieged with products. Also watch television programs and focus on the set design. Look for places where your product could fit in. Send your product periodically to set designers and look for online film and television resources. Try to make barter deals with local production companies for their next project. Network and get to know directors, producers, and local talent. There are quite a few approaches you can go with so get out there and start promoting!