A Gift even would love   It was a LANDSLIDE! In a survey of 117 Business gift buyers conducted by ASI's Counselor magazine, Food gifts garnered 61% of the vote. NOTHING EVEN CAME CLOSE!(Of the remaining 13 categories, Desk Accessories came in 2nd with 22%.) This should come as no surprise to anyone who has gotten out of the spousal "dog house" with a box of truffles. Nevertheless, let's take a look at some of the reasons that food gifts are so popular as Business Gifts: Reason #1 FOOD IS UNIVERSAL Since the beginning of time (well, the past century anyway) high-quality food gifts have always been appreciated. From the Board Room to the mail room, from Emperor to ewok, food gifts transcend all demographic lines. Reason #2 FOOD IS SOCIAL AND SHAREABLE In today's business environment, sales, marketing and HR professionals must learn to stretch their budgets. Not only does food serve as a way of promoting positive interaction among employees internally, it can also leverage your budget externally. Say you have a budget of $50 per client, but there are 9-10 people in some offices. You could skimp on each person, or worse, risk incurring the wrath of someone you've excluded. OR, you could send one substantial "office gift" that will generate goodwill and be appreciated by everyone Reason #3 NO RISK OF DUPLICATION Duplication is fine for keys or gum (double your pleasure, double your fun…) but it's a giant pothole when it comes to Business Gifts. No matter how elegant or useful a pen or clock is, how many of them can your clients and employees use? Food can always be shared and enjoyed with friends and family. It's one of the few things that are okay to re-gift (although I don't think that applies to fruitcake). Last and Most Importantly: Reason #4 FOOD IS SAFER THAN BOOZE 25 years ago the most popular business gift in America was liquor. Today, with a trend toward sobriety and increasingly tougher DWI laws, it makes sense to eliminate gifts of alcohol entirely. Eating too many Cashews may give your clients indigestion, but it won't cause them to crash their cars, and they won't have to "sleep off" your gift the next day. Times have changed -has your choice of Business Gifts? Before wrapping this up, I'd like to leave you with the following keys to a successful Food Gift program, and some things to avoid:
The keys are: Quality Freshness Taste Presentation
Be wary of the large catalog houses, as their size often works against them. In order to fill demand; many of these companies have to start packaging their product as early as February. (How would you feel if you received something that old?) Another issue is the high quality photography that can sometimes make the product look much more appealing and larger in a catalog or on a website than it does in person. One practical rule of thumb is to never send a food gift until you've at least had a sampling of the product and, ideally, have seen it as well. Finally, make every effort to choose a gift that can be Branded with your company logo, and preferably one that comes in a reusable package. For years, two major objections to food gifts were 1)'When it's gone, it's gone' and 2) It can't be imprinted. Many companies have since addressed these issues. From custom molded Chocolates to laser engraved wooden boxes, there are a number of decorating options now open to you. Two final points - it's a good idea to remember that a Business Gift is a reflection on your company, positive or negative. Also, the Gift should always have the secondary function of serving as a marketing vehicle.