Whether you work in a small business or a mega corporation, corporate gifts are a regular part of the workplace. Either way, corporate gifts can range from an award to recognize an outstanding employee to gift baskets to celebrate a company's landmark anniversary; corporate gifts are prevalent in every business or office. It's basic etiquette to give a gift to a loyal client for a large purchase or during the holiday season.



With the way businesses are going, companies really need to consider where their money is being invested and whether certain costs are really necessary. Although it may seem tempting to eliminate corporate gifts from the budget, reconsider this. With loyal clients now wavering to look for other budget friendly sources, you may want to take the opportunity to kindly remind them why they've stuck with you in the past. Maybe you don't have enough clients. A great way to introduce your company and be memorable is to hand out gifts to promote your company. Big or small, you need to leave an impression with your clients. Don't forget those within your own workforce. If you've had to lay off some employees and have left the other employees picking up the pieces, show them you appreciate them for weathering the storm with you with a gift of gratitude.

Corporate gifts are little packages of appreciation given tastefully and appropriately so that you can convey your company's message while keeping within the lines of a business relationship. They can also serve a second, and slightly deviant, purpose to act as a promotional product. Place your name and company logo on your corporate gift and you've invested in a cleverly hidden advertisement that will hopefully receive multiple impressions a day, without them even knowing it! Of course the real reason is to show that you care and pay attention to your client, because the more personable your gift the better.

Say for instance that you have a client who enjoys a nice glass of wine. This client may even consider himself or herself a wine connoisseur. You could buy them a nice bottle of their favorite wine, but after they drink the bottle it will be (hopefully) recycled, and how will they remember who gave them that delicious bottle of wine? Take this corporate wine gift a step further by personalizing the bottle with your company logo and their name on the bottle, along with a quick message to show your appreciation and gratitude. Now you've done multiple things with your one corporate gift:

• You've given a gift, which shows you care about your client

• You've catered the gift to your client's specific tastes, which makes them appreciate the gift a bit more as compared to something they may not particularly enjoy

• You've branded this gift, inconspicuously, with your logo and name. Well done!

Clients don't drink wine? Try gift baskets with tasty goodies for clients with a sweet tooth, personalized mugs for coffee drinkers, or a travel case for the client always on the go. Get creative; the recipient will surely take notice.

Each company should consider corporate gifts, as a gift of gratitude and promotional item, in their future business plans. It is a tool that is widely recognized but rarely used to its full potential. The idea is to take a little time and invest within the relationships between your company and loyal and/or future customers. You don't need an excuse to send someone a gift, so take a chance to see a corporate gift's potential for business and overall morale.