Corporate Gifts Tips

You don’t need a huge budget to buy a great corporate gift. It is all about how you present the gift. Personalisation can go a long way; it shows appreciation in a unique way and focuses on strengthening a cherished working relationship. Branded promotional items bearing a company logo doesn’t achieve this while, quite simply, a name on a gift card does. It’s important to recognise the difference between personalised gifts and promotional gifts – promotional gifts are for the masses while personalised corporate cakes are for the individual that help reinforce a valuable business relationship.

The Top 10 Tips 

1. Go for the best in the class. If you give someone a Seiko watch who wears a Rolex, the gift is doomed to go unnoticed and unused. It is better to gift consumables, eg: a luxury box of sweets (like our Macaroons hint hint) that stand to make an impression.
2. Find something that is practical. If the gift has no use other than acting as an item of clutter, it will achieve nothing, sit in a drawer for ages and is destined for the tip at the next clear-out. You want to find something they will want to use, for example, if you know your client likes coffee, buy them a superb grinder (the Mignon is the best automatic grinder that looks as smart as it is – you can order from us by request) or perhaps a coffee subscription that will be put to good use.
3. Aim to find something that will last. Sometimes a small gift with no obvious intention is ideal and a great way to say thanks. Other times you may want to find something that will last, and this doesn’t mean something like a plaque that sits on the wall collecting dust. It would be better to buy a monthly subscription of gift baskets for a year (that you can buy and forget about) that will be shared around the office and even be a conversational piece and remind them of how generous and thoughtful you are!
4. Make it personalised. Everyone loves to see their name on anything (other than bills), and if the budget does not extend to engraving a gold-plated self-replenishing fizzy drink and coffee vending machine (WE WOULD LOVE ONE!), the same feel-good effect can be achieved through something as simple as a personalised gift message. For example, one of our corporate clients sends out a gift basket every month on a subscription basis including our latest products and flavours with a little gift tag message on it bearing his client's name. It gets shared with his colleagues and that makes him feel like the office hero! Other clients gift branded cupcakes to the entire office, the choices are endless. 
5. Make it repeatable. In today’s world, time is of the essence and your corporate gift supplier should be like any other approved supplier – a supplier you have a good experience with and that you can use time and time again. At the same time you don’t want to use a supplier that has only one product as variation is very important. This is one of the reasons at Anges de Sucre we have developed a range of corporate gifts that can be updated to include our latest delicious treats that the lucky recipients can look forward to!
6. Don’t just focus on the client. Give a gift that the client can enjoy themselves and also by their family and team. A gift that can be shared is likely to make a better impression all round.
7. Go for the unexpected. While giving a gift at Christmas is a must, giving a gift throughout the year, almost randomly, will help make a lasting impression and help the gift to stand out. Remember a client maybe receiving dozens of gifts at Christmas but none during dreary January when he will definitely be appreciating a pick-me-up.
8. Find a conversation starter. Talking about a personalised knife can be difficult and out of most people's area of interest while a gift that everybody can relate to, like a gourmet gift, is much easier to find common ground to start a conversation.
9. Keep it Classy. Tacky is never good and most branded gifts are just that. A gift message with subtle branding gets your brand on their mind without going down the cringe-worthy and tacky-personalised-branded-photo-logo-on-anything route.
10. Manage your budget with affordable luxuries. At Anges de Sucre this is basically our motto - our gifts don’t blow the budget but are luxurious to the core…literally! If you have £50 to spend, don’t buy a cheap watch but the best box of macaroons!

I hope the above pointers help you find a great corporate cake that will impress your clients and support your business. If you have any ideas, shoot them my way.

Until next time.

Pb.