I love giving gifts. I love getting gifts.
I try and give gifts to my customers throughout the year so that my gift isn't drowned out by the noise of the holidays. However, I know most salespeople use the holiday season to share the love. In the spirit of sales-human unity, tis' the season for some gift-giving.
Below are my favorites from this past year:
iWalk docking battery for phone: This is better than a normal charger because it's cordless and fits at the end of your phone! You don't need an extra hand or pouch for the charger itself. You can continue your calls and scrolling free of messy cords. If you have anything older than an iPhone 15, then you'll want to get the version with the lightning port. Anything newer requires the USB-C model.
The W Marketplace: Buy From Women. Social responsibility shopping is a thing, shop where your values are! If you want to lift other women business owners, go to The W Marketplace where the entire website is products and services created by women. They also have a super rad holiday gift box that has unique items and is reasonably priced. There are tons of categories to choose from including gifts for the guys!
FREE STUFF: Write a haiku or holiday poem. I do this every year and it's a hit. I slap on a Santa hat, hit record, upload to my Sales Tales YouTube channel, and send clients a link. If writing isn't your jam, DM me, I'll write you one on the spot :) If you don't want one from me use Chat GPT or go to Etsy! There are many resources to get this done and be memorable to your customers. Check out this one I created for inspo.
Make a Donation: Inspire and impact! Find a charity that is meaningful to you or your client and donate in their name. It's a tax write-off just before the end of the year and it's a powerful, meaningful moment between you and a customer. It's my mission to teach as many kids about being great businesspeople as early as possible so I love donating to Junior Achievement San Diego!
Another great organization to donate to is the California Hotel & Lodging Association Hospitality Foundation, a non-profit that awards scholarships to industry employees and hospitality students to help build the bench of California hospitality.
Survival Kit: For my meeting planner clients, sometimes I'll put together a meeting planner survival kit. For the holidays, why not a holiday survival kit? You can include Tums, lip balm, Altoids, bandaids, Tylenol, inspirational quotes, a stress ball, an electrolyte bottle, or a small bottle of airplane booze. Buy these all in bulk, assemble them, include your biz card, and send them a nice note encouraging them to get through the holidays or their next event :)
JoyCuff: These are so unique... and even better they are reasonably priced memorable gifts for clients! On the outside of these JoyCuff bracelets, they look like regular cute bracelets but on the inside, there's actually a secret mantra! One of my favorites is "you make the world a better place" but there are dozens of sayings to choose from. I buy these in bulk and give them out whenever I can.
Give the Gift of Customization: HPN Global, one of the largest Site Selection and Venue Finding companies worldwide, recently gave all its President Club winners a custom pair of Converse. My husband did the same for me for my 40th birthday and I now have two pairs. This is fun because the client can go online, make their custom shoe, make it whatever color or style they want, and it gets shipped directly to them. It's also fun to continue the conversation with them by asking to see what they got and asking why. This is a good bonding moment and you get to inspire your client to make space for creativity.
Gift a Trip! (waiting on link): I love this new company. It was started by two badass humans in the cruise business for years. THEY KNOW DESTINATIONS AND THEY KNOW TRAVEL. I love this because you can determine the amount of money, dates, or destination. You can also just share the link and tell them to just go for it! There are no minimums and they keep adding new rad destinations daily. I recently had a client who planned a giant President's Club trip but ended up not booking a hotel because he wanted to give his top 10 employees the gift of booking on their own. This allows them to spend their own time with their friends and family instead of having to do a work trip... BONUS!! You can use the “Referral Code” MANDIG at check out for an extra special level of service and attention. Even though their certificates are digital, you can purchase their gorgeous red box to put under a tree.
DOUBLE BONUS: They are a women’s owned WBENC Certified, BBB A+ rated business. #shopyourvalues
Use a Gift-Giving Service: If you have more than 10 gifts to give but want to give all the same items with slight variations, use a gift-giving service like Links Unlimited. My good friend Tony Ceja has done this for many of my clients in the past and people love it! You pick a category like sunglasses, hats, golf, cooking technology, etc., and he'll come up with ideas for you. He sticks within your price range and can send all the gifts to your customers worldwide. Check out their Instagram for some ideas!
If you want to keep the gift-giving going all year and are out of ideas or just want something different and high quality, do yourself a favor and follow Hildee Isaacs. She is the queen of all things SWAG and her videos always give great gift-giving insight.
Being irresistible to customers is a long game.
These are just a few of the gift ideas I love for the holiday season AND throughout the year. Remember, this is yet another opportunity to build trust, build relationships, and be magnetic to your customers. This is a long game. You have to be willing to invest the time, take the steps, think outside the box, and practice different tactics that prioritize personalization.
If you have gift ideas you love, please share and let us know. If you need more ideas, reach out to me anytime. Happy Gifting!
Mandi Graziano, a celebrated author honored with multiple awards for her work in Sales Tales, is a renowned group sales coach and serves as the Vice President of Global Accounts at HPN Global. With a talent for coaching 1:1 and teams alike, she orchestrates lively, interactive sessions that infuse joy, captivate audiences, and empower sales teams across the globe. To discover more about Mandi's expertise, connect with her on Instagram and LinkedIn.
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