Need a stronger hook to reel in corporate sales? Tell potential corporate clients, “We will make you stand out — and we might even get you behind VIP’s closed doors.” Then show them the literature that supports your claim.
In business, “everybody follows the same horrible playbook when it comes to gifting and relationship-building,” writes John Ruhlin, author of the new book “Giftology.” “Ninety-nine percent of the time gifting isn’t gifting — it’s promotional marketing. And it’s not having the intended effect that you want.”
Highly personal gifts, on the other hand, open doors, said Ruhlin, the head of The Ruhlin Group, a “gift strategy and logistics company.” As an example, he recently told Forbes about a client desperate to meet with the president of Target’s electronics division.
“They’d been trying to get a meeting for years with phone calls, notes, fliers and everything else with no luck,” he explained.
After researching the executive, Rurlin and his team commissioned a company to carve the fight song of the executive’s alma mater into a large piece of cherry wood. (The exec was a diehard fan.) They sent it with a handwritten note asking for the meeting. Within 48-hours of sending the gift, the client had his meeting. “That is the power of gifting,” Ruhlin argued.
So What?
High-end, personal gifts customized to a recipient’s taste, hobbies or history, delivered in person with a handwritten note? Sounds like the work florists do every day.
Why not offer “gift concierge” services to companies and busy executives? Tout your ability to match recipients with gifts and make logistics easy on the sender. Make sure customers know all you offer, beyond floral designs.
By the way, the time to remind customers of your gifting expertise is now, Ruhlin said, not during the busy fall and winter months.
“Most people give a cheap bottle of wine at Christmas and wonder why no one gives them a thank you or it doesn’t move the needle for their business,” he said. “I send out a quarter-million dollars worth of gifts to prospects every year, but I don’t send one gift between Thanksgiving and Christmas, ever — ever… When you’re investing money you want to do the opposite of what everyone else does. That’s how you avoid the noise.”
