Unique Holiday Gift Ideas That Show Customers You Care

 

by Rebecca McReynolds

 

Beyond shopping for family and friends this holiday season, you may also want to buy gifts for your best customers and clients to show appreciation for their business.

 

The challenge is giving customers something they will appreciate and use without breaking the bank. Thankfully, online shopping has made creative gift-giving easier than ever. Here are some ideas for unique and memorable gifts to say “Thanks for a great year!” to anyone who has helped your business.

 

Useful, low-cost tech gadgets

In today’s mobile world, everyone is a techie. So it makes sense to find affordable tech gadgets they will actually use. A couple ideas:

 

  • A high-storage flash drive. No, not the $2 keychains that electronic stores sell at the checkout counter. Technology has driven up the speed, security and capacity of flash drives while driving down the cost. For example, the Verbatim Store ’n’ Go Secure Pro provides 16 gigabytes of encrypted storage.

 

  • A portable phone charger. Pretty much everyone owns a smartphone, and every smartphone user knows the pain of running out of juice. Today’s portable chargers are smaller, more powerful and cheaper than ever. Selling for around $30, the Anker PowerCore 10000 stores enough power to recharge three devices and fits in the palm of your hand.

 

You can take the gift a step further by getting it branded with your company logo. Flashbay can emblazon business logos on a variety of tech products.

 

Sweet surprises

’Tis the season for cookies and chocolates. Everyone’s tastes are different, so consider letting clients choose their favorite indulgence. At Sugarwish.com, for example, you can send each customer a personalized e-card that includes a link to a virtual candy store. The recipients pick what they want from a wide selection of goodies, and Sugarwish ships the package. Gifts start at $18.50. It’s easy for you, and fun and memorable for your clients.

 

To ensure your gift doesn’t get lost in the holiday hoopla, a subscription to a gourmet coffee service or a “cookie-of-the-month” club can keep you top of mind all year.

 

Games for work

Business is serious, but it should also be fun. Research shows that injecting games into the workplace can boost morale and productivity. You can mix business with pleasure by giving customers workplace games with your company’s logo on them. How about a giant Jenga for the breakroom, or a ring toss in the conference room?

 

Financial technology startup Twenty Over Ten sends its clients cookie jars with the company’s logo on them. Garnering places of honor on office kitchen counters and receptionist desks, the jars are a sweet reminder of the company’s platform every time someone reaches in.

 

Pet products

Sixty-eight percent of U.S. households have at least one pet, and in 2017, they spent nearly $70 billion on pet products. So for your customers with pets, consider a gift for the furry family members. GreenPal, a lawn care company, needs to know if its customers own pets so they can alert their service providers to any special instructions. Last year, the company used its customer database to identify pet owners and send gifts directly to the animals.

 

“This really wowed our customers,” says GreenPal cofounder Zach Hendrix. The company received thank-you notes from clients, and videos of dogs chewing on the bones they received were posted on Facebook and Twitter. “We’ll be doing it again this year,” he adds.

 

This holiday season, consider how to give your customers a gift that shows you appreciate them—and one they’ll really appreciate.

 

 

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