Buying gifts can help you keep your clients happy with your service

Have you ever been on the receiving end of an extravagant but completely unexpected gift? One that just appeared as the holiday season approached or on an anniversary or on your birthday – or even to celebrate your first year in business?

This was the case with our start up company several years back when, much to our surprise, we had a wildly successful first year. Not only had we managed to pay off the bank loan of $50,000 but we also had some spare cash in the Corporate account.

This success was due in no small way to our manufacturers who were located in the North of England. We started to distribute their product in January of that year and they had done everything possible to help us become successful throughout North America – including not requiring payment until we shipped the product to our customers from their bonded warehouse in New Jersey.

So we were really indebted to these Brits and you can imagine our surprise and delight when a truly original gift basket arrived from them just a few days before Christmas of that year. You see, there is a tradition in England whereby, on the birth of a son, several bottles of high quality Port are laid down – to mature for 21 years and then to be used to celebrate the coming of age of that child.

You can imagine our sense of awe then when we opened this beautiful gift basket, with all sorts of English delights from Harrods and, incredibly, a bottle of 21 year old Port! It made such a lasting impression, especially on Christmas day when we toasted our two companies with this delicious elixir – and even today, after more successful years, we truly cherish the memory.

Not all gifts have to be so extravagant of course, but sending a welcome gift basket to your business partners is a sure fire way of showing them how much you appreciate their business. And sometimes, the more unexpected the gift, the better it is received. Just try sending a gift basket right out of the blue to your favorite client – the results will astound you.

Do you think it is possible that they will think of you when it is time to place more orders?

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