Guide to Corporate Holiday Gifts

The holidays are the best time of year for reinforcing  business relationships. By demonstrating to the people and companies we deal with daily how much we appreciate them, through well-chosen corporate holiday gifts, we spread good cheer that can carry over into the new year, fostering continued good relations.

Regardless of the size of your business, or your budget, you'll find a wide variety of corporate holiday gift ideas and many suppliers of business holiday gifts just waiting to provide the perfect gifts for those on your holiday business gifts list.  From the classiest executive holiday gifts and gift sets to the most artfully assembled corporate gift baskets, there's something just right for everyone with whom you do business. You'll find creative employee holiday gift ideas and incentives, to encourage good performance, and will shop with ease for the most elegant client holiday gifts, suitable for your most valued accounts.

Some people you might want to reward for their loyal patronage or service, or attempt to attract to your firm, are:

1. Business associates and partners

2. Corporate clients (CEOs, key contacts)

3. Small business clients (owners, point people)

4. Individual customers

5. Prospective clients/customers

6. Vendors, suppliers, carriers and other service providers

7. Exceptional teams or top performers in your company

8. In-the-trenches staff who handle your day-to-day operations
  

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Celebrate the season with class by giving corporate gift baskets

Gift baskets filled with wine and fruit, meat and cheese and every conceivable kind of snack or goody come in many varieties, sizes and price ranges to help you find the best ways to remember your colleagues, clients and teams during the holidays.

I recommend: Fresh Fruit Baskets,  Wine Country Gift Baskets and Adorable Gift Baskets all offer a wide array of choices along with convenient online ordering 

Pick flowers, the corporate holiday gift that's always in season

Online flower shops each offer their own line of flower arrangements, along with other gift products suitable for giving as holiday business gifts. Flowers and plants make excellent company holiday gifts for those businesses and individuals that help you keep your business running smoothly (i.e., vendors, suppliers, carriers and service providers).

I recommend: Floral websites such as JustFlowers.com and 1-800-flowers offer cut flower arrangements, plants, and a variety of other corporate holiday gifts, including corporate gift baskets, suitable for almost anyone on your list.

Make a smart executive decision: give executive holiday gifts this year

Your execs, as well as your most valued clients and corporate accounts, deserve the very best, and many suppliers of business holiday gifts offer items that carry a touch more elegance than the average client holiday gift. Though gift baskets and flowers are always classy, executive holiday gifts are in a class by themselves.

I recommend: Netique offers a line of fine executive gifts with a large selection of elegantly styled, yet practical gift items, many of which are fully engravable. Another featured item is its unique "Chocolate Van Gogh Irises," a framed chocolate "painting" cleverly designed to look like a work of art.  e-CorporateGifts.com also carries a wide range of classically styled gifts, as well as corporate gift baskets.

Remember to plan for employee holiday gifts, as well

Your employees are foundational to your business; they keep it running smoothly, day in, day out. Without them, your company could never succeed. So choose gifts they'll appreciate as much as you appreciate their service.

I recommend: A corporate gift card from GiftCards.com would make an excellent employee holiday gift, because, like cash, it gives your employees the freedom to choose where they'll spend it. And don't forget the chocolate! Temptingly chocolaty employee holiday gift ideas abound at Lake Champlain Chocolates.

Make the first move: give promotional company holiday gifts to prospects you hope to woo

You'll want to make a good impression on promising prospects you've met through networking or one-time customers you hope to recruit into long-term relationships. You won't want them to forget you. If you play your cards right, the promotional holiday gifts you give them today could become the client holiday gifts you'll give them next year, when they're safely in the fold.

I recommend: Branders.com claims top billing as "the world's largest online seller of promotional items." Wealthwood Gifts Inc also carries a complete line of promotional products, many of which are suitable for use as executive holiday gifts. And MYMMS.com will print your company logo, or your logo and message, onto "M&Ms" candies, for a novel promotional gift idea. 

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Choose your corporate holiday gifts with their recipients in mind. The above categories are not written in stone; there's a great deal of overlap between them. Use your imagination, and always purchase the gift that "feels" right for the client, customer, colleague, employee or other individual who will receive it.
• Start early, so you'll have plenty of time for planning and choosing the right holiday business gifts, without stress, without rush and without overspending. You'll have time to comparison-shop, get the best deals and avoid paying rush shipping charges. Some vendors even offer discounts for doing your holiday shopping early.

The official source of Corporate Holiday Gifts is
the Corporate Holiday Gifts page at Business.com