Business Gifts for Executives
When giving corporate gifts to your own employees or to a liaison at a company you hope to turn into a prospect, there are rules, but the rules are loose. For example, it is a good idea to give a gift to an employee in person, but if you should choose to place it on their desk or send it to their home, it is unlikely to cause any considerable problems.
When you are preparing corporate gifts for executives of large companies, however, the guidelines are far more important. Executives are notorious for commanding respect, often with lofty expectations and a desire to be wowed, rather than simply acknowledged. Improperly giving corporate gifts to executives can cause a great deal of backlash, even if you do everything else correctly and even if your gift was carefully selected for the individual that received it. Executives are looking for reasons to dislike the gift, so it becomes vital that you follow all of the guidelines of corporate gift giving.
Rules for Executive Corporate Gifts
ˇ Price is Important
Executives with seven figure salaries can afford most branded items on their own, and do not enjoy receiving little trinkets of no considerable value. That is why you should base the amount you spend on the gift on the amount of the sale. For example, if you are about to win a 500,000 dollar contract, a good gift value is roughly $2,000 to $5,000 Somewhere around 0.5% to 1% of the contract value. Thats a hefty sum, but still only a small percentage of the contracts value.
ˇ Gift Should Be Personal
Executives are a little more willing to drop hints about what they like and do not like. As such, you can have a conversation with the executive about what they enjoy before purchasing a gift that they will enjoy. The worst thing you can do is spend thousands on a gift only for it to be an item that they dislike. That leaves a bad impression and wastes a considerable sum of money.
ˇ Non-Tangible Gifts May Be Best
For the executive that makes millions a year, the best gift may not be something physical at all. Rather, great gifts include vacation packages and tickets to expensive events or experiences things that the individual either may not have considered in the past. Tickets to other states/countries should always be first class, and everything should be as high end as possible.
Notes About Executive Gifts
It should be noted that executives do not always need gifts unless it is the executive that needs to be courted. In other words, if you are dealing with a middle management liaison, the executive only needs a corporate gift if it will have considerable influence on the decision. If management will make the decision and the executive is likely to simply sign off, the gift may not be necessary.
In addition, these large corporate gifts are only meant for wooing executives to sign things like large contracts. If giving the gift is for another purpose (simply getting your brand known, or celebrating an anniversary between your companies) you may not need to splurge so much, and lesser gifts should be acceptable.