It’s that time of the year again. People are busy cleaning off desks and writing out goals and New year’s resolutions. But not so fast. Don’t forget about acknowledging corporate holiday gifts.
I’m not talking about small gifts that you gave to a host or hostess at a holiday party. In that case, your gift of chocolates, a holiday CD or even a personal note is an appropriate thank you for the invitation.
I’m referring to gifts from clients – like wine or gift baskets – sent as a token of appreciation for doing business with you. People are busy during the holidays and immediately afterwards. That said, it doesn’t matter if it’s two weeks later or more, find a way to mention that you received the gift. In this case, a quick e-mail works just as well as a casual mention the next time you have a face-to-face meeting with the client.
A friend recently told me that one client has never once acknowledged expensive bottles of wine she sends every year during the holiday. And I’ve never gotten over tales from a retail wine and gift basket business owner. At least once a week he gets a call from customers who wonder whether their gift was received. During the holidays, those calls increase to three to five times a week.
Unfortunately, in 20 years of business, there were only a couple of times when the gift was not delivered. That means the store owner has had to hear three words countless times:”Are you sure?” No one wants to believe that people can be so ungrateful.
Gift giving in work environments is already tricky. People often wonder if they should send gifts to bosses or colleagues. No one wants to appear like they’re brown-nosing – or worse – make the recipient uncomfortable. And of course it’s inappropriate to give a gift to a prospect. But when a gift is appropriate, whether it’s a holiday, your company’s anniversary, or the anniversary of when you started doing business with the client, is it really too much to ask to acknowledge you received it?
