{"id":878,"date":"2013-11-26T17:03:16","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T17:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=878"},"modified":"2013-11-26T17:03:16","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T17:03:16","slug":"give-a-holiday-gift-thats-a-hit-with-your-small-business-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/give-a-holiday-gift-thats-a-hit-with-your-small-business-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Give a holiday gift that\u2019s a hit with your small business customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantronics.com\/us\/cmpn\/big-trends\/\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-267\" alt=\"Big trends call to action\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Big-trends-call-to-action.jpg\" width=\"168\" height=\"179\" \/><\/a>Are you finding it difficult to come up with the perfect holiday gift for your small business customers or clients? \u00a0Choosing something that shows your appreciation for business throughout the year is not necessarily easy to do. Budget may very well be a consideration, but you also want to purchase something that you know your customers will appreciate. You don\u2019t want your gift handed off to someone else or ending up in the post-holiday recycling bin.<\/p>\n<p>As you decide who among your clients or customers \u2013 if not all &#8211; should receive more than a holiday card, here are a few things to help in your decision making from <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.score.org\/2013\/denise-graziano\/tips-for-simplified-business-holiday-gift-giving-and-improving-client-retention\/\">Score:<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make a list of the clients or customers you want to especially thank, categorize them by the volume of their business and then choose a budget for 1-3 gift tiers for the various categories. Factor shipping costs into your budget.<\/li>\n<li>Consider where you want your customer or client to be when they use the gift \u2013 and think of you &#8211; in their home, on the road or in the office.<\/li>\n<li>Think about retail trends when considering items, since you want your gift to be current and relevant. Also your gift should be memorable, of good quality and reflective of your company \u2013 your small business brand, personality or values \u2013 so that it stands out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whatever you decide, make sure that gift giving isn\u2019t violating any laws. In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/john-treace\/a-guide-to-corporate-gifts.html\">\u201cGuide to Corporate Gifts<\/a>,\u201d John Treace cautions that you make sure not to violate any state, federal or local laws about gift giving in your industry or your customer\u2019s industry.\u00a0 He notes, \u201cThe US military, for example, cannot accept gifts at all, and Medicare fraud and abuse laws regulate gift-giving to doctors and hospital staff who deal with Medicare reimbursements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.valueyourmoney.org\/entrepreneurs\/business-gifts.asp\">tax deductions<\/a>, the IRS allows you to deduct up to $25 for business gifts you give to any one person per year. There is no limit on how many people you can give business gifts to during the year or how much you spend, but you can only deduct $25 per gift.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gift ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s always fun to get your group together and brainstorm holiday gift-giving ideas. Here are several to get the ideas flowing:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Budget minded:<\/strong> Wall or desk calendars are always useful. With your small business name and contact information on them, calendars are a good reminder for customers to call your business for products or services during the year.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/holiday-gift-box.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-880\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/holiday-gift-box.jpg\" width=\"262\" height=\"195\" \/><\/a><\/b><strong>A touch of class<\/strong>: A vintage wine makes a wonderful and elegant gift. Even if your clients or customers aren\u2019t wine drinkers, they may have friends and family members who are and it\u2019s always a crowd pleaser to offer a quality aged wine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gift cards or memberships:<\/strong> You can\u2019t go wrong with a gift card to one of your client\u2019s favorite retail stores, restaurants or coffee shops. Also consider one of those gift-of-the month clubs, which enable you to send anything from chocolates to fruit to even peanut butter! Check out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazingclubs.com\/\">Amazing Clubs.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mobility matters:<\/strong> These days everyone is tied to their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantronics.com\/us\/cmpn\/big-trends\/big-trend-5-devices-apps.jsp\">mobile devices<\/a>, so you might want to gift a smartphone or tablet accessory, such as a case or cover with your small business name on it. If you want to consider a headset, we recommend our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantronics.com\/us\/product\/m165?skuId=sku6210014\">Marque 2<\/a> mobile Bluetooth headset or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantronics.com\/us\/product\/backbeat-go-2?skuId=sku6500013\">Backbeat Go 2<\/a> wireless stereo earbuds.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not sure what the perfect gift is, spend time checking out your customers\u2019 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.plantronics.com\/us\/cmpn\/big-trends\/big-trend-2-social-media.jsp\">social media<\/a> pages to find out what they like\u00a0 &#8211; sports, travel, hiking or reading a good book. \u00a0They are sure to mention one of their favorite past times on Facebook, Twitter or even LinkedIn. With a little bit of detective work, you can pick out a gift that is sure to be a hit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you finding it difficult to come up with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[510],"tags":[569,929,637,1102,938,580],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}