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Idea for Christmas gift for clients? (1 Viewer)

gruecd

gruecd

Footballguy
I work in the financial services industry, and every year I send a couple dozen of my clients a box of custom made, individually wrapped Christmas cookies.  One design has my name/company logo on it, etc.  The lady who makes them also takes care of shipping each order directly to the client.  Anyway, got an email from her on Friday saying that her husband and five kids all tested positive for Covid, he got hospitalized with pneumonia, and unfortunately she won't be able to fulfill my order.  

So here I sit with 11 days until Christmas (and a wife that could literally go into labor any day), and I need to pivot.  Any suggestions??

 
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ditka...mike ditka said:
I think a charitable donation in lieu of a gift may be the way to go this year.  Maybe a donation in their name to “The Human Fund”
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Thought of that.  Problem is that I have an expense account that I have to use before year-end, or else I lose it.  I don't think I can expense a charitable donation.

 
Okay, this may come across as self-serving, but I'll put it out there anyway because I've had others in the financial services industry do this with positive results (Goldman, Merrill, etc.).

I wrote a Christmas book a few years ago. Hardcover is out of print but I still have a few boxes for things like this. The Three Christmases of William Spencer hit #1 on Amazon's holiday book list and has 200+ 4/5 star reviews on Goodreads. Not saying that as a "look at me", just letting you know that it's legit and wouldn't embarrass you if given to clients.  :P

The "nice" edition is red linen, gold-embossed hardcover. It's fairly short (the audio book version is 57 minutes). And you can always check it out on Kindle for cheap.

Anyway, if you're in a bind and want something different for your clients, I can sign/personalize books and ship them to you for personal distribution or directly to individuals. I'll typically sign something along the lines of "Warmest wishes for a merry Christmas and a thank you for your business on behalf of gruecd." (or whatever you want)

Hardcover books are $14.95. I'll sign for free (FBG'ers get all the perks). But you'll need to cover shipping.

For what it's worth, the book is fiction and family friendly (think "Chicken Soup for the Soul" warmth). There is a component of Christianity (the main character prays in the third story), but it's not a religious book. You can read more about it on Amazon. PM if interested. If not, no offense taken.  ;)

 
Captain Fantastic said:
Okay, this may come across as self-serving, but I'll put it out there anyway because I've had others in the financial services industry do this with positive results (Goldman, Merrill, etc.).

I wrote a Christmas book a few years ago. Hardcover is out of print but I still have a few boxes for things like this. The Three Christmases of William Spencer hit #1 on Amazon's holiday book list and has 200+ 4/5 star reviews on Goodreads. Not saying that as a "look at me", just letting you know that it's legit and wouldn't embarrass you if given to clients.  :P

The "nice" edition is red linen, gold-embossed hardcover. It's fairly short (the audio book version is 57 minutes). And you can always check it out on Kindle for cheap.

Anyway, if you're in a bind and want something different for your clients, I can sign/personalize books and ship them to you for personal distribution or directly to individuals. I'll typically sign something along the lines of "Warmest wishes for a merry Christmas and a thank you for your business on behalf of gruecd." (or whatever you want)

Hardcover books are $14.95. I'll sign for free (FBG'ers get all the perks). But you'll need to cover shipping.

For what it's worth, the book is fiction and family friendly (think "Chicken Soup for the Soul" warmth). There is a component of Christianity (the main character prays in the third story), but it's not a religious book. You can read more about it on Amazon. PM if interested. If not, no offense taken.  ;)
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That's really cool.  Let me think about this. Thanks!

 
gruecd said:
I work in the financial services industry, and every year I send a couple dozen of my clients a box of custom made, individually wrapped Christmas cookies.  One design has my name/company logo on it, etc.  The lady who makes them also takes care of shipping each order directly to the client.  Anyway, got an email from her on Friday saying that her husband and five kids all tested positive for Covid, he got hospitalized with pneumonia, and unfortunately she won't be able to fulfill my order.  

So here I sit with 11 days until Christmas (and a wife that could literally go into labor any day), and I need to pivot.  Any suggestions??
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send everyone a video of the childbirth..  

 
gruecd said:
I think I'll actually be able to make this work, so it's likely the route that I'm going to go.  Thanks for all of the ideas, useful and, um.....otherwise.
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The only thing I would say in response to this is:

When you send cookies or something similar, it makes your client feel like you are doing something special for them. When you send a charitable donation in their name, to me it feels like you are doing something for you that makes YOU feel good.  Even though I know and everyone here knows that's not your intention.

I know you are in a time crunch and all at this point, but your customers may look at this a different way.  

 
ChiefD said:
The only thing I would say in response to this is:

When you send cookies or something similar, it makes your client feel like you are doing something special for them. When you send a charitable donation in their name, to me it feels like you are doing something for you that makes YOU feel good.  Even though I know and everyone here knows that's not your intention.

I know you are in a time crunch and all at this point, but your customers may look at this a different way.  
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You really think people would feel this way?  I feel like my clients (at least these particular clients) know me a lot better than that.  I'm going to poll a few other friends and see what they think.

 
gruecd said:
You really think people would feel this way?  I feel like my clients (at least these particular clients) know me a lot better than that.  I'm going to poll a few other friends and see what they think.
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I guess it just depends on the clients. The donation thing is always just a funny gift to me. Like, what if the charity you choose doesn't align with their beliefs or what they would do.

To me, if these are your customers and this gift is a way of thanking them - a special gift means more than a donation to a charity of your choosing.

 
ChiefD said:
I guess it just depends on the clients. The donation thing is always just a funny gift to me. Like, what if the charity you choose doesn't align with their beliefs or what they would do.

To me, if these are your customers and this gift is a way of thanking them - a special gift means more than a donation to a charity of your choosing.
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I tend to agree here.

I like the book idea from here. Close runner up is the food basket/childbirth montage combo.

 
Alternatively, you can send each client a different gift using each idea in this thread. Whichever thanks you the most profusely wins, we award the winner in this thread, and you know what to send next year. You better hope @Parrothead doesn't win or you'll have some pressure the next couple months to replicate.

 
gruecd said:
I think I'll actually be able to make this work, so it's likely the route that I'm going to go.  Thanks for all of the ideas, useful and, um.....otherwise.
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If you end up doing the charitable donation thing as I suggested, just ignore my suggested charity, The Human Fund.  My friend George did it and got into a little mess with it.  He is always getting into silly hijinx though.

 
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gruecd said:
I think I'll actually be able to make this work, so it's likely the route that I'm going to go.  Thanks for all of the ideas, useful and, um.....otherwise.
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Honestly I think this is a lame idea.  Personally I'd rather have you call me and wish me Merry Xmas and give me 15 add'l min of financial advice over a charitable contribution that I'll assume you'll be writing off.  You advice and interest in my financial well being would be a great gift.

 
This place  is a small, locally owned shop that can probably do the same thing that your original vendor was doing. My wife has used them repeatedly for her clients.

 
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