Business gifts just aren’t the same as the gifts you buy for friends and family. When shopping for your mom, buy her something she’ll love. Your focus is on her… her needs… what will make her feel good.

Client gifts are different. Sure, sometimes a nice thoughtful gift is what you need. But why not challenge yourself to find a gift that gives back?

I’ve done a fair amount of work in the residential real estate world. I’ve never been a Realtor, but I have done a lot of research on lead generation and the customer experience in that arena.

Today, I was asked the question - what is a good real estate closing gift? A gift for a client after the purchase of a house…

A lot of Realtors engage in the practice of giving these kinds of gifts. Some are thoughtful. A new grill… Some are practical (it’s easy to think of things that new movers can use). A gift card to Home Depot… But today’s challenge was to think of a gift that was classy, thoughtful, and ALSO had the potential to give back.

Let me break the suspense… How about a nicely printed set of “We’ve Moved” cards? People relocate. They need to tell their friends and associates how to reach them in their new home.

If you’re in high-end real estate, you could dress it up. Have a line drawing done of the new house. The original goes in a frame for the wall, and a miniature version on the front of the “We’ve Moved” card.

On the back (in a classy way) goes the Realtor’s contact information and mention of another successful relocation (or whatever).

You could take the idea a step further and offer to have the cards addressed for the client. All they have to do is give you the list. See where I’m going with this?

This is a gift with the potential to give back. It has a viral marketing element. Your client is using this thoughtful gift to spread your name in a favorable light to all of her friends and family.

You’re probably not a Realtor. So what? With a few ounces of creativity, I’ll bet you can find a client gift that gives back. If you’ve got one, I’d love to hear about it.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 12:53 am and is filed under Infinite Return Marketing, Sales & Business Development, Customer Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.