It’s that time again… the gift basket catalogs are arriving by the armload, reminding us that it’s time to thank our clients and colleagues for their business and support over the past year. What’s the best way to do this? Better to go traditional or creative? High-end or fairly basic? The answer depends on your budget and who your clients and colleagues are, but here are some tips to get the discussion started.
- If you can’t afford or don’t want to send a gift, a really well-composed note is a good substitute. Personally I like to send at least a modest gift to my main clients, but I think it’s equally meaningful to write a holiday card to a client or colleague and really say something nice about why you enjoy working with them. Often, good clients don’t realize what sets them apart from the crowd and will really appreciate something like “I always look forward to working with you because your projects are interesting, your instructions are clear and I know that I can always count on you to provide me with the reference materials I need to produce a good translation” or “You are one of my most valuable colleagues because your eagle-eyed editing makes me look great; I know that when you’ve gone over one of my translations, it’s absolutely publication-ready.” I think that many clients and colleagues would appreciate a note like this more than a token generic gift.
- If you want to give a tasteful but not bank-breaking gift, think about locally made products. Especially if your clients are agencies, they probably receive many “mass market” gifts from big retailers. It can be a nice touch to send something from the region where you live, and it reminds your client about you as well. Your local food and gift companies may also have factory stores where you can purchase their products at a discount. For example here in Colorado we have the Celestial Seasonings tea factory, Chocolove candy bars and Allegro coffee, and some local specialty food stores even sell “Made in Colorado” gift boxes.
- If you want to go higher-end, do something creative. Post-it notes, calendars, paperweights and the like are useful but a little tired as a gift idea. After the ATA conference, Judy Jenner at Translation Times featured this post about two Dutch<>English translators whose premium client gift is a USB stick embedded in a tiny Dutch wooden shoe. Judy later reported that these cost 12 euros each if you order 50; a fairly hefty up-front investment but definitely classier and more memorable than a ballpoint pen.
- When you are giving a gift to a company, whether it’s an agency or a direct client, it’s worth considering whether to give a group gift to the whole team or individual gifts to the people you work with closely. On the one hand, it’s nice to recognize the people who send you a lot of work; on the other hand, you don’t want to look as if you’re bribing the individual in question. I would advise making gifts to individuals small and accompanying them with a personalized note; no iPod, Tiffany key ring or extravagant restaurant gift certificate. However, I do give individual gifts when I really only work with one or two people within a company and it would seem a little odd to send a gift to the whole department.
Other thoughts on end of year thank-yous?
Clients appreciate this so much! Last year I hand-carried some locally made truffles to an important client and they were so thrilled, particularly since with the tough economic times having already started, they weren’t getting many gifts. Something tells me gifts will be very welcome this year 🙂 Thanks for the reminder!
I found this site while searching for other ideas for novelty USB sticks: http://www.noveltyflashdrives.com/
The prices are also fairly steep, but the link here goes to a page where they give some simple ideas for making your own novelty USB sticks. These could be combined with another, less expensive, marketing item, or I’m sure you could have your own marketing info printed on a USB stick, though of course that’s not as nice as the wooden shoes!
Ha! Holiday gift ideas was one topic discussed at a recent “Café des traducteurs” (= monthly Sat. morning breakfast meeting of translators in Paris and the Paris region, open to all; see http://www.sft.fr for upcoming dates).
One translator specializing in cultural documents said she would be testing a new idea this year: she’d arranged for a professional guide to give a personal, behind-the-scenes tour of exhibition X at museum Y to selected clients (the clients received an invitation w/RSVP from the translator). A nice way to link gift with reminder of specialism… oh, and it’s a swap: the guide’s services are being paid for in translation services.
Home-made gifts were also mentioned, but a client attending the meeting noted that food items like jellies, jams, pickles, etc., while nicely personalized, were not a good idea: given recent health scares, some companies in France require that such foodstuffs be pitched.
I myself don’t always send gifts or even cards to clients, but have on occasion found a whimsical item with a hook of some sort, e.g. bottles of Château de Durban wine from southern France (unfortunately not too smooth stuff). A copy of The Economist style book. Or T.E. Breitenbach’s original Proveridioms poster, which has a nice language link (French clients thought it was fun). See http://tebreitenbach.com/store/
Mr. Breitenbach lives near my dad in upstate NY, so I stopped in and he was kind enough to autograph the posters for each client.
You might be interested to know that Fire Ant & Worker Bee addressed the question of holiday gifts back in 2000. 🙂 See:
http://translationjournal.net/journal//14fawb.htm
I definitely think we should remember our clients this time of the year. Chris: great ideas there. And I love Corinne’s “made in Colorado” gift boxes.
In previous years, we’ve given hand-made, but very professional looking, little booklets addressing the German-language spelling reform, complete with funny examples and simply guidelines that every businessperson wants. Our clients were thrilled! Last year, we had multilingual cards made through VistaPrint.
This year, with time so tought, we thought it would be appropiate the forego the gift and just send handwritten cards with really personalized notes, just like Corinne suggested. Many times, it helps clients with whom we haven’t worked with in a while remember us for the next year — added bonus! With that, I am off to the mailbox…