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Looking for client appreciation ideas for the upcoming holiday season? These case studies

will help get your creative juices flowing so you can show customers how much their

business means to you.B Y A N D R A Y A VA N T R E A S E

HOST with the Most

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QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

When it comes to planning events around the holidays, Linda Baker, a sales rep at the Las Vegas branch of Proforma Graphic Printsource (asi/300094), believes that less is actually more. Although a large party has the potential to be an unfor-gettably great time, clients may not feel as appreciated if they are among hun-dreds of other customers. In addition, the most wonderful time of the year is also the busiest. Your clients’ calendars are likely to be full of large parties.

“Holiday parties are nice, but I really would not want all of our customers together, and it’s very tough to get around to chatting with them all,” says Baker. “I wouldn’t be able to give everyone the quality time they deserve at such an in-person event.”

Instead, she personally visits her clients one by one, usually with food gifts such as pizza, sandwiches and cakes, and hangs out at their office for a few hours. She realizes how important it is to get to know the people who make her job possible, and having lunch with them is an easy way to show that she cares. “Spending time

with people in any way not only shows appreciation, but it’s really personal and it pays off, big time,” she says.

After her best customer moved to Las Vegas, Baker took her to dinner, cruised the town and made her feel comfortable in her new setting. “It built trust, and I learned how she felt about us as a vendor – things I wouldn’t hear in an office,” she says. “This is how relationships are formed, and doing these types of things around the holidays is a must. Get out of your chair and off your phone, and drive to see the ones that make our business possible.”

PLAY THE PARTAs a new distributor, Rodger Daye, owner of Elegant Extras Promotions and Ful-fillment (asi/579605) in Tampa, FL, has focused much of his time on brainstorm-ing ways to turn potential clients into loyal customers. With many people on the edge of placing orders, he has decided to go for broke this Christmas and invite approximately 150 of his current and potential clients to a local dinner theater playhouse for a show.

The company is planning a social hour prior to the main attraction, and as a surprise to attendees, a theater major from a nearby college has written a small play that will be featured before the scheduled show. “The play will integrate the use of different ad specialty items from current clients and reference things like, ‘I wish my doctor, Dr. So-and-So, would have handed those out to his patients!’ ” says Daye. “It is all meant to be fun and surprise potential clients with their names in the script and the suggestion for the ad specialty item.”

Characters will also be making lighthearted jabs at the man of the hour and the ad specialty salesman himself, Daye, who has a cameo in the play. “It should prove to be a memorable night,” he says, “especially when Santa hands out his own specialty items to the crowd at the end, and they have souvenirs to take home.”

ON-SITE BITENelson Penalver, owner of Miami-based Logistical Outsourcing Inc., has had con-tinued success holding luncheons at his clients’ facilities, where he can spend time with people from different departments and treat them to an upscale, catered event. “I created a partnership with a wonderful catering company nearby, so I will call my client and say that I want to treat them to lunch, and set up a date, time and spot in their office to hold the event,” he says. “Usually it ends up being

During the holidays, offices tend to be stockpiled with desserts and snacks, either from the

department’s most festive employee or, in most cases, from business partners sending

out edible gifts to show their end-of-year appreciation. Chances are the treat is complete

with a note thanking the company for its business and stating that the gift-giver is look-

ing forward to continuing the relationship.

Sure, everyone likes to down a few cookies and brownies in the winter months, but some distribu-

tors are making their clients feel extra special. That means going above and beyond a mass distribu-

tion of baked goods. Take notes from these successful owners and sales reps, and learn how to go

the extra mile for your customers.

HOLIDAY HOST

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in a lunch or conference room to fit everyone comfortably, and we go in and set up everything while they sit back and relax.”

Penalver practices what he preaches with promotional items, too. He provides branded cups, plates, coffee mug holders and napkins and incorporates giveaways to keep the Logistical Outsourcing Inc. brand top of mind. “Customers really love the time we spend with them because it’s very personal rather than business-oriented,” he says. “When the get-together is over, if they want to grab a brownie or coffee to bring back to their desk for later, our logo is still there on the plas-ticware.”

In the past three years, Penalver has held over 20 high-end luncheons and has received incredible feedback. With spreads such as Caribbean chicken, pork, beef, rice, salad, fajitas, spaghetti and more, clients are continually impressed with the delicious food and presentation of the event. “I always get e-mails and notes after the lunch, telling me how much they appreciate the gesture,” he says. “I try not to bring up purchase orders and sales, but instead, learn about people’s sons, daughters, friends, hobbies and interests, and really get to know them.”

At $9-$10 a plate, Logistical Outsourcing views the luncheon as a worthwhile expense, considering the return on investment they experience in the following months and throughout the year. “It creates loyalty, which is great for the busi-ness side and the personal side of things,” Penalver says. “That’s hard to find these days.”

DRESS FOR SUCCESSFor large distributors with hundreds of clients, an annual party is an efficient way to entertain customers and deliver branding messages to all attendees. Beginning in 2010, WorkflowOne (asi/333647) has hosted an over-the-top theme party every year at its Houston office, home to the company’s largest showroom.

Evoking a trade show environment, WorkflowOne sets up suppliers through-out the showroom floor so customers have the opportunity to work their way to each booth, learning about new and unique products. “Last year’s theme was Halloween, so our customers went through the ‘maze,’ trick-or-treating for pro-motional products and looking for promotional ideas with their representatives,” says Stephanie Freidman, director of branded merchandise marketing at Work-flowOne. “Clients are treated to music, food and tons of promotional giveaways throughout the event.”

The number of attendees ranges from between 150 and 300 people and contin-ues to increase each year as customers rave to their friends about the experience and look forward to the coming year’s theme. The first open house was “Peace, Love and Promo” with a ’60s Hippie theme dubbed “WorkflowOne’s Groovy Trade Show Extravaganza.” The distributor passed out tie-dyed T-shirts, deco-rated the warehouse with peace signs and flowers and raffled off gift certificates and door prizes to attendees. “The save-the-dates, invitations and giveaways all tied into the theme, as well as the music that was playing throughout the day,” says Freidman. “Our sales, customer service, graphic design departments and regional managers all play an integral part in the planning to make each year bet-ter than the last.”

Over the years, WorkflowOne has seen visible results from the events in terms of relationships and the revenue that is accrued from developing them. “We’ve received a great deal of feedback from clients through phone calls and e-mails, but the best way to gauge our success level is through the orders we receive after the event,” Freidman says. “Our clients are able to walk through the open house and talk directly with our suppliers, which helps them find the most creative, use-ful branded merchandise possible. We love hearing our customers say that we not only gave them an excuse to get out of the office, but that they really had fun and found creative new ideas in the process.”

SUMMER LOVIN’When it comes to client gifts, employee appreciation and holiday party favors, Austin, TX-based Rocca Productions concentrates on preparation to ensure maximum creativity. “We love to find clever and tasteful ways to express a tagline or logo such as bottle-etching or unique placement,” says Tabitha Lawson, director. “We’ll do any-thing to avoid junk-closet confinement with the tacky, mass-produced trinkets.”

To differentiate itself from competi-tors, Rocca sends gifts in the summer months, reminding clients to be prepared for the holiday season by cel-ebrating Christmas in July. This year, the dis-tributorship sent out a pair of plush socks embellished with the company logo to 75 of its top customers. The package was wrapped

DOS AND DON’TS of Treating Clients During the HolidaysDO prepare ideas in advance in order to execute an event or per-

fect a gift-giving process. Brainstorm year-round and always

be open to any opportunity to wow clients.

DO spend money on your customers. It takes money to make

money, and people are well aware of a cheap date when

they’re on one.

DO clear your schedule and give clients the time they deserve.

Perhaps the most important way to show respect, above deli-

cious meals and fancy outings, is simply to sit down and lis-

ten to your customers. There is nothing more satisfying to a

client than getting to know their sales reps and developing

personal relationships with them.

DON’T overlook the little guys. Sure, it may be tough to thank all

clients the same way, but you never know when a small cus-

tomer will grow into a primary source of business.

DON’T send a generic “Happy Holidays” card with a signature to your

best clients. Clients should feel appreciated and special.

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in custom branded wrapping paper, and included a note stating, “Christ-mas gifts don’t have to be as boring as a pair of socks.”

“Clients enjoyed the creativity and irony in the message,” says Lawson. “We want to help get the ball rolling and provide our clients with great and creatively executed gifts for their staff, clients and customers with plenty of time to celebrate the holidays.”

The staff at Rocca Productions typi-cally brainstorms year-round, sticking to items that will start a conversation and show clients that their distributor appre-ciates and cares about them. “One year we gave personalized glass barware,” says Lawson. “It was high-quality crystal with our logo etched into the glass in a subtle way with each recipient’s initials. This illustrated how much detail we put into all of our gifts.”

GET IN THE GAME

Sporting events are popular places for people to get out of the house and engage in a night of friendly competi-tion and socializing. So, what better way to entertain clients than at a major league baseball game in your state? Especially when the home team is the New York Yankees.

As a supplier of all things tasty, Mid-Nite Snax (asi/71685) is slammed with orders during the holidays. To ensure that its clients are taken care of, the company rents a suite at Yankee Sta-dium and invites clients from multiple distributorships. “We typically do this in the summer when baseball is in full swing and our team of sales reps isn’t up to their necks with work like we are around the holidays,” says Margaret Dengler, marketing director. “It winds up being about 35 people eating, drink-ing and having a great time.”

Dengler has organized the event for 10 years now and has had the pleasure of hosting many of the same people each year. Clients are showered with appreciation, and everyone gets the chance to interact in a non-business

setting. “Some distributors have been coming to our suite since we began this tradition, and we have watched their children grow from infants to pre-teens,” she says. “It is truly amazing and makes us feel great to have these kinds

of relationships with our clients. It’s a way to build friendships and to show how much we appreciate their busi-ness.” s

Andraya Vantrease is a contributing writer for Advantages.

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