Make Your List and Check it Twice – Client Gifts to Those that Count

If you’re anything like me, walking into your local big box retailer can make you shake your head. Winter coats hang from the racks and holiday decorations fill the shelves – right alongside the skeletons and Halloween candy. If that weren’t enough, your in-box is filled with mail-order catalogs for every kind of client gift you can imagine – from cakes and chocolate, to holiday cards and honey hams.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. The holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to decide what to do about holiday marketing and the dreaded client gift debacle. Although you may have just placed an early-bird order for 500 cans of peanuts, take a break from building your new BMW online, and do a few simple things to get noticed by a very important group – your top clients.

1. The Hit List. Look at those billing reports or sit back and really think it through. Come up with your list of top clients. You know, the ones that pay big bucks (without a fight) . . . the ones that send you referrals . . . the ones that you really couldn’t “live” without. There may only be a handful depending on the size of your practice, but that’s OK. Create that very important list and check it twice.
2. The Budget. Take a wild guess, or actually do the math. How much revenue will this list of clients create for you by the end of the year? Now think about what your year would have looked like without that revenue. You get the idea. Don’t embarrass yourself by being cheap.
3. The Plan. Now that you know “who” and “how much” you’re halfway to a home run in holiday marketing. Make some notes next to each top client about their likes, hobbies, vices or needs. If you are a real marketer, you have made notes in their file all year long already. In any event, it’s all about brainstorming. This step helps you hone in and hopefully stumble on some special ideas.
4. The Shopping List. What did you come up with? Maybe you saw your client’s worn out golf bag sitting next to yours on the cart. Why not order them a new top-of-the line personalized bag. Do they drink wine? A yearly wine-of-the-month membership will bring them a smile all year long. Maybe they’re shutterbugs. Now is a good time to buy them some time with a professional photographer for a custom family portrait. Get the picture?
5. Make it happen. Special people deserve special attention. Your top clients are, in many cases, also your friends so whatever you chose to do for them this holiday season, make it special. Send that pre-printed card and can of peanuts to everyone else, but put some real thought, effort and money into your top list. I promise it’s worth it. 
6. By the way, family is even more important than your clients, so be sure to spend some time making them feel special in your own way this holiday too.

Darren Klink is local marketing consultant with over 12 years of experience in professional service marketing. He can be reached at darrenklink@yahoo.com or 757.641.0508.