Anyone giving gifts during the holidays knows that gift-giving doesn’t happen overnight or on its own. It takes careful planning and budgeting to cover everyone on your list and get the right gifts. The same is true for holiday gifting when it comes to law firm clients. You must have a plan to ensure your gift-giving goes smoothly and accomplishes everything you want.
Set Your Budget First
Many attorneys and law firms make the mistake, albeit a generous one, of making their holiday gift recipient list before setting a budget. It’s tempting to do so. However, you’ll do your pocketbook a favor by creating a realistic budget first and then building a receipt list afterward. Overspending on your holiday gifts won’t accomplish your law firm’s goals for holiday gifting.
Only you can decide what your budget should be. You might want to consider factors such as:
- How often do you gift your clients? Consider setting a larger budget if it’s only
around the holidays. A lower budget might be more attainable if it’s several times
a year.
- What goals are you trying to accomplish through your holiday gift-giving?
Consider this part of that budget if you are working on branding or referrals.
Create Your Recipient List
Now that you have your budget, you will need to decide if you want to include all of your
clients or just some of them. Depending on your budget, this may come down to the
quality versus the quantity of gifts given. Would you instead give out more gifts of lower
quality to more clients or fewer gifts of higher quality? There’s no right or wrong answer,
and the best action will vary between firms.
You may want to give some clients more expensive gifts or set a bar to cut some clients
out—perhaps ones that didn’t do as much business with you over the last year. While
this might seem insensitive, you must have some concrete way of weeding out clients
who won’t receive a gift, or you’ll likely need to increase your budget. If you can bear to
cut some clients out, consider making a higher-tiered and lowered-tier gift list.
Consider Your Timing
Timing can be a significant factor in holiday gift-giving. The two following approaches
are usually the best:
- Send your gift in early December. This way, they will be sure to get it before the
holiday. Also, remember that many people take the latter part of the month off to
vacation or spend time with family. If you send it much later in December, the
people you want to receive your gift may be away.
- Send your gift in early January as a New Year’s gift. You can skip a lot of the
holiday rush by planning for your gift to arrive in early January. This way, your gift is recovered amongst all the other gifts they received over December. Your gift recipients will return to the office refreshed from the holidays, welcomed by your gift. It’s an excellent way for them to start the New Year.
Think About Your Client Demographics
When choosing your gifts, think about your client demographics. Are you a divorce
attorney catering primarily to women, so your clients are female? Or are your clients an
even mix? This can help you decide what to give your clients. You may want to come up
with multiple gift ideas for different types of people. It would help if you also considered
their age ranges. While an older client might appreciate a vintage scotch with some
engraved glasses, younger clients might appreciate a power bank or other technology.
Limit or Pair Consumable Gifts
Only giving consumable gifts such as coffee, tea, liquor, chocolates, or cookies won't
give you the most bang for your marketing buck. While they make lovely gifts that most
people will use, you are out of sight and mind once the recipient consumes them. Your
goal is to remain visible. So, it's best to use something other than consumable gifts or
pair them with something longer-lasting. For example:
- If you gift coffee or tea, pair it with branded quality mugs.
- If you gift cookies, pair them with a branded jar they can reuse.
If holiday gift-giving feels a bit overwhelming, you're not alone. However, creating a
strategy earlier in the year can make gift-giving a breeze when the holidays roll around.
Your clients will thank you; if done correctly, you could reap the rewards for years.
