This the season not to delay!

This year I will plan to ship corporate holiday gifts ahead of time. Horror story. Last year I thought there was no hurry and that I would get true deals by waiting until mid December to buy gifts for my clients. Client gifts of appreciation for their business is very important and if you falter to send a holiday gift you have botched the regular gift that has come to be expected yearly. Don't forget how important and necessary these thankfulness tokens are. Three years ago I decided to forego the gifts because of a budget crunch. Thinking it made little or no difference I felt quite glib about the amount of money and time and headache I would save for this extra frivolous expenditure. Was I ever completely wrong. In fact many of us were wrong. The other firm people I meet with weekly all talked it over and were in agreement that one year couldn't make that much difference and we were quite smug about our money saving tactics. In my business my major competitor is someone who has tried to get my clients but I've always won their allegiance. Unfortunately for me he chose to take the risk and send out gifts early. The next year I found I was losing some of my clients because they had decided to take a look at other organizations that could deliver the same or equal service. As we asked new clientele many of them had already signed up with the major competitor and my laid back and risk-free style that I would easily keep clients was slipping away. I had to work really hard to keep the clients I had and put in a lot of time and effort for the next few years to get some of my primary companies loyalties back. Maybe it wasn't just the holiday present, but the next year I took note. Listening and asking questions of buddies and relatives about what made them devoted and things that made a difference I noted that follow up letters of thanks,telephone calls, and gifts aren't just tokens they are are reminders and stamps of assurance for the clients. So two years ago I made sure I had money for gifts at holiday time calculated. I started looking for gift ideas and sent them out the first of December. What I observed was that I immediately got cards and calls from clients. They loved them plus mine were the first gifts to arrive at their workplace. My secretary and I were talking and she pointed out the gift we got at Thanksgiving one year with the note that here's your first holiday gift to enjoy. Since it was the first and only gift at that time it did make a difference. Most gifts of food, gifts baskets, and cards come that last week before December 25 and although we appreciate them they sometimes get tossed in and mixed up and we can't remember exactly who gave what. Besides workers are bringing in treats and food for each other all week. So my secretary and I started talking and analyzing that the first gifts that come in are the most observed and appreciated and you normally remember them. That brings me to our plan for this year. We have already contacted a basket business to send out holiday gift baskets to be delivered no later than December l. Why? Because last year we thought we'd order them later and they were sold out of the one we really wanted. Since we have clients in 10 states we had failed to note that many would not arrive on time because of shipping days needed. We gave up after checking about sending flower arrangements or poinsettias which seemed useless for a few days in the office. As a last resort we scrambled to get gift cards for nearby restaurants or bakeries near each client. It took way too much time. We were able to find some gift cards in grocery store, but they were not the right denomination. We also felt uneasy that the exact amount we were spending was obvious, putting a dollar value on the client. But we got the cards sent out. It was fine and at least we sent a gift. However one of the more vocal and brazenly honest secretaries called to thank us and did say she preferred the gift baskets because she was the one who had to order and go to the eatery to bring back what was ordered with the gift card. She also made it clear that to feed everyone they had to add more money. Yikes, not a good strategy. This year I called Baskets by Rita the first of October and placed my order for gourmet gift baskets and Rocky Mountain Gift Baskets to be sent out just before Thanksgiving so they will arrive that first week of December. They explained to me that they have to order all holiday products in August and September to have enough stock to not run out in addition suppliers run out early. We're feeling really smug. Our clients will know these are gifts of appreciation, there are food items to be shared by all, they come packaged amazingly giving that WOW factor and our card and gift will be the first one they get and will be hanging around the break room all holiday season. It won't get lost with all the other gifts. Since there is not a dollar amount attached you are not blatantly telling them what money amount they are worth. Plus my secretary is so happy because this is a slower time for us and she was able to make all preparations in a more relaxed way. We discovered another money-saving hint for giving holiday gifts. We will have baskets shipped to 9 other states, but the majority are in the Denver area. My secretary has arranged to save some of the shipping and delivery costs by going to pick up most of the baskets and deliver many herself. We've added a wine and cheese FAC the first Saturday in December in our office for clients and we'll give most of them out then. If not, it would be good for me to take them and give them myself and make the personal call. The lesson of the story is do not underestimate the power of the holiday thankfulness gift and order early.

Do you need an idea what to give your clients this year?

With competition for your business, it has become absolutely necessary to give a thank you and appreciation gift at holiday season time. Like it or not the approach of saving money worked for only a couple of those hard economic years. The accepted craze was temperateness and we all assumed and privately hoped it might become tendency and a way of life. Most of us cut down on everything. We cut down the additional items like travel and vacations, Starbucks, newest fashion pieces, new cars, and entertainment. We also monitored our pennies as we were cognizant of multi-tasking errands to cut gas costs, attentive to food price tags and shopping the special offers, turning off lights and turning down heat, making gifts or regifting. It was interesting and some parts of it made us discover we do spend. However, we also understand how much we love spending our time and money on things we love. Take Jason from Denver, as an example. He missed not skiing, not going to Avalanche or Nuggets or Broncos games, not eating out and indulging in a movie. He dived into the economic recession with vigor and mentally told himself he could cut personal and business expenses and that would be the best way for him to manage both operations. He didn't like it but he was shocked at how much money he could save. He watched games on television. He shopped at the food market instead of take-out food. He give up his gym membership and used the exercise equipment in his place. At first it was a unique experience and definitely eye-opening. In business he trimmed out one of his workers and spent more time doing the work himself. He cut the usual treat Friday by not bringing in breakfast and his employees understood when he told them times were tough and to keep jobs it was regrettable but there would be no Christmas party or holiday gifts or the traditional birthday gift. It absolutely saved money. There were three major complications. One was that cutting the extras in his personal life touched Jason's mental and emotional health. He found himself missing something and becoming more irritable. Second was that cutting business extra perks greatly impacted the morale and spirit in his business for the employees and for Jason himself. Before long productiveness went down and the setting of a positive place to work took a turn for the horrible. The accommodating teamwork turned to competitive existence as employees thought who would be cut next and missed those small birthday and holiday perks. Jason himself found that he missed the optimistic vibes he got at work which were now replaced with uncomfortable silences. The third major problem was that his main competitor had taken the total opposite strategy and as he and others cut costs and services the competitor decided to keep and even raise the bar. That Denver based company hired a few additional workers and took a vigorous approach to steal customers away from the competitors who were cutting everything. It even hired away one of Jason's most effective employees. It chose to take a risk and go into debt to keep workers and keep giving gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Take the holiday gifts for example. The Denver company ordered their regular thank you and appreciation holiday baskets from Baskets By Rita and maintained their regular customers. Why? Because the customers had few other gifts, so when the holiday gift basket arrived it endured alone. The customers reacted with calls of gratitude and acceptance of using that company for the next year, since they seemed to be the strong one that would be there for them. The Denver company even put out more by ordering the Grand Gourmet basket to send to their competitors' best clients. For Jason it was a disaster because he lost two of his strongest. When he contacted them they said they were wondering if he still was in business and they knew the competitor seemed to be doing well. Jason decided it would be economical to make phone calls to his clients to keep contact. That worked for some, but he had lost some clients who would didn't come back. The next year he called Baskets by Rita in November to set up an order for baskets. He ordered a less expensive basket but had them sent in mid-December. It did serve. He also ordered a huge basket filled with candy bars and individual treats for the staff workroom. It arrived with a big bow and he was amazed at the results of his $200 investment on morale. The next year he did the same thing but also called Baskets by Rita and ordered small baskets to give his employees at their annual pot-luck lunch before the holidays. They were pleased and he felt he got so much more appreciation than just giving them cash or a gift card. It was a noticable Wow and a festive gift instead of a card. Also they didn't know how much he had spent where they used to know their value by the value of the gift card. This year Jason called Baskets by Rita the first of November and mentioned he needed a few grand baskets and gourmet baskets sent to competitors' clients. Jason jumped at the next option they gave. They suggested he send them out to be delivered right after Thanksgiving. Their motto is to be the first holiday gift received. The first gift creates more bang for the buck because they take time to read the card and it's around for a while. Some even hang the cards and the top one is yours for folks to read over and over again. Jason did remember there were clients before who had seemed to forget which company sent which gift because they all arrived at once. Baskets by Rita said to let yours be the first and rock star gift for a lasting impression. Jason is thrilled because his Good Earth Gift Baskets will arrive early not a few days before December 25.

Getting the Most from your Employees

A head of a company in the Colorado area granted an interview to a friend's son, a graduate business student, getting ready and  preparing his thesis statement. The young man asked questions about marketing, budgeting, and the most beneficial market procedures. The discussion and questions also including corporate and business hurdles and challenges, protecting assets and the problems and practices in increasing sales. The CEO admitted that managing a firm's long-term reserves had always been at the heart of his energy and determining stakeholders was important. Weighing choices in every aspect was his solution to the question about best decision-making practice. The 60 minute interview was almost over when the graduate asked his last question about what was the biggest liability and what was the greatest asset in the company. After bumbling through a list of financial jargon, the CEO stopped unexpectedly and thought carefully before saying that all of that was secondary because the employees could be the greatest asset or they could be the greatest liability. The men and women working for you can make or break the company. Simple as that. The CEO then took our friend's son out to lunch and they continued to dialogue. The conversation included examples from the CEO's experience when he worked at a restaurant through college and when he managed various establishments. He had many examples of how good workers actually made the company money and the managers and owners did not always know it or recognize it. At the same moment, a rude or incompetent or an employee with a bad attitude could ruin not only the sale at the time, but later. They talked about the television show Undercover Bosses where CEOs pretend to be new employees on the ground level for a week to actually get some in field experience and insight. The CEO admitted that he had thought of doing that. The two of them throughout lunch talked about different episodes and came to the summation that employees do make or break a company. And usually what they want most even more than money or raises is to be treated respectfully and to have their efforts acknowledged. They want a thank you of some kind whether it be just a sincere thanks, a gift card, money, a promotion of a gift. The graduate revealed that his mom who had been an administrative assistant had just quit her job the week before saying she had just had enough. Her boss not only did not see what she had done but did not seem to care about rewarding anyone. When she suggested he give gift cards he said that was fine but she would have to give them and write the note and he put her on a small budget. After a year she suggested they give time off to employees but he refused saying. She noticed morale was extremely low and he did agree and she was to come up with something. She told him to come into the next morning meeting, which employees hated, with food. He told her to get some cheap donuts from the grocery store. She started just standing up to him and said no, he needed to spend some bucks and get quality pastries or food and quality coffee boxes from the Panera Bread down the street. He delegated her to do it and to be sure it was there on time. It did the trick and employees liked it. She needed a different idea for the mid afternoon meetings. So when she saw the huge basket delivered next door with all kinds of treats for employees she was impressed and contacted the basket company, Baskets by Rita. For the same money they put together a huge basket with goodies to put in the break room for everyone to enjoy. It was large and they delivered it to her that day. The boss walked in with the Stress Relief Gift Basket and there were cheers from the once tired employees. The student made an appointment the next day with his adviser to change his thesis topic to center on the importance of gratitude and acknowledgment for employees contending that they are the most valuable long term investment.

unique and different gift

 All my pals know that they will get either beer, a bottle of wine or flowers I grabbed on the way to see them. It worked for a while, but now it seems to be just too expected. Looking for a completely different birthday gifts can take a lot of time. Today I went looking for my best friend which should be easy. I know exactly what he will like so it should have been very easy. I ended up just running to a big box store and finding a gift card. They used to have small cool wooden crate type things to put the gift card in but not anymore. So that was Okay but really tiresome. Last weekend my spouse was out of town and asked me to go out and get items to put in a basket for her cousin who was bringing her daughter to Colorado to start college. My wife emailed me a list of all the wares to buy for the basket so I went to find it. She puts in mostly Colorado products like goodies, potato chips, salsa, tortilla chips, nut products, Colorado water, tea drink, coffee, beef jerky, cheeses, crackers, and honey sticks. First I could not find a basket in the food market and only a few of the merchandise. I finally gave up because it was taking forever to look and be sure I had Colorado made foods. My neighbor was also shopping and I revealed my frustration when she recommended just going to our business district and going into the large kitchen specialty shop and having them help me. I did that and it was helpful but I was shocked at how much it cost, including the basket. They proposed to help me put it all together in the basket and put on a nice big bow. It looked great and my wife was not surprised at the cost of buying the stuff there. She goes to 7 or 8 different places to buy all the merchandise and saves about twenty dollars. Now that is just way too much work. An easier way is just to go online and find a gift basket shop that will do it and deliver it. My wife and I argued over the expense, so to show my point I found a several of baskets at Baskets by Rita which is a Colorado based company. They have a Colorado wooden crate that is cooler than typical baskets. Even after the delivery cost, it turned out it was less costly than us doing it ourselves. So getting back to the birthday gift idea I saw the crate and decided to order one and have it delivered to my house so I could see how it looked. It came and was excellent. My wife and I concluded that they do a much more professional job of putting it together and it looks amazing. Plus it turned out to be more affordable than doing it ourselves. They have a great selection so that is my plan from now on when buying Beer Birthday Tub. http://www.basketsbyrita.com

Making a Good Impression is so important!

Making a good first impression is at the heart of management and profession skill musts. Whether you are applying for employment or managing a task it is a strategy tool that ranks among the most essential. You want to get off to a excellent start. One article contends that within 3 seconds someone judges you by your appearance, your body language, you mannerisms, and the way you present yourself. We make impressions by our moves, what we say and by what others say about us. To make a good impression you must know what was said about you or how you are perceived. If it is beneficial you come with a good character. If it was not you have a chance to change that impression. How you present yourself IS the impression. That first impression must be powerful enough to show confidence to establish trust. However over-confidence can destroy trust. It is a fine line. Courteous, attentive, on-time, positive, appropriateness and sincerity go a long ways. Fortunately you do not have to sign up for a workshop or school, but simply google making a nice impression to find numerous sites with free and priceless information. The difficulty lies in finding out what others have said about you and what information they already know. That means investigating. So that takes care of the first impression. The key is keeping a great impression. Once that you have landed that deal or sold that house or secured that client your impression skills are not locked in. You must expand that impression that they made the right choice and that you truly appreciate them. You do that in your text with a letter or note or a phone call. You do it in your conduct with making face to face timely visits when possible. And you are sure to spend a few bucks to maintain that impression. It might be with food or gifts, and not just holiday expected gifts. When you first land the sale follow up with something. My neighbor is a real estate broker and used to send a restaurant gift card to her clients after the closing. He now walks into the closing with an impressive and festive gift basket from Baskets by Rita. He already knows the client, so whether it's a beer tub, wine gift basket, gourmet gift basket he pays the money for it to be a wow factor and make the great impression as he walks through the door. He said the day he came into the room with a baby gift basket for the couple about to become parents they were so excited. Lasting impressions have rewards and he says that the wow factor and the oohs and aahhhs he gets from them carry through. As they thank him as they are leaving, he mentions he would appreciate any referrals they would send his way. When they refer, he has another gift basket sent to their house. He claims this impression has definitely increased his client list. So good impressions are very important.

Medical Student Gift

Individuals who already know individuals who are either applying to medical school or preparing to take medical licensing exams already know of how stressful they are. Just because everyone is cheering on a prospect does not take off the very intense pressure they really feel. Whether it is the medical students entrance exam or one of licensing exams they have a lot at risk and feel their whole future is resting on that specific test. Financially each exam not passed brings on more financial problems to them and they probably have already built up high loans. So whether a person is taking the MCAT the Medical College Admission Test as a med school entrance exam or the the USMLE the United States Medical Licensing Exam or FSMB Federation of State Medical Boards they all mean high stress. No one can take the exam or go through it for them so all others can do is support them to continue the degree programs, whether it be for a Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or Doctor of Podiatric Medicine or even a masters of physician assistant program. Since so much is riding on the licensing in getting the medical degree phone calls of encouragement are supportive but phone texts are even better since they can read them at their convenience. A med students routine is heavy and free time and sleep are minimal. It is always good to let them know you are thinking of them and you know how challenging these times are and that they have your help. You can send a card. You can order a stress and anxiety relief gift to be delivered to help them through those long study hours. University of Colorado med students have enjoyed the Med Student Care Package and Board Exam Gift from Baskets by Rita of Aurora. Located just down the street Baskets by Rita does ship across the United States so care packages are not limited to the Denver area or just Colorado. They are quite pretty and come in a doctor RX box. They have also been used for doctors to send to particular patients or students they have mentored or as a thank you from a med student to thank a professor/doctor. Set up as the med student care package and board exam gift for support might have been the intent but they will customize it for a patient to send to thank a doctor or even for someone to send as a get well gift with a card saying just what the doctor ordered for you to get well. Minimizing tension and showing emotional support are a definite positive impact on good mental health. Treats and good wishes are always welcome and relieve stress and show thanks, concern, care, best wishes.

Are you hosting a Conference in Denver?

Conferences are not inexpensive. They can make a big effect and comprehensive planning is necessary. Not only are thecorporate seminars expensive for the presenter, but also for the participants. Participants and companies are not easily parted with their dollars and they want to be assured and reassured that they have vested their time and funds well. Post reviews show that modest details make a major difference. Throwing a conference or convention together without focus to the smallest details can spell failure. So the steps to take as a promoter and host for the conference/convention are to find a great spot. Knowing your prospective attendees is important whether you choose a location that is a short distance for them to drive or choosing a great getaway for companies to see and experience a new city. Check out the cost of the building and ask for details. Do not choose busy times of the year for holidays, family vacations or a busy time for the businesses targeted. For example, as retailers do their buying for summer sports equipment, late spring and early summer or not the time to entice them. They are preoccupied and they have already obtained their items for the year. Next you must analyze the schedule to be sure the timing is good. If you overbook they may not have extra time to enjoy themselves. If you do not offer ample workshops or variable schedules of interest, they will not think they gained anything from the conference or convention. Try to get a key speaker or two to draw a crowd. Promote early to get them to lock into your event first on their calendars. It even works to offer a discount incentive for early signup. Do assign an pro to offer all information the convention goer will need from airport transportation to hotel registration and maps. Of course your important concern will be the conference content itself. So plan to keep it going, keep it efficient, keep it stimulating. It is better to have more short sessions with question/answer free time to chat and connect than to have participants leaving lengthy sessions because they are tired or feel they are hearing repetitive information. The first impact will make a huge difference. Efficiency and getting information to help airport/hotel/conference center logistics run smoothly will set off the tone of the convention. It is also important that when they arrive there are lots of welcome folks available to set that upbeat favorable tone and answer questions. The registration table should include all the info they will need. And you always must be willing to put out the money for freebies. Our company attended a conference in a small city in a mid-western town. It was obvious they were trying to save money and got the conference center and food cheap. We paid a alot for a rental car to drive the 2 hours to the locations and stay in a small 2 star hotel/motel conference center. The pretzels and vats of bad coffee set the tone for a long two days ahead. The next year we chose to go to the Denver Convention Center and what a significant difference. Flying into DIA was so impressive with those beautiful mountains as a backdrop. Our hotel was attached to center and there were all kinds of restaurants, night life, shopping nearby. We found a cool Wine Welcome Gift Basket from a local basket company in Aurora. It was a box with all sorts of Colorado snacks. That convention rocked and we will go again next year.