Weekly Tools and Tips to Improve Any Relationship
Research shows that giving a bad gift can hurt your relationships and lose business. So how can you be sure you choose something your recipient will love?
Nearly every business around the world uses gift giving as a strategy to build relationships with its business partners, employees, clients and colleagues. The challenge hasn’t been whom to give to or even how much to spend. It’s always been what to give.
When it comes to business gifting, there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about it.
According to the 2019 Knack Business Gifting Strategy Report, over 1,000 U.S. business professionals were surveyed and 70 percent said they experienced negative feelings about their business relationships after receiving a less than stellar gift. As a result, 11 percent of them went elsewhere for their products and services.
Why? The number one response was they didn’t feel valued.
Using the principles of the Color Code can change that.
It’s important to understand that gifting isn’t an art. It’s SCIENCE! Relationship science to be exact. And when it comes to relationship science, there’s no better tool than the Color Code.
Based on their reasons for not feeling valued, I put together 5 rules for strengthening relationships by applying the Color Code to business gifting.
Bonus Tip: You can even follow these rules for strengthening your personal relationships!
Over 25 percent of the recipients surveyed said they felt the giver didn’t put much thought into their gift.
Generic gifts such as gift cards, edible fruit, and promotional (logo) items simply don’t cut it anymore.
No matter what their Color Code is, your recipient wants to know you spent time thinking about them and what kind of gift they would want to receive.
While a gift basket that looks like a feast seems like a good idea, your recipients are savvy and know they’re filled with stale nuts and cardboard crackers.
Cheap, poor quality gifts leave recipients feeling unappreciated. Especially Reds and Blues!
Instead, choose gourmet gifts that boast small-batch, artisan-made delectables. Even if it’s a gift box with 3 to 5 top-quality ingredients, it will surprise and delight any personality.
If there’s one thing you learn through the Color Code, it’s how to better relate to each personality in order to strengthen your relationship. The same principles apply to gifting.
Giving a gift that’s relevant to your recipient says, “you get me.” When that deeper level of connection is made, loyalty drastically increases; clients and employees stay with you up to 3 times as long.
Before you give, take the time to think about your recipient. Choose a gift that relates to who they are and what they need to feel valued and appreciated.
Ask any basketball player, and they’ll tell you that hoops are for slam dunks, not for jumping through. And your recipients feel the same about the gifts you give them.
For the love of all things worth giving, never ask your recipients to choose their own gift. (Yes, it’s been done, and it’s a relationship killer!)
Think about it…
Making a Blue choose their own gift will cause them to immediately question your integrity. Once that happens, you’re out. Gone. Hasta la vista, baby! Relationship? What relationship?
For Whites, it won’t make sense. “Why bother?” will be their thought. Back to the cave, Batman. This relationship is going nowhere!
Reds? Hah! Congratulations. You’ve just confirmed they really are smarter and better than you. Now they neither want nor need you. Ciao!
Yellows… hmmmm… Yellows may be the only ones you can get to play. At first, they’ll think it’s fun. Then they’ll realize it was your way of taking the easy way out, and they’ll soon move on to someone who truly values and cares about them.
Remember… hoops are meant for slam dunks, not jumping through.
The most important thing you can do to strengthen your relationship is make your recipient feel special. How do you do that?
It’s in the details.
No matter what your recipient’s Color Code is, nothing tells them you value and appreciate them more than giving a gift that’s been carefully and intentionally curated just for them.
From their favorite flavored coffee and keto-friendly snack to the dog biscuits added in for Max, tailoring a gift specifically for them will strengthen your relationship. Every. Time.
With all of this said, don’t overthink it. Truly bad gifts are rarely given. And, unless your gift is wildly inappropriate, your recipient will still feel a level of value and appreciation.
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Twila Kaye is a Certified Color Code Trainer and leading Humanologist. As the founder of LimeLily — a professional gifting service — she combines Science+Soul to create a more personal world, one gift at a time. She has been featured in numerous publications and podcasts and has enlightened audiences at Tech Con, ARMA East & Midwest, AIIM International, and a host of other well-attended conferences. Twila and her husband, Paul live in Waco, Texas, where they enjoy serving their community through the American Legion and Business Network International (BNI).
