Business Gifting - Business Tips
Getting An Edge -
Why Business Gifts Are So Important
If you're used to purchasing professional gifts only during the holidays, it's time to rethink the reasons why you give them and start integrating gift giving into your overall marketing plan. Use CUTCO gifts at just the right times - the same way you use advertising - to target your prime customers and look for new business. You'll find that a few hundred dollars invested in well-placed gifts could easily outperform an ad or mailing that costs a few thousand dollars.
Customer and Employee Retention
Two important areas that every business - large or small - needs to address are Customer and Employee Retention and Cost Per Impression.
Look at the facts:
- The average U.S. company loses 50% of its customer base every five years.
- Nearly half of the customers who change companies they do business with say their top reason for the change was customer service
- Most companies can double their profits by reducing customer defection by just 5%.
- A lost employee costs a company an average of $70,000
These statements will hopefully encourage you to take a look at the importance of improving your company's performance in the areas of customer and staff retention. Giving a gift to reward an employee, thanking a customer for a new order, or renewing interest in an area where your sales have been lagging may not only bring you more money, but save your money, too.
Cost Per Impression
Advertising and promotion is all about Cost Per Impression: how much does your business need to pay to send a message to an average customer?
In an ad campaign, Cost Per Impression (CPI) is computed by dividing the total cost of the campaign by the number of people reached. Considering the fact that most promotional campaigns reach a broad audience that might only include a very small percentage of interested parties, CPI can easily be in the hundred dollar range for your prime prospects.
With an ad campaign, you'll also get a lot of exposure. But once the initial impression has been made, the message can be quickly forgotten.
A well-chosen gift, on the other hand, stays with important contacts as a reminder of your business. In some cases, that could be for years, long after your coupon has been tossed or the newspaper ad has been recycled.
With a promotional gift, CPI is computed by dividing the cost of your gift, by the average number of days it's used. The cost of a CUTCO gift, for example, could be $75. The average number of days that the gift will be used per year could easily be 200 or more. That means that an average cost of reminding your customers, prime prospects and employees about your company - JUST FOR THE FIRST YEAR - is about 35 cents per impression. Compare that with the cost of a radio spot, mailing or circular!
