The Best Client Gifts Aren’t Things

One of the things I've enjoyed about building a business is reaching a point where we can invest in experiences, not only for ourselves, but for the people we work with.

This hockey season, that means season tickets.

On paper, season tickets are easy to understand. You buy the seats, go to the games, entertain clients and hopefully watch some great hockey.

But I started thinking about it differently.

What if the real value isn't the seat?

What if it's who gets to sit in it?

Over the years, Flores Marketing Firm has spent a lot of money marketing our clients, building campaigns, creating content and helping businesses grow.

But some of the investments I'm most proud of don't fit neatly into a campaign report.

Sometimes it's taking a client somewhere they wouldn't normally go.

Sometimes it's dinner.

Sometimes it's an event.

And sometimes it's handing somebody tickets and saying:

“Take your family. Enjoy the night. This one's on us.”

That may not look like marketing.

I think it can be one of the best forms of it.

I Don't Want Every Relationship to Feel Like an Invoice

Business can become extremely transactional if you allow it.

Invoice.

Meeting.

Deliverable.

Payment.

Next meeting.

Repeat.

Obviously, those things matter. Clients hire us to perform, and performance has to come first.

But behind every company we work with is a person.

They have spouses.

Kids.

Parents.

Friends.

Birthdays.

Anniversaries.

Things they're celebrating.

Things they're going through that we'll never know about.

I think good business owners remember that.

If a client has been investing thousands of dollars into your company, trusting your team and giving you the opportunity to participate in what they're building, there should occasionally be moments where the relationship isn't about what you can charge them next.

Sometimes you should simply give something back.

A Ticket Can Become a Memory

This is what changed my perspective on season tickets.

I might attend a game and have a great time.

A client might take those same seats and bring their son or daughter to their first hockey game.

Now it's different.

Maybe they get there early.

Buy the jersey.

Take pictures.

Eat way too much arena food.

Their kid sees the ice for the first time.

Their team scores.

They go home talking about it.

Five years later, that child probably won't remember what marketing company their parent's business was working with.

But they might remember that night with Mom or Dad.

That's pretty amazing when you think about it.

You thought you were giving away two seats.

You may have actually helped create a family memory.

That's worth considerably more to me.

Start a Relationship Budget

Here's something practical I think more business owners should consider.

Most companies have an advertising budget.

Payroll budget.

Software budget.

Travel budget.

Maybe even an entertainment budget.

I think you should consider having a Relationship Budget.

Not a bribery budget.

Not a “what can we give someone so they'll renew?” budget.

Money intentionally reserved for showing appreciation to the people who make your business possible.

It doesn't have to be extravagant.

The amount should make sense for your company's finances and any applicable ethical or gift restrictions in your clients' industries.

But allocate something.

Then stop thinking only in terms of gifts.

Think in terms of experiences.

Learn What Your Clients Actually Enjoy

This is where relationship-building becomes personal.

Don't give everyone the same gift basket in December and call it client appreciation.

Pay attention.

One client loves hockey.

Another loves baseball.

Someone has young children.

Another loves food.

Someone has always wanted to see a particular artist.

Someone else would rather have a quiet dinner than attend a crowded event.

You learn these things by actually talking to people.

Create a simple note in your CRM:

Family | Interests | Favorite teams | Important dates | Experiences mentioned

Not to manipulate them.

To remember them.

There's something powerful about somebody mentioning something once and realizing six months later that you actually listened.

Stop Calculating ROI on Every Act of Generosity

Business owners are trained to ask:

What's the return?

That's generally a good instinct.

But not everything meaningful needs an immediate attribution model.

If I give a client hockey tickets and they take their family, I'm not sitting there calculating whether it increased their lifetime value by 7%.

That would ruin the entire point.

Sometimes generosity should simply be generosity.

Ironically, that's probably why it becomes so memorable.

People can tell the difference between appreciation and a sales tactic.

But There Is a Business Lesson Here

The companies people remain loyal to aren't always the cheapest.

They're often the companies that make people feel known.

That's difficult to scale.

Which is exactly why it's valuable.

Your competitors can copy your pricing.

They can copy your advertisement.

They can rebuild your website.

They can hire away an employee.

They can offer the same service.

It's considerably harder to copy years of genuine relationship.

That's a competitive advantage most businesses dramatically undervalue.

Experiences Also Change Business Conversations

There's another reason I like taking clients to games and events.

A conference room creates one kind of conversation.

Sitting together at a hockey game creates another.

Nobody is staring at a PowerPoint.

You're talking between periods.

You're laughing.

You're meeting someone's spouse.

You're hearing about their kids.

You're learning why they started their company.

Somewhere along the way, you stop understanding only the account and start understanding the person behind the account.

And that can actually make you better at serving them.

Marketing becomes easier when you understand what somebody cares about.

Leadership does too.

Don't Reserve Appreciation for Your Largest Clients

This is another lesson I've learned.

It's easy to treat the largest account like royalty.

That's obvious.

Pay attention to the client who believed in you early.

The person who referred three customers.

The company that has quietly paid its invoice every month for five years.

The customer who isn't demanding.

The person who always treats your employees well.

Revenue isn't the only measure of someone's value to your business.

Sometimes loyalty deserves recognition too.

Make the Investment Before You Need Something

This might be the most important rule.

Don't suddenly become generous three weeks before contract renewal.

People aren't stupid.

Invest in relationships when there's nothing immediately to gain.

Celebrate the client's win that has nothing to do with you.

Make the introduction.

Send the tickets.

Take the dinner.

Remember the birthday.

Call when something difficult happens.

Congratulate their child.

Do things that aren't attached to an invoice.

Make deposits into relationships before you ever need to make a withdrawal.

That's true in business.

It's probably even more true in life.

Eventually, Success Should Become Something You Can Share

I enjoy hockey.

I'm going to enjoy the games.

I'm going to enjoy the seats and the experience that comes with being a season glass ticket holder.

But I think I'll enjoy something else even more.

Knowing that throughout the season, different people may get to sit there.

Clients.

Partners.

Friends.

Families.

Maybe someone's child experiences their first professional hockey game because of those tickets.

Maybe a husband and wife get a night away from everything.

Maybe a business conversation turns into a friendship.

That's when something you purchased becomes something more meaningful.

I've been incredibly blessed through business.

Marketing has allowed me to travel, experience amazing places and meet people I never imagined I'd meet when I started.

At some point, success shouldn't only improve your experiences.

It should give you the ability to improve somebody else's.

That's the part I think business owners sometimes miss.

Buy the Seats. Give Away the Memories.

If your company is doing well, enjoy it.

Take the trip.

Go to the game.

Celebrate what you've built.

But every once in a while, look at the opportunities success has given you and ask:

Who else could experience this because we built something successful?

That's a completely different way to think about client appreciation.

You don't have to own season tickets.

Maybe your version is dinner.

Concert tickets.

A family experience.

A round of golf.

An unexpected upgrade.

Or simply doing something thoughtful for someone who has supported your company for years.

The dollar amount isn't what makes it meaningful.

Knowing the person is.

At Flores Marketing Firm, we invest heavily in our clients because I've never wanted our relationships to exist only on invoices and contracts.

We want to help build their businesses.

We want to celebrate their wins.

And sometimes, we want them to close the laptop, take their family somewhere incredible and simply enjoy what they're working so hard to build.

Because businesses matter.

Growth matters.

Revenue matters.

But one day, the season ends.

The memories are what you get to keep.

— Corey Flores
Founder, Flores Marketing Firm