When I started my business, my funds for holiday gifts were minimal. So, because of this, I had to find a way to give thank-you gifts that were affordable for my growing business. If you just started your business, here are some holiday thank-you gift tips for your clients (affiliate) that won’t break the bank.
Table of contents
- Discount Coupons Gifts
- Discount Coupons Gifts from 3rd party colleague
- Create a webinar specially designed for your clients
- Create a physical thank-you gift from items you already have in your office.
- Make baked goods
- Make Your Business’ Theme Gift Baskets
- Write a Thoughtful Letter
- When to Prepare the Gift?
First, determine what you want to give your clients (affiliate)/employees and the budget. Pick a gift that your recipients will enjoy. Here are some ideas on what to offer as a thank-you gift.
Discount Coupons Gifts
Give a coupon discount offer exclusively for clients (affiliate) who have used your services more than twice a year. For the other clients, give them a one-time-only discount that expires a few months after the holidays.
VistaPrint offers printable gift certificates you can design and give to clients. Ordering them now will allow you plenty of time to send them out with your holiday cards (affiliate).
Discount Coupons Gifts from 3rd party colleague
If you deal with other affiliates, give them a third-party promotional discount. Establish an arrangement with another small business owner to give your clients a discount for a period of time.
Try places that you may have used and really like. I enjoy getting gifts from other small business companies in my area. If they run specials or have discounts or gift cards you want to give, it’s an excellent way to show your thanks.
Create a webinar specially designed for your clients
Offer a FREE webinar for your clients if you offer these fee-based teleclasses as services in your business. You can set it up through Zoom and send the special clients an appointment.
Topics for the webinar should be some free advice to help them succeed at whatever you think you can help them with. Finish these sentences to help your clients.
- How to improve…..
- What to do with…
- Use these things to do….
- Tips to help you….
The webinar doesn’t need to be long—one half-hour is fine. Be sure to pick the best time for your clients. A weeknight may be better than a weekend, or a Sunday evening may be better than during the week.
Create a physical thank-you gift from items you already have in your office.
It could be leftover parts from your products or samples of your products. If you make jewelry, you can use the extra pieces to create custom pieces for employees. Create unique custom pieces and send them to your colleagues (affiliate) or subcontractors to show appreciation.
Make baked goods
Edible gifts are great. They could be cupcakes, spices, or mixes you purchase from another small business owner. They could be something you create and are known for. Your signature rub, your most famous dish, or a spicy sauce you make at home—whatever it is, customize it for each client/employee so they know you are making it for them. Visit our Sabrina’s Organizing blog for the dessert section and cookies section for some ideas.
Make Your Business’ Theme Gift Baskets
Visit the Dollar Tree (affiliate) store and get care packages or baskets and other items to make your basket extra special. Pick one item that will be your focal point, then go and find items to complement that item. If you have a bottle of lotion, you may want to add moisturizing gloves or soft socks.
You can also find higher-end food at Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and HomeGoods. I created a basket for a colleague with food products made in Europe and England, and they loved it.
Write a Thoughtful Letter
Write a special note with unique stationery to your employees expressing gratitude for their commitment to your business. Or, write a letter to your clients to express your appreciation for the opportunity to work with them.
When to Prepare the Gift?
After you determine your thank you gift, schedule when you want to make it and who you want to give it to. Also, determine how and when you are going to give it.
By starting this process at the beginning of November, you will have plenty of time to get your gifts together and ship or bring them to your clients or employees.
Now it’s your turn; what do you do to thank your clients/employees this time of year? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
Visit our other gift ideas posts!
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Sabrina — excellent gift ideas. I think it’s more important to do something unique for clients than to spend a lot of money. In the past I’ve given gifts of wine or champagne to certain ongoing clients. But for years I developed lists of inspirational and motivational quotes and sent them to prospects and business associates at the holidays. They always got a good response.
Sabrina,
Great post and a lot of good ideas thanks for the good thoughts and how grateful that we have to be a part of this.
Thanks Lori English
Hey Sabrina,
Excellent thank-you ideas for gifts at the holidays 🙂 Will be utilizing a few!!
These are all super ideas. I like to splurge on beautiful holiday cards and hand-write personal notes inside. I also love the discount coupon idea.
For my thank yous, for referrals I used to do a Starbucks gift card and now I try to offer a local business offering, like Organo Gold coffee packets, etc. Great tips Sabrina
Great inspiration to start planning for the holidays. Creating a gift certificate for an intuitive reading with a discount sounds like a good idea. It is perfect for people who have everything. There is something fantastic though about homemade gifts.
Many good ideas Sabrina. I think the best one is the thoughtful letter. I remember early on getting a thank you note from a marketer whose course I had signed up for. It was a real surprise to be noticed and acknowledged.
good ideas that will not break the bank. I love the discount code to current clients. Have considered doing something along these lines but did not implement it. Now might be the time. Also love the gift basket idea. I have done this for years in my other business. We have included a few of our promotional products along with candy canes and other Holiday goodies. People love it
These are so thoughtful. I’m guilty of spending more money on homemade gifts than I intend, so these options are really great. I might add a note to the edible goodies – a lot of us have dietary restrictions and can’t eat everything, so you might only do that if you’re aware of what someone can and can’t eat. I’ve had to regift a good number of edible gifts in the past. It’s the thought that counts, but I know you want your recipient to be the one to enjoy it.
Great point. It’s important to make sure you know your recipient pretty well before giving them an food gift.
Ugh, I am not willing to think about Christmas gifts at all right now. Business gift giving seems to have declined the last few years.
I love making things and also from my experience, I do find that people really appreciate something they know you created just for them! Wonderful ideas in this post, Sabrina and I gravitate most to the ones that are made by hand and customized to the individual.
These are great ideas, Sabrina. I’m not really selling anything at the moment but I love the idea of a thankful letter to those who have been supporting my blog writing efforts.
My employees always got bonuses… my clients, I would order a scarf or hat with our logo.. With over 100 clients, that was easiest for me. Now that I’ve sold my businesses and just have a few clients, I’ll have to give it some thought. Maybe a basket of vegan cookies? LOL
I’ve never really thought about gifts for my clients at the holidays. I guess that’s because I’ve never received a gift from a vendor of mine. I think it might be easier to do things throughout the year to let clients know you’re thankful for them . It would also be less anticipated and therefore, more appreciated.
Good point, Carol. Sharing your gratitude will definitely be more appreciated if they don’t expect it. Thanks for sharing.
I love the gift ideas you share, especially the homemade or home baked ones. I love the effort that you put in to showing this kind of recognition and appreciation of your clients, employees, and others in your life. These sweet touches make the world go round!
I totally agree. Thanks for sharing, Reba.
I’m not good at making things, Sabrina, but your last one–write a thoughtful letter–really spoke to me! Many years ago, I wrote letters to folks who’d made an impact on me, thanking them. Oh, the richness it gave to me! And how appreciative they were.
That’s what I’m going to adopt as gifts. Thank you!