Choosing Corporate Gifts For Your Global Business Partners

Giving corporate gifts to your business connections, especially your current and prospective
partners and clients, is both an act of pure goodwill and a wise business move. You want to
show your support and appreciation for the mutually beneficial partnership you have. You
want to spread cheer and share the celebration of a special occasion. At the same time, you
also want the gift to play a role in your organization’s branding and marketing strategy. As
a business venture, you need to think of ideas for corporate gifts that will be memorable,
relevant, useful and valuable to your business partners—something that will mirror or enhance
the image of your company that you want to uphold.

Due to the major role and purpose of corporate gifts, choosing gifts for business partners
is a constant challenge for many business owners, public relations officers and marketing
managers. Their task of finding the perfect item to give during special occasions, trade fairs
or corporate events is never easy, since aside from considering the needs and preferences of
the recipients, they also need to take note of the time factor and budget limitations of their
business.

If you’re the company’s decision maker when it comes to choosing corporate gifts for your
global business connections, it pays to consider the recipient company policies and culture first.
In some offices and agencies, accepting gifts can be highly discouraged or strictly prohibited.
News and journalist organizations often see accepting gifts from their sources as a conflict
of interest, while government agencies actually define it as a form of bribery. See to it that
the item will not be against the general dominant culture or religion. Make sure you do a
background check first so that you ensure that the gifts you bring will not be turned down.

This approach is highly critical in today’s multinational business environment where different
cultures and preferences are well represented. There are many new items in the market that
may be extra classy, unique or fun without making a huge dent in the company budget. In a
global environment, sometimes the most practical and the most unique approach would be
to go local—products, handicrafts and produce that showcase the best of a region are now
considered to be more cosmopolitan choices than the usual generic items.

Find a reputable gift item supplier to ensure you’ll have a wide range of quality products to
choose from. Be clear about the delivery dates, especially when the gifts are intended for
especially busy seasons such as the holidays. Treat corporate gift giving as a marketing strategy
where product, delivery and performance are all geared towards achieving your business
mission, and you can be sure that it most certainly will.