While some salespeople may have used charm and wit to wow potential customers in the past, today's smartest and most effective salespeople know it takes more than a sparkly smile to get someone to sign on the dotted line. Sales is still a numbers game to some degree, but it has become very reliant on intelligence and engagement tools.
In today's fast-paced business world, getting the most from every opportunity is increasingly essential. Companies can improve sales performance by using corporate gifting to uniquely catch a prospect's attention and create more sales engagement, especially for target accounts.
Here are a few examples where you can make an impact with gifting.
Targeted ABM
Strategically sending gifts to a select group of contacts is commonly the first use case that comes to mind when considering gifting. It is impactful because you know these leads are a great fit for your solution, and you may already have a dialogue started with them. A personalized, carefully designed gift can further the relationship, spur an enthusiastic response, and communicate volumes about the experience your company delivers. For example, you might send target accounts a bottle of champagne when they have a positive press release or social media announcement.
Standing Out, Building Rapport, and Showcasing Brand Personality
Today's legal tech buyers have a wide variety of options to choose from. As a result, they are looking for more than just a feature set; they prefer to work with companies they can trust as partners. Gifting is a great way to cut through the noise and build personal connections with your prospects. By researching your prospects to understand their motivations, you can send them personalized gifts that build rapport and show your investment in them. For example, the online e-learning platform Masterclass does this by sending a customized gift box highlighting the courses their prospects are most interested in; someone interested in Serena Williams's course would receive personalized tennis balls, while those interested in former FBI negotiator Chris Voss's courses received his best-selling book. Using gifting in this way captures attention, customizes the experience, and speaks volumes about your commitment to becoming a trusted partner.
Shortening the Sales Cycle
Many sales teams today struggle with maintaining consistent engagement throughout the sales cycle. Buyers likely consider multiple options and are bombarded with messaging and demands on their time. They struggle to find the time and motivation to sort through it all in a timely fashion, even when it is valuable, and the momentum for deals can rapidly decline the longer the sales cycle drags on. A gift can help you stay top of mind, generate goodwill, and bring positive energy to a pitch meeting. You don't need to break the bank. At LTMG, we send a gift card for coffee to leads who schedule a consultation with us, along with the meeting confirmation. In our experience, a cup of coffee is a small token that creates big smiles.
Reigniting Dormant and Lost Deals
Many sales opportunities go cold or decline for reasons outside your control. Often prospects simply need a nudge to get back on track or are at least open to reconsideration at a later time. Gifts are a great way to inject positive energy back into a deal. This works best when kept upbeat, friendly, and more focused on the relationship than the deal. RollWorks has seen great success sending Sendoso Aperol Spritz kits to targeted closed lost opportunities, creating "more meaningful, human interactions." AI cloud company Samsara took a more tongue-in-cheek approach by sending beef jerky with the message, "I would have loved to take you out to dinner, but 'let's meat' instead."
It's amazing how adding a corporate gift can boost sales metrics. Gifts don't have to be expensive or elaborate, making them highly cost-effective. The truth is that when you have target accounts or are working on an account-based marketing strategy, the simple addition of gifting is valuable up and down the funnel. Of course, to make this work at scale, it's essential to have a sending platform that automates much of the manual tasks associated with sending gifts and provides the tools to evaluate ROI.
Adding corporate gifting to your sales playbook can do wonders for boosting sales metrics. Gifts don't have to be complex or expensive, making this strategy more cost-effective than you might think. As with all gifts, the thought is more important than the gift itself. When you have target accounts or are working on an account-based marketing strategy, gifting is valuable up and down the buying cycle. To enhance your gifting strategy, use a sending platform that automates, measures, and easily facilitates your gifting program.
If you would like to learn more about corporate gifting and sales enablement, schedule a call with LTMG here.
