Episode 187
The Ultimate Business Gift Guide: Strengthen Client Relationships This Christmas
In Episode 187 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy dives into the art and strategy of client gifting for the holiday season. He explains why giving thoughtful Christmas gifts to clients is a powerful way to strengthen professional relationships and show genuine appreciation. From creating a client list to selecting personalized, high-quality gifts, Kelly offers actionable tips for businesses to stand out. He emphasizes that client gifting isn’t about extravagance but about thoughtfulness, authenticity, and building meaningful connections. Whether it’s a customized item, branded merchandise, or a heartfelt card, Kelly shares how even small gestures can leave a lasting impact.
This episode also addresses common challenges businesses face with gifting, such as navigating corporate policies, managing logistics, and ensuring timely delivery. Kelly shares practical strategies, like using Black Friday deals to save on quality gifts and leveraging tools like Cardly for personalized holiday cards. He encourages listeners to approach gifting as an opportunity to connect on a human level and foster stronger client relationships. Episode 187 serves as a comprehensive guide for businesses of all sizes, ensuring they make the most of the holiday season to build trust, goodwill, and appreciation with their clients.
Key Takeaways:
1. Client gifting is about thoughtfulness and authenticity, not the monetary value of the gift.
2. Giving Christmas gifts strengthens business relationships by showing genuine appreciation for clients’ trust and support.
3. Personalization makes a difference—select gifts that reflect your brand and resonate with the recipient.
4. Quality over quantity is essential; avoid cheap or generic items that could harm your professional image.
5. Gifting should have no strings attached—express gratitude without expecting anything in return.
6. Creating a client list and organizing gift logistics early can simplify the process and ensure timely delivery.
7. Leveraging tools like Cardly or custom card designs adds a personal and meaningful touch.
8. Black Friday is an excellent time to purchase high-quality gifts at a discount while ensuring they arrive on time.
9. If possible, hand-deliver gifts locally to strengthen relationships through personal interaction.
10. The act of giving itself fosters goodwill and sets your business apart in a time when human connection is often overlooked.
Companies Mentioned:
Transcript
Welcome to episode 187 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy:And today we're chatting all about client gifting.
Kelly Kennedy:How to do it, what are the best gifts to give?
Kelly Kennedy:How do we buy them?
Kelly Kennedy:How do we schedule them?
Kelly Kennedy:How do we logistically handle this complex task?
Kelly Kennedy:And should you or should you not even give Christmas gifts to your clients?
Kelly Kennedy:Stick with us.
Kelly Kennedy:You are not going to want to miss this episode.
Mark Cuban:The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.
Mark Cuban:Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.
Mark Cuban:And we couldn't agree more.
Mark Cuban:This is the Business Development Podcast, based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcasting to the world.
Mark Cuban:You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences.
Mark Cuban:And you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps.
Mark Cuban:You'll get actionable advice, advice on how to grow business.
Mark Cuban:Brought to you by Capital Business Development Capital PD ca.
Mark Cuban:Let's do it.
Mark Cuban:Welcome to the Business Development Podcast.
Mark Cuban:And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.
Kelly Kennedy:Hello.
Kelly Kennedy:Welcome to episode 187 of the Business Development Podcast.
Kelly Kennedy: care about, to colleagues in: Kelly Kennedy:I know there's a lot of you out there who struggle with how the heck do I handle Christmas with my clients, with my employees, with my colleagues, whatever you want to do.
Kelly Kennedy:And today we're going to chat all about it.
Kelly Kennedy:Because, guys, I've been giving client Christmas gifts for my entire business development career, literally from like year one on.
Kelly Kennedy:I recognized how important it was to give back.
Kelly Kennedy:And it didn't matter who I worked with, what clients I worked with.
Kelly Kennedy:It was always part of our process, part of our plan.
Kelly Kennedy:And I'm hoping today to entice you to make it part of your plan, especially as we're starting to be more personal, more connected or reconnected with the people around us.
Kelly Kennedy:Because at the end of the day, guys, business is about people.
Kelly Kennedy:Your clients are people and we need to find ways to connect with them.
Kelly Kennedy:Before we get started, though, I wanted to take some time and just thank each and every one of you who's reached out to me recently about the video post that I have started making on LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, you know, we've talked about this a lot.
Kelly Kennedy:Video is something that for me, I have struggled immensely with.
Kelly Kennedy:I am challenging myself to be more out there.
Kelly Kennedy:I am challenging myself to be more vulnerable.
Kelly Kennedy:And my gosh, do I ever Appreciate the support from you guys as we put out more videos, both on the business development podcast and for me personally, it is important.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, the reality is the world is changing.
Kelly Kennedy: ng to be a very major part of: Kelly Kennedy:There is a shift that is happening, people, and what that shift is is a need for genuine human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:And video is an incredible, incredible way to create meaningful, genuine human connection, human interaction.
Kelly Kennedy:All of these videos, guys, they spur off into large conversations, large comment chains, you name it.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a.
Kelly Kennedy:It's literally a conversation that starts from every single video that you guys put out there.
Kelly Kennedy:It is huge.
Kelly Kennedy: are brave enough to try it in: Kelly Kennedy:And, guys, we've talked about this on the show a thousand times.
Kelly Kennedy:I have struggled with stage fright, performance anxiety, fear of video, you name it.
Kelly Kennedy:It's so funny.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, if you were to go back to the beginning of this show, I had an interview very early on with Jesse Shuchu, an incredible video trainer right here in Edmonton.
Kelly Kennedy:I've had Lesser Jorgensen, incredible videographer, right here at Edmonton.
Kelly Kennedy:I've talked with plenty of incredible videographers who have been like, kelly, just try video.
Kelly Kennedy:Like, you would be incredible at it.
Kelly Kennedy:You just got to go for it.
Kelly Kennedy:But, you know, it's one thing to say that, and I completely understand that, it's a whole nother thing to actually put yourself out there in front of that camera, be vulnerable, edit it, put it out to the world.
Kelly Kennedy: hat I am going to overcome in: Kelly Kennedy:I'm making that statement to you guys right now.
Kelly Kennedy:It scares me shitless.
Kelly Kennedy:Right?
Kelly Kennedy:It is not something that I am super, super psyched about, but it is something that I'm going to get better at.
Kelly Kennedy:And, you know, I did put out a challenge which was super fun.
Kelly Kennedy:And you know what?
Kelly Kennedy:Quite a few of you took me up on it and then put out your own videos and tagged me back in them.
Kelly Kennedy:My gosh, Incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:The Rockstar listenership we have on the show.
Kelly Kennedy:You guys are all amazing.
Kelly Kennedy:I could not, could not, could not do this show without such an incredibly supportive community.
Kelly Kennedy:I am blessed to have the business development podcast community, my community of rock stars.
Kelly Kennedy:Each and every one of you guys, I am honored, blessed, you name it.
Kelly Kennedy:Could not do this show without you.
Kelly Kennedy:But the support that we got from that, and obviously the shared support back and forth, we are going to help each Other.
Kelly Kennedy: ng to support each other into: Kelly Kennedy:And so each of you out there who took me up on that challenge saw me struggling with my own video and went for it on your own.
Kelly Kennedy:You are incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:You are amazing.
Kelly Kennedy:Keep it up.
Kelly Kennedy: e a differentiator for you in: Kelly Kennedy:It's funny, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:I was talking with, you know, fellow sponsor of the show, Colin Harms.
Kelly Kennedy:Me and him have become really great friends over the past couple of years here.
Kelly Kennedy:He's been a supporter of the show since, like, episode 21.
Kelly Kennedy:So funny.
Kelly Kennedy:He sent me a motivational video on episode 21.
Kelly Kennedy:And at that time, I'm not really sure how I was feeling about this show, but I think I was struggling with it.
Kelly Kennedy:I think like many early level podcasters.
Kelly Kennedy:And it was so funny because what it was saying was, hey, congratulations.
Kelly Kennedy:21 shows puts you in the top 1% of podcasts who stick with it worldwide.
Kelly Kennedy:And I thought that was pretty incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:He didn't know it at the time, but it was pretty meaningful.
Kelly Kennedy:And I think it really did motivate me to keep going.
Kelly Kennedy:And Crazy Guys, episode 187, it's a hell of a lot further than 21, but it's support like that that has allowed me to keep going.
Kelly Kennedy:And that's kind of what I wanted to portray here, is show you.
Kelly Kennedy:Is that the right thing to say to somebody or the right level of motivation can be the difference between the day that person quits trying or the day that person gives it one more go and, you know, start something incredible.
Kelly Kennedy: start something incredible in: Kelly Kennedy:Understand that it's not 187 episodes all at once.
Kelly Kennedy:It's one episode at a time.
Kelly Kennedy:It's one video at a time.
Kelly Kennedy:It's one week at a time.
Kelly Kennedy:As long as you are consistent with it, it 100, 100% adds up to success for you over time.
Kelly Kennedy:And so I want each and every one of you to remember that.
Kelly Kennedy:And I want you guys to go for it.
Kelly Kennedy:I really want you guys to go for it.
Kelly Kennedy:Even if it scares the bejesus out of you.
Kelly Kennedy:It scares me, too.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:I'm scared of the next steps.
Kelly Kennedy:There's always something that I'm not experienced in that scares me because I know that as I go down this path, I'm going to have to start doing things that continue to make me uncomfortable to Grow.
Kelly Kennedy:The funny thing is the things that are holding me back from being, you know, the next level of incredible are the things that scare me the most.
Kelly Kennedy:The things that are holding me back from that next step of success are almost always the things that I'm scared to do.
Kelly Kennedy:And for some of you, that's making your cold calls.
Kelly Kennedy:For some of us, that's having to jump from audio to video.
Kelly Kennedy:For some of us, maybe that's recording our very first audio and having to listen back to ourselves for the very first time.
Kelly Kennedy:That's a humbling moment, let me tell you.
Kelly Kennedy:For real, guys, for real, we're all struggling with something.
Kelly Kennedy:There's always something that's in our way.
Kelly Kennedy:But I want you to think about this.
Kelly Kennedy:The thing that you are struggling with the most is probably the thing that's holding you back from the next level of success you want to attain.
Kelly Kennedy:More often than not, that's the case.
Kelly Kennedy:And so we may have to step up to the plate.
Kelly Kennedy:And today, I'm kind of letting you guys know, for me, it's creating video that's stepping up to the plate.
Kelly Kennedy:For me that's doing the thing that I'm super uncomfortable with, that I've been uncomfortable with for a long time.
Kelly Kennedy:That even though I've had a podcast for years, at this point, I haven't, you know, been able to take that next leap because of my own personal fears, my own feelings about myself and video and whatever else.
Kelly Kennedy:So understand, I am going to take that step.
Kelly Kennedy:I've already taken that step.
Kelly Kennedy:So many of you have commented on it, encouraged me.
Kelly Kennedy:I appreciate it immensely.
Kelly Kennedy:I am by no means a pro.
Kelly Kennedy:I might look like it on tv, but I'm not.
Kelly Kennedy:I am learning.
Kelly Kennedy:I am doing the best that I can.
Kelly Kennedy:But that's each and every one of us, right?
Kelly Kennedy:None of us are great at something when we first start out at it.
Kelly Kennedy:We get better and better and better over time.
Kelly Kennedy:But if we never start, we have no opportunity to get better.
Kelly Kennedy: ose of you who have plans for: Kelly Kennedy:Maybe you're going to start a podcast of your own.
Kelly Kennedy:Maybe you're just going to make some more cold calls or, you know, commit to the active marketing process we talk about on the show.
Kelly Kennedy:Whatever it is, take that first step.
Kelly Kennedy:It really is the differentiator.
Kelly Kennedy:All right, we've had our motivational moment.
Kelly Kennedy:Let's get into it, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:Christmas, one of my favorite times of the entire year.
Kelly Kennedy:Probably one of your Favorite times as well.
Kelly Kennedy:If you're anywhere in North America, a lot of people celebrate Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand if you do not celebrate Christmas, this is also completely okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Everything that I'm going to talk about today is still relevant because likely even if you don't celebrate Christmas, many, many, many people around the world still recognize Christmas, understand the value and the personal connection of it.
Kelly Kennedy:So everything we are going to talk about today is still very much relevant.
Kelly Kennedy:Even if you may not celebrate Christmas, I'm going to start this, this out just like that.
Kelly Kennedy:I have been a fan of giving clients Christmas gifts my entire career.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, clients, they give to me all year long.
Kelly Kennedy:The reality is I don't have a podcast if I don't have sponsors.
Kelly Kennedy:I don't have a business development company if I don't have clients who want business development.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, clients, they look after me, they look after my business, they look after my family, they help me look after my family.
Kelly Kennedy:Clients are incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:They become great friends.
Kelly Kennedy:Some of them are incredible, incredible friends.
Kelly Kennedy:Incredible people that I am blessed to know.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we have this amazing opportunity once per year, once per year at Christmas to show our clients what they mean to us.
Kelly Kennedy:And there's so many of you out there who are refusing to take that opportunity.
Kelly Kennedy:And I understand for some of you, you're refusing to take that opportunity because maybe the companies you work for have horrible, horrible, horrible corporate gifting policies that we're going to talk about here.
Kelly Kennedy:But for those of you who are running your own companies, you're with, you know, various organizations, various people.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, there's no excuse at this point in time for you not giving client gifts, understand?
Kelly Kennedy:They do not have to be expensive, they have to be meaningful.
Kelly Kennedy:The secret to giving client gifts is to just being genuine, authentic and meaningful and showing a client that, hey, my gosh, you look after me all year long.
Kelly Kennedy:I sure appreciate you.
Kelly Kennedy:Let me start by saying right off the bat that giving clients Christmas gifts is not bribery.
Kelly Kennedy:And I feel like there's a lot of corporate policies out there, anti bribery policies that basically state that employees of a company cannot accept any gifts, typically from another company as part of their anti bribery policy.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, let me just like, I hate this.
Kelly Kennedy:I think it is so ridiculous.
Kelly Kennedy:Because let me just start out.
Kelly Kennedy:If I give you like a 25 or a $50 gift, whatever it is, do you think that that is going to be the main difference between you picking my company and another company for a service in the next year?
Kelly Kennedy:My answer to that is bullshit.
Kelly Kennedy:Bullshit.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not bribery to give a normal Christmas gift To a client.
Kelly Kennedy:So for those of you who are having to struggle within those horrible policies, I completely understand.
Kelly Kennedy:Worked within them for years.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand too.
Kelly Kennedy:Most of them do have a minimum.
Kelly Kennedy:That is okay.
Kelly Kennedy:So if they actually go back and they look at the policy, most policies state that you cannot accept a gift worth more than $25 or something like that.
Kelly Kennedy:Whatever it be, who cares if that's their policy?
Kelly Kennedy:And you talk to your client and they say, we have a $25 gift policy.
Kelly Kennedy:Buy them a $25 gift and a card and say thank you at the end of the day.
Kelly Kennedy:It's not about the gift.
Kelly Kennedy:That's what I want you guys to take away from this episode.
Kelly Kennedy:Client gifts is not about the gift.
Kelly Kennedy:It's about the meaning.
Kelly Kennedy:It's about showing them, hey, I'm a human being, a person who appreciates you and what you do for me, my business, my organization throughout the year.
Kelly Kennedy:And this is how in this one moment that I'm going to let you know that it is an incredible, incredible opportunity to build a genuine human to human connection with your client in a completely normal and appreciated way.
Kelly Kennedy:Now understand, first off, bribery is real.
Kelly Kennedy:So we are going to talk about bribery quickly because I do want to like straighten that out.
Kelly Kennedy:A Christmas gift is not a bag full of money.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not a new car.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not a paid vacation for your client to somewhere in the Bahamas.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, that might be bribery.
Kelly Kennedy:That is a whole nother level of something.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:That is not what we are talking about today.
Kelly Kennedy:We are talking about genuine, real client Christmas gifts.
Kelly Kennedy:This is going to be something personal, something meaningful, Maybe some branded items, maybe something you picked up at the store.
Kelly Kennedy:It's probably going to be a couple hundred bucks tops.
Kelly Kennedy:Like, we're not talking a, a bag of money.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, like, let me just like clarify that right now for any of you who are saying like, oh, well, this sounds like bribing.
Kelly Kennedy:It is not bribing.
Kelly Kennedy:Client Christmas gifts are not bribing.
Kelly Kennedy:Bribing is like I said, bag of money, giving a car.
Kelly Kennedy:And yes, there are plenty of companies who do this.
Kelly Kennedy:And yes, it is bribing.
Kelly Kennedy:They have expectations with it.
Kelly Kennedy:That is the difference between a client Christmas gift and a bribe.
Kelly Kennedy:Everything that I'm going to talk about today comes with no expectations on your behalf.
Kelly Kennedy:We give because it is the right thing to do, because it is a nice thing to do.
Kelly Kennedy:Because we are showing our appreciation.
Kelly Kennedy:We are not gifting with expectation in return.
Kelly Kennedy:We are gifting because we want to, because it is the right thing to do.
Kelly Kennedy:As A company for a client who has given us so much.
Kelly Kennedy:Remember, they've already given to you.
Kelly Kennedy:The clients have already given to you by giving you their business, by looking after you, by looking after your family.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:This is just an opportunity for you to give back.
Kelly Kennedy:No strings attached.
Kelly Kennedy:Remember, we give with no expectations in return.
Kelly Kennedy:Client gifts are a meaningful way to show appreciation once per year.
Kelly Kennedy:Now I give with nothing expected in return.
Kelly Kennedy:My clients chose me, trusted me, supported me throughout the year.
Kelly Kennedy:And Christmas is my opportunity and my turn to give something back, no strings attached.
Kelly Kennedy:So that's the key, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Client Christmas gifts are a no strings attached situation.
Kelly Kennedy:We do it from the bottom of our heart.
Kelly Kennedy:And we're going to talk about today, the steps that I have used with not just my company, but various companies I've worked with, because I know this can start to feel like a challenging thing to manage.
Kelly Kennedy:But understand, it does not have to be crazy expensive.
Kelly Kennedy:It does not have to be very hard to manage.
Kelly Kennedy:There are many easy ways to handle Christmas gifts for employees, clients, colleagues at Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:But we have to essentially think about how we are going to do it.
Kelly Kennedy:What are the best things to pick up for them and how do we facilitate essentially the logistics of getting them the gift.
Kelly Kennedy:If we can do all this properly, it does not have to be hard.
Kelly Kennedy:It can actually be fairly easy.
Kelly Kennedy:And if we do it right, heck, we might even get everything to them on time.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, so I know I have some of you now who are saying, okay, Kelly, I get it, I get it.
Kelly Kennedy:This makes, at the end of the day, our clients give to us all year long.
Kelly Kennedy:Christmas is an incredible opportunity to show them we care, to show them that they matter to us by giving back.
Kelly Kennedy:By giving back to them.
Kelly Kennedy:That is really what this is about.
Kelly Kennedy:Every company on earth should be doing this, by the way, every single company on earth should be giving something back to their clients to show them that they appreciate them.
Kelly Kennedy:Companies that have policies that do not do this, in my mind, are just cheap.
Kelly Kennedy:I have no other way about it.
Kelly Kennedy:They don't care about people.
Kelly Kennedy:Everything is just a transaction.
Kelly Kennedy:Giving back to your clients is about showing them that you value them, that you want to build genuine connection with them, that you genuinely care that they chose you.
Kelly Kennedy:That is what it is about.
Kelly Kennedy:How do we do it?
Kelly Kennedy:Incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, number one, we need to print out our customer list for the year.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we always give to clients that worked with us over the past year.
Kelly Kennedy:You may or may not choose to give to past clients as well.
Kelly Kennedy:There might be past clients who've just Become really great friends.
Kelly Kennedy:Remember, there are no rules.
Kelly Kennedy:There are no rules for how to give client Christmas gifts at Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, guys, So I don't feel like, oh, they have to be current clients.
Kelly Kennedy:No, they don't have to be current clients.
Kelly Kennedy:They can be past clients.
Kelly Kennedy:They can be colleagues, they can be friends.
Kelly Kennedy:Whatever you want.
Kelly Kennedy:It's your company, your choice on how you're going to do it.
Kelly Kennedy:But we need to create a list.
Kelly Kennedy:And so I think for most of us, a great place to start is by hopping on our accounting software, whatever we're using, to track our clients and figure out who have been our clients over the past year.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Once we can identify all the companies, then we need to identify the personnel that we worked with at those companies, because those are the people that we are going to give Christmas gifts to.
Kelly Kennedy:They're the people that we interact with.
Kelly Kennedy:They're the people who gave us the business to begin with.
Kelly Kennedy:Those are the people that we want to start generating meaningful relationships with.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, so once we create the full company list, I want you to then go back in and start to put, you know, the key employee that you worked with at each of those organizations.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, for those of you who've worked with multiple employees at the organizations, you may have to choose, depending on what your budget is.
Kelly Kennedy:Like, I don't know what your Christmas budget is.
Kelly Kennedy:There's no rules for that either.
Kelly Kennedy:So depending on what your budget is, you may need to narrow that down to the top two or three people that you worked with on a consistent basis over the year.
Kelly Kennedy:And there's nothing wrong with that.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, we did that for years when I worked at an inspection firm.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, when you work with lots of different places, sometimes you have to narrow it down to the top people.
Kelly Kennedy:So don't be afraid to narrow that list at every company to, say, the top two or three people that you worked with throughout the year that you would like to give back to.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay.
Kelly Kennedy:Now, over the years, I've created this list using Excel.
Kelly Kennedy:You guys can use a pen and paper, you can use Excel, you can use any type of tracking sheet that you guys want.
Kelly Kennedy:Just make sure that you are able to list it out for you.
Kelly Kennedy:You need the company, you need the names, and you need the various locations for you to be able to ship those gifts to.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay.
Kelly Kennedy:This list will also serve as your gift allocation tracker in the end.
Kelly Kennedy:So we also want to leave a spot where we can write what we gave to each of these people so that we can remember ourselves what we gave them and have a list somewhere showing who got what last Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:We want to make sure too that the addresses of the individuals is also on that list.
Kelly Kennedy:Now for many companies you can just send it to the main place of business, you can drop it off in the main place of business.
Kelly Kennedy:But for those of us who work across the nation, like me, I'm typically shipping things.
Kelly Kennedy:Make sure that you are getting the address of the individuals, whether that be their home address, depending on how close you are with them, or whether that be the company address at their location.
Kelly Kennedy:Number two, once we have this list completely created, this is where the fun starts.
Kelly Kennedy:You will likely have a number of gifts that you know you need.
Kelly Kennedy:Whether that's 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100.
Kelly Kennedy:I don't know how big your company is.
Kelly Kennedy:Take your pick guys, but you'll have a list of the number of Christmas gifts that you will need to give that year.
Kelly Kennedy:So now it is time to buy our gifts.
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, the more personal we can get with these gifts, the better.
Kelly Kennedy:I'll give you some examples.
Kelly Kennedy:When I launched the business development podcast, the initial sponsors, I know many of them had an interest in audio.
Kelly Kennedy:And so for the gifts that I gave my very first year of the business development podcast, I gave microphones.
Kelly Kennedy:I literally went to the store, I got high end USB microphones.
Kelly Kennedy:They were, you know, a few hundred bucks each, whatever they were, and I sent them out to all the sponsors of the show that year.
Kelly Kennedy:Now understand, I'm trying to relate it.
Kelly Kennedy:I'm trying to make something that is genuine, that is Kelly Kennedy, that is coming from Capital Business Development.
Kelly Kennedy:Many other years with Capital Business Development, I would create really nice padfolios embroidered with the Capital Business Development logo and we would send those out to all the clients.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because the whole point of them hiring me was to get meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:And so why not have beautiful padfolios to take to those meetings.
Kelly Kennedy:So think about it from that standpoint.
Kelly Kennedy:If you can get personal, if you can give them something that isn't just a cookie cutter piece of junk like a lot of companies are giving.
Kelly Kennedy:Unfortunately, a lot of companies are ordering swag from these absolute crap companies.
Kelly Kennedy:It's coming back, it's just junk.
Kelly Kennedy:It's probably going to be broken in a couple of days, a couple of weeks, whatever it is.
Kelly Kennedy:There's so much crap out there.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, think about what can I give that is quality that is going to represent me, my company in a great way, right?
Kelly Kennedy:And guys, I'm not saying like, I'm not saying you can't, you know, give Coffee mugs or.
Kelly Kennedy:You can't do things like that.
Kelly Kennedy:Just understand, everything you give is a reflection of you, your company and how much you care about that person.
Kelly Kennedy:Think about that.
Kelly Kennedy:Think about that before you give them a piece of junk plastic pen.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Like, yes, I'm talking to a lot of companies out there who are giving away total garbage because they don't understand.
Kelly Kennedy:They're not thinking about it from a standpoint of how can I give something of quality and value that somebody is going to value and remember us with.
Kelly Kennedy:They're thinking, how do I get as much of my crap with my logo out there as possible?
Kelly Kennedy:That is not the way to go about it, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Quality over quantity, always.
Kelly Kennedy:We talk about it when we're designing brochures, right?
Kelly Kennedy:We want something that's visually engaging, high quality, that's going to scream, we know what we're doing.
Kelly Kennedy:We're trustworthy, we're dependable.
Kelly Kennedy:When you're giving away your, you know, 50 cent plastic piece of junk pen with your logo on it, that is not doing you any favors, okay?
Kelly Kennedy:Take the time.
Kelly Kennedy:Take the time when identifying the right client gift to give, try to tie it back to something that was genuinely unique to you, that, that connects, that is a connection point between you and that client that is relevant to you and that client and maybe even the work that you do together.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, gifts with meaning that are meaningful, they have that much more power behind them.
Kelly Kennedy:The quality of that, of that gift, it really can be the difference between being something that is memorable forever and something that's going to be junk in the trash pen two weeks from now.
Kelly Kennedy:So think about that before you give something next time.
Kelly Kennedy:It doesn't have to be expensive.
Kelly Kennedy:Understand?
Kelly Kennedy:I'm not saying expensive.
Kelly Kennedy:Quality does not mean expensive.
Kelly Kennedy:It means thoughtful.
Kelly Kennedy:It means finding something that makes sense.
Kelly Kennedy:And yeah, unfortunately, a lot of the time that can cost a little bit more.
Kelly Kennedy:But trust me, that little bit more is worth it.
Kelly Kennedy:Nine times out of ten, okay, Avoid junk.
Kelly Kennedy:It doesn't have to be expensive.
Kelly Kennedy:The more personal you can make it, the more unique you can make it.
Kelly Kennedy:That is the secret.
Kelly Kennedy: th of: Kelly Kennedy:What does that mean?
Kelly Kennedy:We are about 10, nine or 10 days away from Black Friday.
Kelly Kennedy:And yes, Black Friday has penetrated Canada.
Kelly Kennedy:It is no longer a United States only holiday.
Kelly Kennedy:I would say Black Friday's actually surpassed Boxing Day at this point in Canada.
Kelly Kennedy:It's pretty crazy how fast it took hold.
Kelly Kennedy:However, there is an incredible thing about Black Friday.
Kelly Kennedy:Black Friday means that you can get some of the best deals of the year on almost anything you want to buy.
Kelly Kennedy:And you can do it in a time frame that allows you to buy incredible client gifts at a discount and still be able to wrap them, create a nice card, and get them to your clients ahead of Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, it is great.
Kelly Kennedy:It is great.
Kelly Kennedy:And let me tell you, early on in my business development career, we recognized this and what we started doing was we would do client gift shopping on Black Friday.
Kelly Kennedy:So we would have a list.
Kelly Kennedy:We'd have our list ready to go of what we were looking for and how many client gifts we needed, and we would be hitting the stores.
Kelly Kennedy:It was either me or a couple other colleagues.
Kelly Kennedy:We hit in the stores Friday morning on Black Friday to pick up client gifts, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:And, you know, on a certain level, I've been doing this ever since.
Kelly Kennedy:May not be as much, but I almost always buy something for clients on Black Friday.
Kelly Kennedy:It is an incredible, incredible time.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you were hearing this and it is live this week, that means you still have lots of time to go out and do this.
Kelly Kennedy:So if you're looking for, you know, ideas on how to get these client gifts, how to get them at a discount, Black Friday, guys, it is the secret.
Kelly Kennedy:Start making it like a annual corporate holiday to go and pick out client gifts for your clients.
Kelly Kennedy:You know, especially if you're buying tech, especially if you're buying, like, microphones, cameras, anything like that.
Kelly Kennedy:Always discounted, always.
Kelly Kennedy:The right time to do it is Black Friday.
Kelly Kennedy:All right, we have gone out, we've shopped well.
Kelly Kennedy:We've gotten something that's personal, high quality.
Kelly Kennedy:The client is going to love it.
Kelly Kennedy:What is next?
Kelly Kennedy:Next, we have to write a personalized card.
Kelly Kennedy:We have to write a card, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:The card is super, super meaningful.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you guys are like me, I've had trouble writing my whole life.
Kelly Kennedy:But we live in this incredible time where we can type.
Kelly Kennedy:We can absolutely type.
Kelly Kennedy:Do not be afraid to type up a card.
Kelly Kennedy:We've been creating our Christmas cards at Capital Business Development for the last five years.
Kelly Kennedy:Literally.
Kelly Kennedy:We've been creating them in house.
Kelly Kennedy:I make my own.
Kelly Kennedy:I've seen some pretty great alternatives, actually.
Kelly Kennedy:One of our sponsors at work, office furniture, Rodney Lover, sent me a Cardly card last year and, and introduced me to the founder and CEO of Cardley, Patrick Gaskin.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, Cardly is incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:If you guys just want to outsource your Christmas card making, do it on Cardly.
Kelly Kennedy:It is super, super amazing.
Kelly Kennedy:They have a font.
Kelly Kennedy:It's like a perfect handwrite.
Kelly Kennedy:When you get it you can't distinguish that it was not handwritten by an individual.
Kelly Kennedy:It's actually a font, but it looks like perfect, perfect handwriting.
Kelly Kennedy:So do not be afraid to use a company like Cardly this year to get your cards done.
Kelly Kennedy:They do cards around the world.
Kelly Kennedy:They're based out of Australia, but they're very much North America and around the world.
Kelly Kennedy:So don't be afraid to use a company like Cardly.
Kelly Kennedy:If you just want to outsource that, don't be afraid to pick up your own cardstock.
Kelly Kennedy:Staples in Canada has some.
Kelly Kennedy:Not sure in the US where you might go, but probably any office supply store is going to have card stock that you can create and print your own cards with.
Kelly Kennedy:Don't be afraid to design your own card.
Kelly Kennedy:It's awesome.
Kelly Kennedy:We've been doing it for years.
Kelly Kennedy:I love it.
Kelly Kennedy:It's personal.
Kelly Kennedy:I can type up each message myself.
Kelly Kennedy:Takes almost no time at all.
Kelly Kennedy:Or if you're old school, and I don't mean old school.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, I have nothing against a handwritten card.
Kelly Kennedy:They are incredible for those that have beautiful handwriting.
Kelly Kennedy:If you have beautiful handwriting and you like to write your own cards, guys, there is nothing more authentic than handwriting your own Christmas card to a client at Christmas.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, there's nothing better if you have this skill.
Kelly Kennedy:Do not be afraid to go to the store, buy Christmas cards, and hand write your own message for that.
Kelly Kennedy:Real nice touch, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:But either way, you need to accompany the gift with a message.
Kelly Kennedy:And do not be afraid to be vulnerable.
Kelly Kennedy:Do not be afraid to be thankful, to show them how much you mean to them in those cards.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, it is an incredible way to communicate.
Kelly Kennedy:And guess what?
Kelly Kennedy:Your clients probably only receive like a handful of cards every year.
Kelly Kennedy:And most of them are from their family and people that care about them.
Kelly Kennedy:So if you send them a card, what does that mean?
Kelly Kennedy:It shows them you care about them.
Kelly Kennedy:That's the whole point.
Kelly Kennedy:Number four, we need to ship and deliver.
Kelly Kennedy:We need to get these things logistically to the right places.
Kelly Kennedy:And if you're like me and you have clients across Canada, across North America, this can start to be challenging.
Kelly Kennedy:Okay, if you have to ship, make sure that we're starting to get this stuff early.
Kelly Kennedy:Make sure that we wrap our presents.
Kelly Kennedy:Why?
Kelly Kennedy:Because who doesn't like opening a gift, right?
Kelly Kennedy:It doesn't matter if it came in the mail.
Kelly Kennedy:Wrap it, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:Wrap it.
Kelly Kennedy:It makes all the difference.
Kelly Kennedy:If you are shipping, make sure that they are in the Mail by December 10th at the latest.
Kelly Kennedy:Guys, Christmas in Canada is bonkers.
Kelly Kennedy:Christmas in the United States Bonkers.
Kelly Kennedy:If you want to make sure that your gift is going to get there on time, we need to get these things in the mail.
Kelly Kennedy:This year is going to be a tough one for Canada.
Kelly Kennedy:Canada Post, our main post service is on strike.
Kelly Kennedy:Yay.
Kelly Kennedy:Thanks for picking the worst time ever.
Kelly Kennedy:Obviously very strategic, but damn it, is it going to cause problems this Christmas?
Kelly Kennedy:So we're going to start looking at Purelator, FedEx and maybe some of the other solutions in the US.
Kelly Kennedy:Use whatever you need, but make sure that these gifts are getting in the Mail by December 10th at the latest.
Kelly Kennedy:For a personal touch, guys, if your clients are local, if you typically work local and everybody you worked with this year is in the same city, same town, hand deliver these things.
Kelly Kennedy:Hand deliver these things.
Kelly Kennedy:It is incredible.
Kelly Kennedy:Nobody on earth won't take the time to see you.
Kelly Kennedy:If you tell them that you have a client gift to drop off for them.
Kelly Kennedy:Everybody will take five minutes to chat with you.
Kelly Kennedy:It's a great way to build an authentic connection, to strengthen a connection.
Kelly Kennedy:If you can hand deliver these things, do it.
Kelly Kennedy:It is worth it every single time.
Kelly Kennedy:And lastly, guys, pat yourself on the back.
Kelly Kennedy:You did it.
Kelly Kennedy:You stood out.
Kelly Kennedy:You stood out.
Kelly Kennedy:You built authentic human connection.
Kelly Kennedy:In a time when nobody is prioritizing that this is the way, the way moving forward is to be more human centric.
Kelly Kennedy:Be a human, stand out.
Kelly Kennedy:Give a gift, create a relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:Build a relationship.
Kelly Kennedy:It is going to change business for you forever.
Kelly Kennedy:And if nothing else, you're going to feel amazing because you know what?
Kelly Kennedy:Giving feels good.
Kelly Kennedy:Christmas is a great time to give back to the incredible clients who support you all year long.
Kelly Kennedy:Remember, even if you or your clients don't celebrate Christmas, they still appreciate the thought.
Kelly Kennedy:Everybody appreciates being cared about.
Kelly Kennedy:Everybody appreciates being thought of.
Kelly Kennedy:Take the time.
Kelly Kennedy:Gifting is an amazing way to build a personal connection with your clients.
Kelly Kennedy:Do not miss this once per year opportunity to share your humanity.
Kelly Kennedy:All right guys, that takes us to the end of the show and we're doing something a little different this week.
Kelly Kennedy:I'm actually going to go into the show updates and shout outs at the end.
Kelly Kennedy:I know we always typically do show updates at the beginning, but after some conversations, I'm going to try to do it this way for a little bit.
Kelly Kennedy:We are sitting at 224,000 downloads.
Kelly Kennedy:We have 2,990 followers on Apple, Podcasts and Spotify.
Kelly Kennedy:If you are looking for ways to support this show that no one cost a dime, give us a follow.
Kelly Kennedy:If you're not currently following, tell a friend, family member, colleague.
Kelly Kennedy:This show, that is how we grow.
Kelly Kennedy:We grow through word of mouth.
Kelly Kennedy:We grow through recommendation.
Kelly Kennedy:It is other rock stars telling new rock stars.
Kelly Kennedy:So please do, please do that for us.
Kelly Kennedy:It helps us grow.
Kelly Kennedy:We have Community Questions coming up next week, guys.
Kelly Kennedy:November Community Questions is coming up here next Wednesday.
Kelly Kennedy:If you want to get questions in ahead of that show, guys, shoot them on over to podcast Capital BDCA or shoot me a DM over LinkedIn.
Kelly Kennedy:We will definitely get those added ahead of the show.
Kelly Kennedy:And remember guys, if you are hearing this show and you need business development support, you have a team that needs business development support.
Kelly Kennedy:Or heck, you just need a little bit of motivation and encouragement to keep going and do the things you need to do.
Kelly Kennedy:The Business Development Mastery Program is for you guys.
Kelly Kennedy:It is a three month program, six sessions over those three months.
Kelly Kennedy:We're going to talk about target list creation, we're going to talk about personal branding, we're going to talk about how do we use CRM effectively.
Kelly Kennedy: ve our actual growth goals in: Kelly Kennedy:And guys, I am going to support you through it the entire way.
Kelly Kennedy:If you have any challenges in business development, by the end you will have a structure.
Kelly Kennedy:You will know what to do and when to do it.
Kelly Kennedy:To continue to move the needle forward, feel free to book a Discovery call with me by going to Capital BD CA and clicking on the coaching and following the path that takes you on.
Kelly Kennedy:Or go to LinkedIn, click Amplify your impact under my profile picture and sign up for a free Discovery call and we will see you then.
Kelly Kennedy:Shout outs this week Jen Berry, Adam Kimmel, Deanna Keane, Rodney Lover, Colin Harms, Raphael Servan, Gillian Shecker, Daniel Sonnenberg, Brian Hayes, Mark Medoza, Jason Chakalakal, Gary Noseworthy, Jan Hanat Amin, Samji, Chris Small, Irina Horiaceva, Jamiah Zagel, Aaron Haberman, Jorie Evans, Sean Sule, Jesse Shuchuk, Carmen LaBelle, Luanna Burns, William Silva, Michelle Sammy Wiebe, Nate Simpson and Susan Peseka.
Kelly Kennedy:Until next time, this has been the Business Development Podcast and we will catch you on the flip side.
Mark Cuban:This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.
Mark Cuban: business development firm in: Mark Cuban:His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.
Mark Cuban:The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.
Mark Cuban:For more more we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.
Mark Cuban:see you next time on the business development podcast.
