Corporate holiday gifting programs are much more common than most people might expect. In fact, around 42 percent of employers give gifts or plan on giving them each year.
Of course, for many businesses, the program becomes one more thing that gets rushed at the end of the year. It’s another box to tick before everyone can clock out for the last week or two of the year.
Just because that’s how things always went before, you can still shake things up a little this year. Keep reading for seven benefits you can enjoy by starting your corporate holiday Gifting program early this year.
Below are the Benefits of Starting Corporate Holiday Gifting Early :
1. Less Stress
The holidays proper are a time of major stress in a lot of people’s lives. They must figure out their travel plans, lock down last-minute gifts, and then there’s the wrapping. Some people may enjoy it, but it’s pure agony for many.
Adding in the gift buying and management for employees or customers at the last minute just amplifies that stress. Starting your Corporate holiday Gifting program early lets you deal with those holiday purchases before the regular holiday stress descends around you.
2. You Can Get Organized
Another benefit of starting your program early is that it lets you get organized. You can decide if you want to hand-select gifts for employees or set up a gifting redemption program. With these programs, the employee gets to pick their Holiday gift.
These programs work especially well because it lets employees pick out gifts that they want or even need. You usually run it through an online center that offers employees a range of choices. Starting early lets you set up an employee gifting platform like that and work out all the kinks before you need it to work.
3. You Can Build a Schedule
Any good corporate program needs clear, attainable goals. Yet, holiday Gifts often languish in a state of vagueness. Starting early provides you the opportunity to create a schedule of necessary steps.
For example, you need a budget for the program. If you start in August, you can set aside time to discuss practical budget constraints.
Once you know that, you can search for Holiday gifting platforms that will work within that budget. After you select a platform, you can spend several weeks considering what gifts should go on the platform or discuss your ideas with the platform company.
If you need help from IT to make the platform work with your network, you can give them several months of advance notice and connect them with the platform company.
You can set preliminary testing for late October or November. Then, you can kick back and let the program unfold.
4. Avoid Shortages
Let’s say that you decide to go the hard way and do personal gift selections. One of the worst parts of last-minute holiday shopping is finding the perfect Holiday gift and discovering it’s back-ordered for the next month.
Getting a jump on your holiday program means you aren’t likely to run across shortages. Plus, even if supply chain problems do have your gift ideas on back-order, there is plenty of time left for the Vacations gifts to arrive before the holidays.
5. Fewer Shipping Problems
Every year around the holidays, postal systems and delivery services find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of packages. That creates inevitable and predictable problems. The most frustrating of those problems is when a package goes missing.
Sometimes, it gets delivered to the wrong address. Sometimes, it simply vanishes into the ether.
Ordering earlier in the year means avoiding those end-of-year, holiday-driven shipping issues that plague retailers and customers alike.
6. Support Customer Relationships
Holiday programs aren’t just for employees, although it’s a great way to boost and maintain employee morale. You can also use your holiday corporate gifting to support and reinforce your important customer relationships.
Let’s say you have one client who constantly refers new clients to you. Even if the referring client doesn’t spend a lot of money with your directly, all of those referrals they send your way mean a lot of revenue.
Sending that person a holiday gift, particularly a personalized holiday gift, is a great way to reinforce your relationship with them. You get to say thank you. They get a clear signal that you recognize and appreciate what they do for your business.
You can also use gifting programs to reinforce relationships with clients who do spend a lot with you. You should absolutely personalize the gifts to those clients. Starting early lets you devote the time you need to find the right gifts for those special clients who support your business directly or indirectly.
7. Frees You Up
There is a lot of real value in holiday programs for your employees and clients. Keeping those relationships healthy and strong benefits you in higher productivity, more referrals, and maybe even more sales.
Yet, it’s very easy for people to get so caught up in their corporate gifting program that their personal holiday preparations fall but the wayside.
Getting the program organized with a gifting platform or individually selected gifts ahead of time frees you up to focus on your personal holiday obligations.
You can get a special gift for your spouse or child or host a holiday party guild free. Keeping your personal life on an even keel during the holiday season matters just as much as keeping your professional life on an even keel.
Start Your Corporate Holiday Gifting Program Prep Early
Starting your corporate gifting holiday program prep early isn’t just smart, it may help preserve your health and sanity. Getting everything set up, picking gifts, or arranging for a gifting platform, and locking down the details means a lot less stress at year-end.
You can kick back and focus on your personal holiday plans and goals. It’s a much better option than stressing out about what to buy or whether you can even get the perfect gifts for your employees delivered in time.
Givenly specializes in corporate Holiday Gifting platforms. For more information or to get started early, contact Givenly today.