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It’s time for holiday business gift ideas! And no, it’s not too early! While everyone is focused on winter holidays, why not stand out from the rest and surprise your team, customers, and vendors with gratitude gifts?
To help you choose the best gifts to offer your customers, team members and other stakeholders for the holiday season, we asked founders, CEOs and business leaders this question for their best experiences and ideas.
From personalized gifts for hobbies and interests to discounts and promotions to thank your customers, there are several successful business gift ideas that are shared to help you decide on the right gifts that would please your team members, customers and others this holiday season.
Gift Ideas for Team Members and Employees
There’s so much talk about quiet quitting these days. It might be a new phrase, but it’s not a new issue. Your team simply wants to be seen, gotten, and appreciated.
Personalized Gifts for Their Hobbies and Interests
Personalizing a hobby package for our team members has been one of my most successful holiday gifts.
Because each of us has different interests and passions, I took the time to explore their hobbies and think of meaningful gifts they can use.
I gave my colleague, who was new to learning and very excited about Chinese culture, a starter tea set they enjoyed while exploring the culture.
Another of my gifts is for a fur parent in our midst who was extremely happy with the pet care package I sent.
These gifts make my team members feel more appreciated. Personalized gifts are always excellent choices in showing your colleagues that their contributions and presence in the company are valuable as ever. It’s plenty of effort worth every minute of planning for them.
Nunzio Ross, Owner and Head Director, Majesty Coffee
Give the Gift of Time
One of the best gifts you can give anyone, be it your vendors, customers, or team members, is time. These days, time is more precious than ever.
For team members, an extra paid day off that they can use to spend on vacation, as a day with their kids, or to just rest is a great way to show appreciation. If you’re already providing generous or unlimited time off benefits for your team members, you can also give them time by granting development time, or uninterrupted focus time, where they can innovate or just clear their backlog.
For your customers, offer ways that you can give them back their time when working with you. This could be a complimentary one-on-one appointment with a customer specialist to help them resolve any problems with your product, or a service that can audit and provide solutions for their business. Giving them time can help you show how valuable your product is, and help build their trust in you as a provider.
Kyle Risley, CEO, Lift Vault
A Coffee Gift Set for Your Team
A Coffee Gift Box contains treats, including crisps, a package of superior blend ground beans, and other snacks like jerky and protein bars.
These wholesome gift sets are perfect for your caffeine-dependent team members that will increase vigilance and the sense of being prepared to address any client issue head-on. It will be helpful for your team members because they have to go through a lot and should remain upbeat while doing so. They can maintain their energy, sharpness, and vitality while working for your organization, making a memorable impact. Most gift boxes come in classy packaging that look amazing for the holiday season too!
Alexander Reid, Content Editor at TriviaWhizz, TriviaWhizz
Temperature Control Mugs Are Cool and Handy
Our in-office and remote team love the temperature control mugs we gifted them for the holidays last year. You can set your desired drink temperature and keep your mug of coffee or tea hot all day as you work. The mugs are pretty stylish and they work for hours at a time, making work days a little bit easier for everyone. It’s a very cool gadget that’s actually practical, too.
Jack Underwood, CEO & Co-Founder, Circuit
Book Them a Short Vacation as Appropriate
As a business focused primarily on travel, vacation destinations are always on our mind. Most of our team love the work that they do because they get to experience the Summer weather in different places all over the world at any time of year. Because of this, I have found that the best gift to give is a short vacation.
This is especially great for those who do not like to celebrate the holidays in conventional ways or those that are not personally fans of the colder months. Giving them a chance to get away to somewhere different can be a great opportunity. It is also fantastic for team members who really enjoy the winter weather. While our typical travel journeys often take us to hotter places, we already know of many amazing places to celebrate in the colder weather. Booking them into ski resorts or a winter cabin with their family can give them the break they need.
Renton Fenley, Editor and Writer, The Broke Backpacker
Gift Ideas for Customers
In this section, I’ve grouped gift ideas for customers. Of course, you can use these for team members and vendors as well.
A Company Swag With a Gift Card Shows Appreciation
A gift card tucked into a basket of company swag goes over well with customers, vendors, and team members. If possible, do a little research on the gift recipient to find out what stores or restaurants they like to go to.
Starbucks and Dunkin’ are always a hit among coffee-drinkers, whereas most people appreciate a Target or Amazon gift card. When it comes to the swag, candles, water bottles, t-shirts, and mugs go over well. You want to make sure the gifts are something the person is actually going to use, so put a little thought into it.
Isaiah Henry, CEO, Seabreeze Management
Find a Gift That Matches Their Needs
Gift your customer something they need, or that’s in line with their purchases. For instance, if they just bought a new house, gift them a cleaning service or housewarming goodies. If you sell makeup products, give them a gift of makeup brushes.
If you sell services, like bookkeeping or coaching, gift them a book you enjoyed that applies to their needs and your service.
Shawn Plummer, CEO, The Annuity Expert
Fun Desk Items to Add Color to Their Lives
If you are looking for a gift that will add color to your customers’ lives, then fun desk items are a good choice.
Like mug warmers, coffee cups, board games, and toys, etc, help bring joy to your customers. Even wellness items like salt lamps and stress balls are also good gifts. It plays an excellent role in making your customers satisfied with you. So try this gift this year to make your customers, vendors, and team members’ holidays unique and joyful.
Edward Mellett, Co-Founder, Wikijob
Offer Discounts and Promotions to Thank Your Customers
When it comes to customers, I really think discounts and promotions are the best gift you can offer. This is more than just saying merry Christmas, but rather a way for your business to say thank you for the support they have received that year from consumers. It doesn’t have to be offered across the board to everyone and could be reserved for membership card holders, or people who’ve made a purchase in the past 12 months – whatever works for your business and is financially viable. Sharing thanks for support is a great way to show consumers you care about them, and also a way to strengthen a relationship and brand loyalty.
If you don’t actually sell anything, you can look to partner with a relevant company who can offer a discount to your consumers in January (for example) with the benefit that they also get to build their customer base, and you are also treating your consumers to something special
Alex Mastin, CEO and Founder, Home Grounds
Gift Ideas for Anyone in Business
Smart Water Bottle to Convey the Importance of Drinking Water
You can engage your customers, vendors, and team members with just a small gift. The Smart Water Bottle is the best gift for the holidays. By doing this, you can convey to your customers the importance of drinking water, which will make them realize that your company really cares about them. Moreover, in this smart water bottle double wall vacuum insulated cold water for up to 24 hours and hot water for up to 12 hours. This water bottle will be very useful to your customers to keep the water cold or hot.
Gerrid Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, Joy Organics
Air Plant for Decorating Their Homes
If you are looking for a gift that will be useful for your customers, vendors, and team members then an air plant is best. Air plants are the next level item for decorations, and surely your customers will want such a gift so that they can decorate their home during the holidays. One more benefit of this plant is, you don’t need soil and it can be moved anywhere. Usually, it comes with highly decorated gift boxes. And I am sure that you’ll never go wrong with this gift.
Josh Tyler, CEO, Tell Me Best
Get Something They Can Really Use and Personalize it
Whether through engraving, embroidery, or other forms of branding, personalization can elevate virtually any gift. It makes regular items feel unique and one-of-a-kind, which often materializes a more personal relationship between yourself and the recipient.
When something has your name or logo on it, you’re more likely to feel connected or attached to that item. Going the extra mile to facilitate that connection shows the time, thought, and effort which went into the decision, making the gesture of gift-giving even more meaningful.
As for what that gift might be, the choice is yours: there are a great number of gifts that we’ve seen success with, including engraved USB sticks, branded coffee mugs, and even embroidered thank you cushions. Make sure to give a gift that the recipient can use every day, so that they’re constantly reminded of your goodwill and appreciation.
Andrew Gonzales, President, BusinessLoans.com
Custom Charging Accessories
We always prioritize usefulness when it comes to sending holiday gifts to customers, vendors, and team members.
One of the best gifts we have given is a custom charging dock with our company’s logo. This is one thing people will need in the office and using it will always remind them of your company and the pleasant professional relationship you share.
Michelle Siy, Content Writer, Oliver Wicks
Conclusion
The best business gift ideas are typically those that show thought and consideration for the individual or group you’re gifting. Sometimes, the most simple gifts can be the most appreciated, so it’s important to take into account things like personal preferences, company culture and budget when selecting a gift. I hope this guide has given you some great ideas for gifts to give your customers, employees, vendors and more this year.