It is better to give… if you have accountability

If you’ve done direct sales successfully, you know the value of strategic gift giving. A small gift, properly presented, shows concern and attention that is often rare in the world of email communication. While a personal note is invaluable in building or strengthening a relationship, a personal gift can go even further. However, as with any sensible marketing initiative, gift giving should have some metrics associated with it. While the ROI of a relationship may be difficult to establish, there are ways to measure the effectiveness of a gift and incentive program.

One company that has a grasp on gift and incentive metrics is Corporate Touch, a company with national scope based in Phoenix. This company offers a unique product line that facilitates gift giving and provides metrics on the success of the program.

One current Corporate Touch customer puts it this way, “I was spending $50 per gift as a thank you to our successful sales people. Typically I’d buy gift cards to restaurants, movie theaters or coffee shops. But I had no way of knowing if the gift cards I mailed had been received, appreciated or redeemed. We knew we needed to have a gift program but we were operating in the dark as far as understanding it’s effectiveness.”

Enter Susanne Garland, owner of Corporate Touch. Susanne introduced a gift and incentive solution that allowed Lisa to cut costs, get metrics on the effectiveness of her program, and then improve those metrics in several ways.

Here’s how the Corporate Touch program works. First the giver determines the value of the gift to be given, let’s say $50. The giver then selects a gift album from the Corporate Touch selection that is appropriate for the recipient. In the $50 range, there are several selections including gourmet foods, teens, general variety and bridal/wedding albums. For this example the variety album is the best solution, and the giver purchases 30 albums to cover expected giving for the month. Each album is accompanied by a gift card that has a unique identification number that allows tracking of the gift.

Next the giver gives that album with card to the recipient. Because the albums are thin, they can be mailed for a reasonable price, or hand delivered. The recipient opens the gift to see the album of 40 or more preselected gifts that are available. Using the enclosed gift card, the recipient goes to website to select the gift, enter his shipping address and the unique identification number. The gift is shipped, postage paid to the recipient, with a 6 month no-questions asked exchange policy. So the recipient gets a gift that he selected.

Now back to the giver. After the gifts are awarded, the giver can review the status of redemption through an online portal. This allows the giver to track the redemption rate of the gifts. If a particular recipient hasn’t redeemed the gift on a timely basis, the giver can send a reminder via email to ensure the gift has been received. If the gift is lost, the giver can send the recipient the unique number and the website for redemption, allowing the recipient another opportunity to order his gift.

If the gift hasn’t been redeemed and the recipient can’t be reached, the giver can reassign the unique number to another recipient, thereby effectively using her budget.

The Corporate Touch system allows accountability in your gift giving, similar to the way that a good email program, such as Constant Contact, allows insight into open rates for your email.