Thinking About Sending Holiday Gifts to Your Clients? Start Planning Now
Businesses that want to send holiday gifts to their clients need to start now. “Even though the pumpkins may still be in your lobby, it’s not too early plan for your company’s holiday giving,” says Guadalupe Morales, Chief Operating Officer of Pearl Transportation & Logistics, a courier company that delivers corporate holiday client gifts for business throughout Southern California every year.
Morales urges business not to wait until the last minute to order these gifts and to work with their couriers early on to make sure the presents get to clients before the holidays. “We’ve been delivering holiday gifts for a number of LA-based businesses for many years and the ones that get it right start their planning in early November,” she says. “We are in the same-day delivery business so delivering gifts at the last minute is something we can do, but it’s much less hectic if businesses get things done ahead of time. Every December we hear from those who forgot to do that and call us late. They don’t order their client gifts early enough and the next thing they know the holidays are upon them and they are scrambling. We get it done, but those last-minute deliveries are more expensive. Those who plan ahead maximize their delivery budgets.”
Her company has delivered holiday presents to clients of advertising agencies, print companies and a variety of other corporations. Those gifts have ranged from wine bottles and liquor to cookie baskets, muffins and a variety of other miscellaneous items.
After eight years in business, the Pearl team knows the ins and outs of corporate gift giving. They offer this advice to businesses who want their holiday gifts to arrive in time to make an impact on their clients:
Know your clients – Be aware of any holiday shutdowns your clients are planning and whether the end of the year is a particularly hectic time for them. “We deliver gifts to a lot of movie studios and they close of two weeks in December. That’s pretty standard in this industry,” points out Morales. “You want those gifts to be delivered earlier rather than later. They’ll lose their impact if they arrive during the shutdown and the client doesn’t see them until after the New Year. Also, the last quarter is the busiest time for many businesses. You don’t want your gifts to arrive during this hectic time for your clients and not get the attention they deserve.”
Decide on the gift early – Choose the gifts you’ll be giving soon after Halloween. “If you wait until the last minute to order those gifts, you may not be able to get what you want in time,” she says. “In addition, late orders can mean rush charges from your vendors.”
Communicate with your couriers early – If you work with the courier that’s going to deliver the gifts early on, they can help you maximize your delivery budget. “Let us know no later than Nov. 15 how many deliveries we’ll be making for you; where your clients are located; what the gifts are and if there are any special instructions to make sure the gifts get to the right people at your client’s companies,” suggests Morales. “That way we can manage the logistics; bring the right vehicles and know ahead of time if there are special challenges we’ll be faced with. That saves you money on delivery costs and allows us to plan the most efficient way to do the job.”
Consider delivery to customers before the traditional holiday rush – If you really want to make a lasting impression on an important client, have your gift delivered early in December. “Do it early and get noticed,” Morales says. “Gifts that arrive along with many others may not have the impact you want. On the other hand, gifts that arrive at the last minute may feel like an afterthought to your clients.”
For many years, Pearl has handled the corporate gift giving logistics for Lithographix, one of the largest privately-owned printers in the West. For the past 20 years, one of the creative teams at this Hawthorne-based company has sent wooden-boxed sets of California wines to their customers. Pearl has delivered these gift-wrapped boxes for the past six years to between 75 and 100 Lithographix customers. These companies are located as close as LA and as far as Temecula. “Pearl sends a big truck to pick up the gift boxes from the wine vendor in Pasadena. Then they deliver them to us and ultimately get them to our clients, “says Carmela Ciaramitaro, a sales assistant at Lithographix. “It takes two or three Pearl drivers to make this happen, but they always get it done within three days and well before our clients close down for the holidays.”
The planning and logistics for the Lithographix delivery is a cooperative effort between the company and Pearl that starts early. “We have it down to a system after all these years,” Ciaramitaro says. “We get Pearl a spread sheet with instructions about who will receive the presents. Pearl tells me when the gifts will be delivered and lets me know when they have arrived. They do a great job. They’re on it. It gets done. That’s all I care. For me it works out.”
Morales offers this final advice to any company thinking about sending holiday gifts to their customers: “Sending holiday gifts is a great way to thank your customers for their business. Start planning now to make sure those gifts arrive on time and have the impact you want.”Now’s the time to get your corporate gift-giving going. Contact us today to work out the details to make sure your clients get their gifts before the holidays. Email us at: customerservice@pearltrans.com
