Prospective Client Gifts

Recently I have been reaching out to my local corporate community to introduce Green & Bean, and to see if we could curate their future client gifts. I usually call first, and then if someone is interested, I arrange to send them a sample as an introductory gift.

It does seem on the surface that reaching out to people one by one is outdated. It’s not just time consuming, it also leads to lots of direct rejection, and it’s far more efficient to just run an ad. Maybe as a gift shop it feels different, or maybe I’m just a bit outdated myself, but I think there is actually something to be said for this slower method of advertising. Now, I’ve begun to test the theory.

What’s funny is that I made a couple sample gifts before I decided to call first to ask people if they would be even be interested in receiving a gift sample in the first place. Most people said no, so it’s actually great that I called first. After finding an interested party I would inevitably make changes to the sample in order for it to suit them more, and so of course not one of my original sets ended up getting used.

Here are the ones that did:

Gift Set in Clockwise: A sample set for a realtor with shower steamers, a coaster, two mini chocolates and an unused greeting card - wealth management sample set with some single tea sachets, a test of flavored sugar cubes, and a mini chocolate - another realtor sample set with greeting cards, a chocolate, matchbox, and a candle - a get well sample for a dental office with herbal tea, plantable greeting cards, and a botanical keeper for organizing cut flowers.

In the end, it feels really organic to have introductory gifts be a method of advertising for a gift shop. You get a first taste of how it feels to get a gift from our shop, and can then give that experience as the cherry on top to either the beginning, or the end of, an exciting project. It also gives me more time putting together sets from the 1000+ products we carry, so look out for more of this series and other gift guides in the near future!

My hope is that I’ve have landed on a method of advertising that allows me to make connections instead of accumulate followers. It’s been nice actually knowing the people who come into the shop, and I’ve been wanting to find a way to advertise that is as personable and warm as the shop itself, and I think this is going to be one way to do it!

If you’re a professional in the DC metropolitan area and are interested in working with Green & Bean for your client gifts, please get in touch!