What should I give this Christmas?

With rivals for your business, it has come to be absolutely vital to give a thank you and appreciation present at seasonal time. Like it or not the attitude of saving money worked for only a couple of those hard economic years. The accepted trend was austerity and we all assumed and secretly hoped it might become tendency and a way of life. Most of us reduce on everything. We cut down the additional items like travel and vacations, Starbucks, newest fashion pieces, new cars, and entertainment. We also monitored our pennies as we were conscious of multi-tasking errands to cut gas costs, attentive to food prices and shopping the specials, turning off lights and turning down heat, making gifts or regifting. It was interesting and some parts of it made us realize we do squander. However, we also realize how much we love spending our time and money on things we love. Take Jason from Denver, for example. He missed not skiing, not going to Avalanche or Nuggets or Broncos games, not eating out and relishing a movie. He jumped into the economic downturn with stamina and mentally told himself he could cut personal and business expenses and that would be the best way for him to manage both operations. He didn't like it but he was astonished at how much money he could save. He watched games on television. He shopped at the grocery store instead of take-out food. He discontinue his gym membership and used the exercise equipment in his home. At first it was a unique experience and definitely eye-opening. In business he trimmed out one of his workers and spent more time doing the work himself. He cut the usual treat Friday by not bringing in breakfast and his employees understood when he told them times were hard and to keep jobs it was sad but there would be no Christmas party or holiday gifts or the traditional birthday gift. It absolutely saved money. There were three significant issues. One was that cutting the extras in his personal life influenced Jason's mental and emotional health. He found himself missing something and becoming more grouchy. Second was that cutting business extra perks greatly affected the morale and spirit in his business for the employees and for Jason himself. Before long efficiency went down and the atmosphere of a positive place to work took a turn for the worst. The cooperative teamwork turned to competitive existence as employees thought who would be cut next and missed those small birthday and holiday perks. Jason himself found that he missed the optimistic vibes he got at work which were now replaced with uncomfortable silences. The third major problem was that his main competitor had taken the entire opposite tactic and as he and others cut costs and services the competitor decided to preserve and even raise the bar. That Denver based company hired a few additional workers and took a vigorous approach to steal customers away from the competitors who were cutting everything. It even hired away one of Jason's strongest employees. It chose to take a gamble and go into debt to keep workers and keep giving gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Take the holiday gifts for example. The Denver company ordered their regular thank you and appreciation holiday baskets from Baskets By Rita and maintained their regular customers. Why? Because the customers had few other gifts, so when the holiday gift basket arrived it endured alone. The customers responded with calls of gratitude and acceptance of using that company for the next year, since they seemed to be the strong one that would be there for them. The Denver company even put out more by ordering the Grand Gourmet basket to send to their competitors' best clients. For Jason it was a devastation because he lost two of his strongest. When he contacted them they said they were wondering if he still was in business and they knew the competitor seemed to be doing well. Jason decided it would be cheap to make phone calls to his clients to keep contact. That worked for some, but he had lost some clients who would didn't come back. The next year he called Baskets by Rita in November to set up an order for baskets. He ordered a less expensive basket but had them sent in mid-December. It did help out. He also ordered a huge basket filled with candy bars and individual treats for the staff workroom. It arrived on the scene with a big bow and he was amazed at the results of his $200 purchase on morale. The next year he did the same thing but also called Baskets by Rita and ordered small baskets to give his employees at their annual pot-luck lunch before the holidays. They were delighted and he felt he got so much more appreciation than just giving them cash or a gift card. It was a visible Wow and a festive gift instead of a card. Also they didn't find out how much he had spent where they used to know their importance by the value of the gift card. This year Jason called Baskets by Rita the first of November and mentioned he needed a few grand baskets and gourmet baskets sent to competitors' clients. Jason jumped at the next option they gave. They suggested he send them out to be delivered right after Thanksgiving. Their motto is to be the first holiday gift received. The first gift gives more bang for the buck because they take time to read the card and it's around for a while. Some even hang the cards and the top one is yours for folks to read over and over again. Jason did recall there were clients before who had seemed to forget which company sent which gift because they all arrived at once. Baskets by Rita said to let yours be the first and rock star gift for a lasting impression. Jason is thrilled because his chardonnay wine gift baskets will arrive early not a few days before December 25.

Early bird catches the worm

The leading 2 strategies for corporate prudent gift giving at holiday seasonal time: send a gift with that is impressive and not gift cards and make yours the first gift your customer or perspective clients or customers will receive. Best 2 errors for firm gift giving at holiday time are: Not getting the gift promptly enough and giving gift cards or gift certificates. Let's start with blunders.... Not preparing/tardiness. By sending it late your gift gets mixed up with all the others in a pile or in the break room and individuals are likely to forget what they got from who. The cards get mixed up and in the commotion and hustle and bustle in the days before Dec. 25 your gift is lost and you have lost money by now. Administrative assistants are usually in the position of sending the holiday corporate gifts and bosses, you need to pay attention.  Don't come to your administrative assistant at the last second and expect her or him to work miracles...lateness on your part should not be an emergency on their part. You are adding to them in a really challenging position to scavenge and find last minute products or gifts and to get them sent. Many times gift companies, especially holiday basket companies like Baskets by Rita in Aurora are immersed with last minute desperate demands. This year looks like a excellent one so don't be amazed if local and national basket and food companies run out of stock. Your secretary will be wasting time and spending way too much time on your late gift giving task and it not only will stress them out but take away from their regular duties. The solution to last minute gift giving problems is to plan early. Give them a opportunity to make an order and get the gift at the price point you want to spend. Did you know that most individuals and companies who put it off end up spending a lot more than they had planned? The items they wanted are sold out and they have to take what is remaining even if it costs more. So the two pitfalls or mistakes with mailing it late or the problem itself and the cost of spending too much money and more importantly the less positive impact for your money. So what do you do? First of all in timeliness, give your administrative assistant a budget and time to make the order. Be sure it comes as soon after Thanksgiving as possible to have that extremely positive effect at your clients and customers businesses. Secondly, fore go the gift card and gift certificate plan. Those have been popular in the past but in past years everyone gets and gives gift cards and they have lost their luster and affect. It also is the most effortless way to go..it shows they weren't well worth the time or energy or they were a last minute gift thought. Gift certificates to restaurants have worked in the past too except someone is now in charge to order the food and go get it. Choose a gift that comes with a cheerful wow isn't that great or how nice or isn't that beautiful. These days individuals buy pretty much what they want, so send a gift that comes with bling and a bow and the gift basket is probably your very best. Check out local places where you can probably just go and pick them up to save shipping costs. In Denver or Colorado Baskets by Rita in Aurora is a good start.

Things to do and see in Denver.

Welcome to Denver,

We have no doubt you will love Denver. It is a terrific city.

The following are some ideas of places to visit while in Denver:

-Denver Museum of Nature and Science History, 2001 Colorado Blvd is showcasing a incredible exhibit.

-Denver Art Museum- 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy.

-Denver Capitol- "Beulah red" is the name of the red marble that gives the Colorado State Capitol its distinct beauty. All of the "Beulah red" marble in the world went into the Capitol. Climb the stairs to the top of the dome. The thirteen step of the capital building in Denver is precisely 1 mile high above sea level.

- Denver host the world's largest Rodeo every in January every year, the Western Stock Show.

-Denver sets claim to the creation of the cheeseburger.

-Denver Botanic Gardens- 1007 York St. One of the top 5 botanic gardens in the United States.

-Colorado History Museum- 1200 Broadway. It tells the story of Colorado's past.

-Molly Brown House Museum- 1340 Pennsylvania Street. "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" is well-known as a Titanic survivor. Take a look at her home and get to learn about this famous Denverite.

-Discover the Mile High City using B-cycle, Denver's bike share program. Set up an account at http://denver.bcycle.com. It is a fantastic way to see the city.

-Colfax Avenue in Denver is the lengthiest continual street in U.S.

-Denver is America's #1 Beer City- Metro Denver brews a lot more beer than any other city in the U.S. Colorado brews more beer than any state in the country and has more microbreweries per capita than any other state.

-DIA, Denver International Airport, serves the city of Denver and the neighboring area. It is rated as the fourth busiest airport in the entire United States and is the biggest airport in the country when ranking by physical size .

-Denver Mint- 320 West Colfax Avenue. Take a tour and see how it creates fifty million coins a day, every single one marked with a "D" for Denver. Reservations are recommended.

 

Day trip ideas:

-Rocky Mountain National Park- 1000 US Hwy. 36, Estes Park. Autumn season is a nice time to discover' Look for elk in the valleys and lower elevation. The ideal conditions to see them is at sunrise or sunset. If you want a magnificent panorama, take Trail Ridge Road. It is the highest continual highway in the whole world. It crosses the Continental Divide.

-Colorado Springs is situated 60 miles south of Denver and at the base of the 14,000-foot high, Pikes Peak. Things to see include the Air Force Academy, the famous Broadmoor Resort, Will Roger's Shrine, Cheyenne Mountains Zoo, the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, the United States Olympic Training Cente, and Garden of the Gods.

-Central City and Black Hawk are located about 35 miles west of Denver. Central City and Black Hawk are two historic old mining towns from the 1870. The Victorian structures are nevertheless protected. This locale was once was called the "Richest Square Mile on Earth", The two towns now offer low stakes betting. There are also mine tours, museums and an individual can take lessons on the best way to pan for gold.

Want to send a "Welcome gift" to participant or member of Educase while they are visiting Denver? One idea is a "Denver or Colorado Welcome Basket" from Basket by Rita: http://www.basketsbyrita.com. This twenty year old company makes Colorado gift baskets and delivers them around the U.S. and world. They have a hard cardboard gift box (can be folded flat to travel home), with a Colorado seasonal scene on each side or a practical, reusable canvas Colorado gift bag of goodies. These make great gifts and remembrance of Denver and Colorado. Xmas is around the bend and think about sending a Colorado gift basket this year!

Get ahead start and make the holiday season less stressful

This year I will plan to ship corporate holiday gifts ahead of time. Horror story. Last season I thought there was no hurry and that I would get true deals by waiting until mid December to purchase gifts for my clients. Client gifts of gratitude for their business is really important and if you falter to send a holiday gift you have botched the customary gift that has come to be expected yearly. Don't forget how important and necessary these appreciation tokens are. Three years ago I decided to skip the gifts because of a budget crunch. Thinking it made very little or no difference I felt quite smug about the amount of money and time and hassle I would save for this extra meaningless expenditure. Was I ever completely wrong. In fact many of us were wrong. The other company people I meet with weekly all talked it over and were in agreement that one year couldn't make that much difference and we were quite smug about our money saving strategy. In my business my main competitor is someone who has tried to get my clients but I've always received their trust. Unfortunately for me he made a decision to take the risk and send out gifts early. The next year I found I was losing some of my clients because they had decided to take a look at other firms that could deliver the same or equivalent service. As we asked new clients many of them had already signed up with the competitor and my laid back and trusted style that I would easily keep clients was slipping away. I had to work really hard to keep the clients I had and put in a lot of time and effort for the next few years to get some of my original companies loyalties back. Maybe it wasn't just the holiday gift, but the next year I took note. Listening and asking questions of good friends and relatives about what made them loyal and things that made a difference I noted that follow up letters of thanks,telephone calls, and gifts aren't just tokens they are are reminders and stamps of assurance for the clients. So two years ago I made sure I had money for gifts at holiday time budgeted. I started looking for gift ideas and sent them out the first of December. What I found out was that I immediately got cards and calls from clients. They loved them plus mine were the first gifts to arrive at their office. My secretary and I were talking and she pointed out the gift we got at Thanksgiving one year with the note that here's your first holiday gift to enjoy. Since it was the first and only gift at that time it did make a big difference. Most gifts of food, gifts baskets, and cards come that last week before December 25 and although we appreciate them they sometimes get tossed in and mixed up and we can't remember exactly who gave what. Besides workers are bringing in treats and food for each other all week. So my secretary and I started talking and analyzing that the first gifts that come in are the most recognized and appreciated and you normally remember them. That brings me to our plan for this year. We have already contacted a basket business to send out holiday gift baskets to be delivered no later than December l. Why? Because last year we thought we'd order them later and they were sold out of the one we really wanted. Since we have clients in 10 states we had failed to note that many would not arrive on time because of shipping days needed. We gave up after checking about sending flower arrangements or poinsettias which seemed useless for a few days in the office. As a last resort we scrambled to get gift cards for area restaurants or bakeries near each client. It took way too much time. We were able to find some gift cards in food market, but they were not the right denomination. We also felt uneasy that the exact amount we were spending was apparent, putting a dollar value on the client. But we got the cards sent out. It was fine and at least we sent a gift. However one of the more vocal and blatantly honest secretaries called to thank us and did say she preferred the gift baskets because she was the one who had to order and go to the restaurant to bring back what was ordered with the gift card. She also made it clear that to feed everyone they had to add more money. Yikes, not a good idea. This year I called Baskets by Rita the first of October and placed my order for gourmet gift baskets and Colorado gift baskets to be delivered just before Thanksgiving so they will arrive that first week of December. They explained to me that they have to order all holiday products in August and September to have enough stock to not run out additionally suppliers run out early. We're feeling really smug. Our clients will know these are gifts of appreciation, there are food items to be shared by all, they come packaged beautifully giving that WOW factor and our card and gift will be the first one they get and will be hanging around the break room all holiday season. It won't get misplaced with all the other gifts. Since there is not a dollar amount attached you are not blatantly telling them what money amount they are worth. Plus my secretary is so happy because this is a slower time for us and she was able to make all plans in a more relaxed way. We discovered another money-saving hint for giving holiday gifts. We will have baskets shipped to 9 other states, but the majority are in the Denver area. My secretary has arranged to save some of the shipping and delivery costs by going to pick up most of the Snow Pak Gifts and deliver many herself. We've added a wine and cheese FAC the first Saturday in December in our office for clients and we'll give most of them out then. If not, it would be good for me to take them and give them myself and make the personal call. The morale of the story is do not underestimate the power of the holiday appreciation gift and order early.