The Top 10 Mistakes Businesses Make When Buying Chocolate Gifts For Clients

Buying gifts for clients is a year-round struggle. It might be small giveaways your company gives to customers as they leave the store for your latest promotion, it may be a welcome chocolate for passengers as they board, it may be lavish hampers you send to your best clients.

The hardest part is that you want the gift to be appreciated but also represent your brand as well. And that's no easy feat. So we've put together this list of the top ten mistakes to watch out for when you're contemplating your next round of chocolate gift-giving.

1. Choosing generic gifts that don’t stand out. 

Imagine you are your client or customer. They're probably in the habit of receiving promotional gifts at least a few times a year and there's only so many pens or desk calendars that one person can tolerate (or fit on their desk!).

So it's time to choose a unique idea. Something you've never done before and your client or customer is unlikely to have received before. Here at Chocablock, we produce a lot of unique products for clients for this exact reason. Just last week, we produced a mobility scooter box for an Aged Care equipment provider. What do you think their customers are going to think when they open a box of chocolates like that?

Avoid generic gifts, embrace your inner creative beast.

2. Overlooking the importance of presentation. 

They say that the devil is in the detail and when it comes to presenting your brand in the best possible light, this is doubly so. 

Don't forget to check things like spelling, grammar, and alignment when proofing your gift from your supplier. There's no problem or extra charge usually when you request  a second draft, so don't be shy in asking for another take. 

Also colour-matching of your logo so that when it is printed, it looks the way it should.

3. Ignoring brand alignment.

Following on from the previous point, you also want to make sure that the gift itself aligns with your brand. If you run an Environmental lobby group, then sending confectionery in plastic tubes is probably not a good look. Equally, sending a lollipop made in China to clients for your Made In Australia campaign is just as bad.

Ensure both the product, the message you're trying to convey and your brand are all in sync when choosing the perfect chocolate gift.

4. Waiting too long to place orders. 

OK, if there's one thing that we get here at Chocablock, it's that inspiration for chocolate gifts usually comes to our customers late in the piece. We get it - you only heard about International Nurses Day or Book Week today because another company advertised it. For personalised, unique, creative chocolate gifts, this would usually mean that your goose is cooked. 

Fortunately, Chocablock offers a rush service for this exact reason so you can have your chocolates and eat them too, at a time that works for you and your clients.

But let's not make a habit of it, OK?

5. Not considering dietary restrictions. 

Dietary restrictions are becoming a bigger and bigger consideration everyday and there are three things you need to consider here.

Firstly, and most importantly, allergens such as gluten-intolerance and lactose-intolerance can be life-threatening so either choosing an alternative without these ingredients, or at least insisting on a product that has these ingredients and allergens clearly mentioned is important.

Secondly, cultural considerations also need to be made. With Australia's growing Muslim population, the need for either Halal-certified or Halal-suitable confectionery is something you may need to think about, depending on your audience. Kosher-certified confectionery is also a factor. 

And finally, the philosophical position of clients and customers also needs to be considered. The need for Vegan-friendly chocolates and lollies is growing in Australia, and sending gifts with animal-derived products can create a  situation where you create more harm than good with your gift-giving. 

Fortunately, Chocablock has products arranged by dietary needs in all of these areas that are clearly marked for your peace of mind.

6. Failing to personalise your client gifts. 

Here's an old riddle - "What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you?" The answer - "Your name!". Researchers have said for years that using somebody's name will get their attention, and instantly. So why would you miss such an opportunity when sending a chocolate gift?

You would be amazed how many people love the products we send, they love the taste and the presentation, and then they finish with, "And it had my name on it!".

Make sure you personalise your chocolates or lollies to give them maximum impact.

7. Underestimating the impact of small gestures.

If you think back to the best gifts you ever received, it's rare for it to be some big materialistic item. It's usually something little, that let you know that somebody was thinking about you. 

When a client receives your gift, no matter what its size, it is going to have more impact than you think. They'll appreciate that you took time out of your schedule to create the gift, personalise it and send it. 

They'll also appreciate that you thought that they were worthy of such a gift, that you thought their patronage is important to your business.

You might be surprised that the next time they have to make a choice about using your business, how much more likely to do so they will be.

8. Opting for quantity over quality.

Sending a client 10 mini pops vs 1 large chocolate bar can yield different results for you and your business. Even though they get more pops, the impression a large bar can give may be far better.

Also, does every one of the 100,000 customers who walk through your shopping centre need to receive a gift? Why not halve the number and improve the quality of the gift? Or halve it again?

Don't skimp on quality if you know that the result of a larger, better gift could be a big win for your business. We sometimes have customers trying to jam 30 words of marketing copy onto a small 20mm Hershey Kiss. Such an endeavour can leave a bad taste in your client's mouth. 

Adding a 50c to your unit budget could be all the difference between a 1% conversion rate and a 5% conversion rate.

9. Not setting a budget.

Budgets are important. You don;t want to spend far more on the gifts than the value you get from thos gifts. That's just bad marketing. Return on investment (ROI) is a mandatory consideration when creating your gift schedule. 

Out of Chocablock's 30,000+ design ideas, we have has just as many chocolate gifts under $3 as we do over it. Our clients always get the best results when they share a budget with us as well as their goal. So set a budget now.

10. Forgetting to add a personal touch or message.

Singing off your gift with "From The Team At XYZ Corp" is nice, but why not take this chance to inject a bit of your brand's personality into your personalised message?

Tell them how proud you are to call them a client, tell them you enjoy the work you do for them, hell, tell them you love them if you think that's what your clients want to hear. Just don't forget to make things personal. Because whenn you make things personal, you make yourself a little vulnerable, and when you're a little vulnerable, you're really quite likable.

So what do you think? Have you made a few of these blunders when organising your gifts? Or come up with a few mistakes of your own? Or maybe you have been the victim of a poorly thought out gift?

Let us know your thoughts below.