Many business leaders give gifts each year to their customers as “thank you for your business” or to their employees as “thank you for your hard work.” Sellers often give gifts during the sales cycle or during the holiday season as well. These are meant to be a thank you with a subtle “remind me next time you want to order” note to customers. Some of these gifts are appreciated, but many disappear after a few days. Items like candy, cookies, and other types of food baskets disappear quickly. If the purpose of the gift is a quick “thank you”, then this is enough.

What if the wish is for the gift to say something other than thank you? Maybe you want the gift to say remember us when you wear this. Then practical gifts should be selected that will last for months. Often these types of gifts are mugs, calendars, or notebooks with the name of the gift company printed on them. These are nice to have and have a “remember us” look to them, but do they tell the recipient “I want to help you” in the future?

Both customers and employees can appreciate a gift that is practical and useful. The best useful gifts will make the person’s job easier or improve the person’s way of working. Instead of giving them the food or company item, consider giving them a book to help them improve their work. These can be books that help them with personal time management, team building, meeting management, or presentations. Consider a newly published book like “RA!RA! A Meeting Wizard’s Approach” (ISBN 1-4196-5367-9) available at http://www.Amazon.com or a classic like “The Time Trap” (ISBN 0 – 8144-7926-X) by Alec MacKenzie. Then write a personal note inside the book cover along with your name and phone number. If the book is a sales-related gift, be sure to include a business card that the recipient can use as a bookmark while reading the book, then save it to use as contact information at a later date.

Whether a business leader or a salesperson is giving a thank you gift for the holiday season, everyone will appreciate a book that will help them improve. So when giving thanks with an improvement book, the message “I want to help” is also received with gratitude.