In This Economy? Why Strategic Gifting Still Belongs in the Budget.
At lunch on Monday, a well-meaning colleague asked me, “So, what are you going to do in this economy? People don’t need your business services.”
When budgets shrink and uncertainty rises, relationships are one of the most valuable currencies a company has. The businesses that reach out during hard moments to support are the ones that people remember. Gifting might not seem essential at first glance, but the companies who keep calling us know better. They understand that in a downturn, decisions are driven by relationships long before they’re driven by numbers.
And yet, most companies still save their gifting for December or January, right when everyone else is doing the same thing. The gestures feel polite, predictable…and easy to forget.
The real cost of ignoring relationships
Client retention
Losing a client doesn’t usually happen all at once. It happens slowly: fewer replies, shorter conversations and missed follow-ups. By the time the contract is up, the connection has faded. Harvard Business Review found that it can cost five to twenty-five times more to land a new client than to keep a current one. Most businesses notice when it’s too late.
Employee retention
Replacing a skilled employee often costs between 50 and 200 percent of their annual salary. There are the obvious expenses: recruiters, onboarding, lost time, but what’s harder to quantify is the mood in the room. When someone leaves suddenly, their teammates pick up the slack, adjust to the silence, and start wondering if they’re next. That uncertainty spreads quickly. It shows up in small ways first, but impacts everything.
But connection can be rebuilt, and even strengthened, through simple, intentional signals.
What a gift actually *does* inside the brain
Cognitive scientists talk about “emotion tagging.” When we receive an unexpected, thoughtful object, especially one with sensory richness like texture, weight, or scent, our brains link the positive feeling to the giver. That tag sticks longer than a coupon code, digital gift card, or branded swag because it recalls something more powerful: the moment they felt noticed, appreciated or remembered when they didn’t expect it.
A well-chosen gift becomes a quiet, lasting reminder of trust. It says someone paid attention here. Every time that they reach for the hand-carved spoon from Niger, the naturally dyed linen from a Detroit textile artist, the small-batch olive oil from a family grove in Crete, or the handmade incense burner sourced from a women’s co-op in Nepal…that feeling returns.
What people actually remember
Not all gifts are created equal. We’ve all seen the standard playbook: a logo-branded water bottle, a generic snack tower, or a mass-mailed gift card. These are transactional. They fill a box but not a gap.
The gifts that make people pause, the ones that get remembered, carry meaning. They say something about the person receiving them and the values of the giver giving them.
Thoughtful gifts reflect thoughtfulness, not branding. They communicate that someone took the time to understand what matters, and that the business relationship is more than transactional. That’s what people hold on to. These objects travel from desk to dinner table, from remote-work setups to weekend hikes. They cross personal and professional spheres, turning the giftee into a storyteller who carries your message for you.
The problem with December
Most companies send gifts in December or January. It’s the safe, default move, and it usually comes with branded cookies, fruit and nut baskets or a forgettable wine bottle. Clients say thank you because they’re polite, but let’s be honest: most of it ends up in the break room, unopened, or passed along to someone else.
What about folks who don’t drink, why are we gifting them booze? And food around the holidays? Yeah, just like everyone else. December and January are just a blur for all of us…there is so much going on and things get missed. When a gift shows up just like every other, it blends in. “Who? What? They sent something? They did?! Oh. How nice. Oh, we missed it. Oh well…”
Timing is everything
The right gift, sent at the wrong time, gets ignored. The right gift, sent at the right time, can shift how someone feels about their work, their team, or their sense of being appreciated.
We help our clients look beyond holidays or year-end gifting. Some of the most impactful moments happen mid-project, after a rough week, or when someone steps into a new role. A note with a gift that simply says, “We noticed,” can do more than a bonus. It can create a lasting impression that builds trust when it’s needed most.
Gifting should be proactive, not reactive. It should come when it means something, not when it's expected.
Strategy: the WRAPPED™ approach
Strategic gifting is more blueprint than shopping spree (but we do love to shop). We begin with an audit of who truly influences your revenue and culture, then layer budget, story, and timing until every dollar has a measurable purpose. Shipping, tracking, and post-delivery surveys close the loop so next quarter’s plan is informed by evidence, not guesswork. The goal is to turn gifting from a seasonal afterthought to a year-round asset that protects your most expensive investments: people and relationships.
The relationship ROI you can’t see on a spreadsheet
Some of the most valuable outcomes in business don’t show up in the data, at least not right away.
1. Shorter response times. People answer emails faster when they feel valued.
2. Lower discount pressure. Clients anchored in relationship equity are less likely to haggle on price.
3. Informal advocacy. Recipients brag about the experience to peers, seeding referrals without you spending another marketing dollar.
4. Team resilience. Employees who feel recognized recover from setbacks sooner and share knowledge more freely.
None of these shifts show up on this quarter’s balance sheet. But they shape the things you do measure: retention, referrals, responsiveness, and revenue. And they move those numbers in ways traditional spend often cannot.
When was the last time you invested in loyalty the way you invest in visibility?
It’s easy to pour more money into outreach and advertising. But before you double your ad spend, ask yourself this: what would it look like to invest that same amount in the relationships that already keep your business running? Visibility has its place. But the companies people remember are the ones who showed up when they didn’t have to.
Cut your recognition budget for one quarter and pour the savings into digital ads. Leads will spike, sure. Watch what happens the moment your long-time account manager resigns because they’re overworked or a key client switches providers because they felt taken for granted.
Now flip the scenario: keep the same budget, but distribute it across timely, deeply personal gestures. Your renewal calls begin with compliments, not price objections. The ripple effect is seen by pipeline pressure eases, team pride climbs, and revenue goals stay on track. Just by appreciating people and gifting them thoughtful, unique items…because you do care about them and your relationship. You care about the people and the relationships more than the money. Sure, the money helps, but it’s about the people, always.
Bringing it back to that Monday lunch question
When someone says, “People don’t need your business,” what they’re really saying is that they haven’t thought about what’s at risk when relationships are ignored. In uncertain times, trust becomes one of the most valuable things a company can protect.
Gifting, when it’s done well, helps hold that trust in place. Without asking for anything in return.
Ready to turn generosity into strategy?
If you are curious how a single box wrapped in artisan paper can outperform your next round of paid ads, let’s talk. A 20-minute discovery call is all it takes to see whether a tailored gifting plan can anchor your relationships through whatever the market throws next.
Relationships are the last thing to cut…especially in this economy.