As embroiderers, we are always looking for ways to increase our name recognition and ways for people to remember who we are! It is amazing what the power of gift giving can do for your embroidery business!
I have found that giving a simple gift to the person that placed the order for an organization or business works wonders 
for increasing your name recognition and bringing in new business! When they receive a gift from you, they will remember you, and they very quickly pass on your name to other people. This inspires people to help you spread the name of your embroidery business and there is no better way to do it than to show your appreciation by giving gifts to your buyers!
What types of gifts should you give?
Gifts may vary depending on your audience or niche market. It is best to give an item that you carry in your line that would be relevant for them and something that could easily be turned into another order. If you have added a new way of decorating an item it may be a smart option to include this on your gift to show what new processes you have introduced into your embroidery business.
How much should I be spending on these gifts?
That can be relative to what your buyer is actually purchasing from you or it can be a very inexpensive gift. You are purchasing your gifts at wholesale prices, adding an embellishment to it and increasing the value by 2 or 3 times the cost to you. I would suggest that you add give something that this person would not normally purchase. This will make your buyer feel very special to receive something that they have not seen or would not purchase personally and at the same time will allow you to increase your exposure of items to your audience.
When a buyer receives a gift from you like this that they are not expecting, they become very excited and very quickly want to tell the whole world. I have had this same experience myself. I went into my insurance agent‚’s office not long ago to go over my policies because I wanted to make sure that I was covered for any catastrophes that might happen in today‚’s world! To my surprise, when my agent finished going over everything and made the changes she handed me a gift card! I was shocked and so excited. Now this gift card was only $10.00, very inexpensive relative to what I had just purchased, but it did not matter. I was so excited I told everybody I knew about it! This is the reaction that you will receive when you start giving gifts to your customers for their large purchases.
These gifts are classified as marketing expenses!
They are one of the least expensive and most cost effective ways of advertising or marketing your products. You can even set a limit to your gift depending on the amount of the sale that you have received. It can be a dollar amount or a percentage of the sale. You can ask your accountant to help you figure this out relative to your business. For a service business the average amount of money spent on marketing or advertising is 7 to 8 percent of your sales. I am not suggesting that you spend that much for gift giving in your embroidery business. You can limit it to 1%, 2 % or 5% depending on your total sales or the actual profit that you make from these sales. This is something that can be determined only by you and your accountant. This brought in many more sales for my embroidery business and I could never say that it cost me money!
Just recently I had a buyer come in and purchase 25 caps and 25 visors embroidered for their organization. In return I embroidered a simple tote bag with her monogram on it and she was thrilled! Within a couple of days another customer came in that she had recommended to purchase from us. This is exactly how it works! That bag cost me less than $10.00 to purchase and only a few minutes to put on her monogram. The cost of that gift was less than 2% of my sale to her and it brought in another sale that decreased that cost even more!
Giving gifts like this on a steady basis can help you build your business very quickly, can bring in many more sales than you would normally get and can help you put the life back into a very stagnant embroidery business. Try it, you will like it and be rewarded for it!