Welcome back to Lending Leadership: The Creative Brief. Today, we're diving into the festive season with a special focus on holiday gifting. As the holidays approach, it's crucial for businesses to think ahead and plan thoughtful gifts for their team, clients, and business partners. It's not just about the act of giving, but how you can leverage holiday gifts as a powerful marketing tool to build and maintain relationships.

In this episode, we're excited to walk you through the ins and outs of holiday gifting with great enthusiasm (and some festive spirit!). We share valuable tips on everything from creating a gift list to choosing unique and personalized gifts that will make your contacts feel appreciated.

Key Takeaways:

1. Plan Ahead: Start your holiday gift planning early to avoid last-minute stress and ensure your gifts stand out amid the holiday buzz. Use a well-organized approach to segment your recipients and tailor your gifts accordingly.
2. Personalization Matters: Thoughtful, personalized gifts show your clients and partners that you pay attention to their interests and preferences. This can range from custom sneakers reflecting a hobby to strategic donations to their favorite charities.
3. Creative Gift Ideas: Utilize platforms like Bluemountain.com for personalized e-cards, and consider traditional yet elegant options like Harry and David’s. Customize your gifts to make them unique and memorable.
4. Follow-Up Is Crucial: A follow-up message after the holidays can help reinforce the connection made with your gift. Use this opportunity to plan further engagements, such as a coffee meeting or personal catch-up.
5. Think Beyond Holidays: Don't be afraid to break away from the holiday noise by sending New Year’s gifts or cards. This can distinguish your gesture in a less saturated timeframe and keep the connection warm into the new year.

We hope you found these tips helpful and inspiring. Start planning now to make this holiday season meaningful for your business relationships. Thank you for tuning in to Lending Leadership: The Creative Brief. Please like, share, and subscribe for more insightful episodes. Happy (early) holidays!

Rach & Rinn

It's the most wonderful time to give some presents to your team. You must be wondering why

we're wearing fancy holiday shirts. Well, Corinne, why don't you tell the good people at home?

Hi, guys. Today we are talking about gifting. Right? Because we're hitting the holidays and everyone's in that thought process of what special are you going to do, not only for your family, which is always top of mind, but then next to that, your business contacts.

Welcome to Lending Leadership. I'm Rach.

And I'm Rinn. Excited to talk to

you guys today. And who doesn't love talking about gifts? And the reason we're bringing this to you now, we know the holidays haven't quite hit just yet, but in a minute, we're gonna blink and they're gonna be here. So you have to start now. You have to start early. Don't do this to yourself. Don't wait, and then you're stuck. And then you're really just like, oh, what do I do? So we're gonna help you. Don't worry.

Yeah. And I think the first thing that we need to think about when it comes to, like, holiday campaigning and how it relates to your marketing specifically is the planning element. I know it feels boring to always talk about planning and organization, but it really is just the foremost of all these campaigns and how they're executed well. So the first thing I recommend is taking a look at your executed well. So the first thing I recommend is taking a look at your database, pulling a list, you know, maybe you wanna consider your top, you know, 20 realtors, 50 realtors, 100 plus realtors, it depends what your your database is looking like. And then also your preferred customers and referral partners and business contacts. So determine who those individuals are first that you want to send something special to.

And, guys, once you have this set up, it's kind of like the a yearly thing that you have the process set up, then you can just rinse and repeat and do it next year too and fine tune and see if you, you know, if you missed any steps. But once you start this, it can just be part of your yearly business planning, which is really important to do also.

Yeah. And, I mean, every year there's gonna be new updates, and it's gonna need attention given to it. So there is an element that will set you up for success each year, but make sure you're taking a look at those contacts and trying to come up with new and creative ideas, which is something that we're gonna actually review and go over today. Right, Rach?

Absolutely. Because you know what? Everybody loves to get gifts. I love giving gifts. I love when you can find something really different and unique, just to let people know you thought about them. You know, it's one of those those times of year that, hey. No one's gonna be mad that they got a gift from you, that's for sure, or got a little extra card or or something. It's just letting people know you thought about them. So we have quite an extensive list.

The first thing, maybe you guys have heard of this. It's a company called bluemountain.com, and I love these. I subscribe to it. You don't have to subscribe to it, but I pay for it every month. I think it's a few bucks. And, I love it because you can put someone's name. You can personalize it, and there's all these celebrities who are on there having different different holiday cards. And you can say, hey, Rachel.

And the celebrity is actually saying the person's name, which is really it's just it's just silly and fun. So that one is blue mercury.com. Check that out. I feel like, Corinne, they should be sponsoring us, all these people

that we're doing. They will be at some point. They will be at some point, Rachel. We know

that. Right? Yes.

And that's what we're all excited about with our listeners. But, I love that idea, Rachel. I feel like, it's something that helps you stand out. You know, if you're in a scenario where you want to come up with a more mass gift idea for, like, a larger group of people that maybe you don't know as well, right, but you just wanna give them something, maybe they sent you a couple transactions a year if it's a realtor or if the top customer, You can look at things like Harry and David's. It's a more traditional idea for some of those food and drink options. I always like that. And then, of course, all the classics if you wanna do a coffee and tea theme. It always seems to be very popular.

It goes over well in an office setting if you just wanna get something in front of a certain group. But that planning element will really help you to develop who am I sending something maybe more traditional and light to, and then who do I wanna go above and beyond for? And we have some ideas for that as well. You know, another really neat idea is to really get into what somebody loves to do,

you know, make it a little bit more personalized. You can do the mask gifts for everybody, which is great, and you can customize them with your logo, and you should always be customizing things anyway, right, for branding. But if you wanted if you wanna do something a little extra and different, there are some really unique ideas that I've seen. We've done this for even the recruits. You know, if you're a loan officer looking to build your branch, you can add recruits into that list also. We did something recently where we this was a big recruit. We customized a pair of sneakers for him and and actually had someone create the sneakers with all of his hobbies, with all of his interests, made it and he's a funky funky kinda loan officer, funky kinda guy, so we could have fun with it. But I don't think there's any idea that's too outside of the box when it comes to gifting.

So really try to listen in on what that person loves to do. Maybe there's, hey, maybe it's personalized, but not that out of the box. Maybe it's just a restaurant that I they like to go to, or maybe it is really different and funky where you picked up on, like we did, that this person loves shoes, and it was a very hard shoe size to find. So we just have them customized and had an artist create. So I love when you can when you can kinda get that idea where you're like, oh my gosh. This is something that this person would never have gotten for themselves. And you have that eureka moment of, oh my gosh. They're gonna love this gift.

So really try to listen in and and read in between the lines of the conversations you have with people.

Yeah. Another example is somebody really liked I feel like it was another, team member now of ours, Rach, hat. They were really into hats, and we customized a large hat for them, and it was just something that really stood out. I think, you know, even going back to the planning stages right before this, when you're making that list, and this is kind of an idea I got from what you were talking about, Rachel, write some separate notes on the side for certain people that you're closer with. Hobbies, interests, maybe it's a golfer, maybe it's somebody who likes pickleball, you know, maybe the person, as Rachel pointed out, has really no specific restaurant. When you take that time during the planning phase, it makes the next phase easier when you're trying to figure out these gifts. And again if you send something that's really personalized to something that somebody likes it makes you stand out even much more. So again when you go through that process of sending out a traditional coffee card or something that everyone is exchanging together, What's going to make your name, your company, and you stand out to them more during the holiday season where there is just so much noise going on.

Right? The commercials, the ads, the gifts, the cards, everybody's being hit with so much promotional materials. So let's take an extra moment, sit, and think together about different ways which we're trying to give you here in which you can stand out in front of your audiences. Yeah. And that really helps

to cut the stress down too. If you're planning ahead of time, you the holidays can be stressful just a normal holiday. Well, now you're adding all of this into your business. Don't wait until the last minute. And actually, Corinne, you you just gave me a great idea. If you know that they have kids, oh my gosh. If someone sent something to to me, amazing. But if they sent something to my kids that was very special, like Sixers tickets, courtside, just saying, putting it out there if anyone's listening.

You know, jotting it down. Jotting it down. Jot it down.

Jot it down. But to their kids or maybe even a charity that somebody's very involved with, if you make a donation on your on their behalf, well, that would be that would be really big, I think, because it's another level of care and that you are really listening to what someone's saying.

One other thing, this is just a total side note, and I know many of us are doing this, but just a reminder, if you do take the effort to do a family card for your personal life and for personal connections, think about some of that inner circle business connection overlay that you have and send those family cards to. I know many of you are doing it. It's a common theme, but it's really simple and it's just something that, again, makes you stand out on the fridge. People keep them up there for a while, and it's just a detail that you wanna make sure you're not overlooking from personal space into business relationships and contacts.

Okay. I have a question I have to ask. Are you the kind of person who does a Christmas card or holiday card and puts a family note in of things that have gone on that year?

Oh, my gosh. I love those. First of all, no. I don't take the time to do it, but I say every year I'm going to do it, and then I don't. So maybe this is my own personal challenge, Rachel, because I do love receiving those and I do take the time and read them, but I I have to admit I have to be accountable with everybody here that I do love them but I don't always do them. So I'd love to know out there who is doing that extra step and kind of updating their connections on what happened with their friends and family this year and who just sends the picture, which is also amazing and above and beyond. Right, Raich?

You know, I don't do a holiday card every year because I'm usually late to the game. I should take my own advice also and don't plan. And then it's, you know, a ridiculous fee because you missed all the Shutterfly coupon codes that are happening right now, so make sure you get on those. But, I love to do that, and I feel like there was a Hallmark movie about this where they were making fun of some person who put this this family letter together. I really love that. I love reading about people's lives and and seeing the the highlight reel. I I think it's a a good feel good moment, and especially for your referral partners who might not know you on that level, I think that's a really added value.

I I agree. And and here's the deal, guys. You know, we talk about marketing. We talk about branding and how to stand out. That's a part of our segment on a regular basis depending on what the special topic is. Right, Rachel? So let's say you do go the extra mile and you put out there what your family did, the trips, the accomplishments, what went on that year, and maybe you're like, I don't know if I wanna do this or some people like it, some people aren't into it. It's gonna make you stand out. The individuals that receive that are going to read a piece of it or read a portion or all of it, and they're gonna remember some detail of your year that they didn't know previous to getting that card.

So the end goal of what you're doing is just making yourself stand out in a positive way, and that always will have a lasting impact. So I say get after it and get outside of the comfort zone.

Yes. Let's start thinking about that right now. You know, if you were to do a holiday letter or even just a an happy New Year is always a good idea too. If you miss the boat on the holidays, you have an extra week, you can do a a New Year something or other gift to people. But if you had to pick out your top three moments of this year that maybe not everybody knows, what would that be? What would that look like? You know, try to pick things that are, I don't know, interesting conversation starters. So all of these little things, like Curran said, to to brand you and make you, the thought leader, but to just make you different and stand out of

the crowd. That's huge. Another gifting idea, Rachel, before I lose the thought, and you just brought it up in your segment there. One other gifting idea is to separate the timing. Right? So we talk about the holiday noise, everything going on those last 2 weeks before, you know, Christmas. If if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever your holiday is, in that time period, there's just so much promotion being hit at you. So think about the idea of waiting till the new year. Right? It's right after when everything quiets down.

Maybe you send a gift then. Maybe you send a happy new year card instead of sending a holiday card. So here's just a couple additional tweaks and ideas to kind of get you outside of that box, outside of that noise time period, and stand out in front of your customers and in front of your realtor partners. Guys, one of

the most important things, whatever you're going to do, even if you're just sending I don't wanna say a small gift because there really isn't a gift that could be too small in my eyes, but you wanna follow-up. You have to follow-up. It doesn't have to be 2 weeks later during the craze of the holiday season, but make sure you follow-up definitely in the New Year and say, oh, yeah. How did you like that? Whatchamacallit that I sent you? Or whatever it may be, just acknowledge. Most people will reach out and say thank you. If they don't, that's okay, and then we're not asking for a thank you by reaching out. But you want to make sure that you do that follow-up. We keep saying the noise the noise.

Everyone is so busy, and you don't always have a chance to say thank you or don't always have a chance to follow-up. But that's our job. That's our job to make sure that you're creating this planning, sending the gift, but then you're also creating your follow ups in everything that we do.

Yeah. It's a it's a moment to feel casual, right, and to have some fun and play and do creative things. But but make no mistake about it. It is still a targeted campaign. It is still a moment with a goal. And if we just send out something without a plan as Rachel points out for follow-up, we're missing that additional opportunity for a touch. Right? People get busy, they get the gift, they think it's cool, they move on. No.

Send an additional text or plan it plan an additional text or a campaign into the new year in which you're now inviting them for a coffee appointment or, hey, we haven't gotten together in so long after they say thank you for the gift. Love to love to take a time now that the holidays are over. It's a great moment for us to take a time together and get a coffee. So there you're you're turning a gifting campaign which was just a casual thing that you sent out as a thank you into a moment where you might be able to meet somebody or or get a call and use it to to your advantage in a light and soft way.

And here's how that might look. You know, you shoot them a text after the holidays. Hey, Corinne. I hope you enjoyed that creepy elf on the shelf kit that I sent you for your kids. Let's grab some coffee. I'd love to hear how it went. I saw some of your pictures on Facebook. They looked super funny.

It looks like you loved it. Talk soon. Can you do Monday or Tuesday? You know, like, it just it can be very simple and casual like Karen said.

I agree. It's just that it's just that important step that we need to make sure that we're doing. Right? So I would love to hear more, Rachel, about, you know, what our listeners are doing currently. We would love to get your ideas, hear what you're doing. Let's put it in the comments below and start a conversation about it.

Now I'd love to hear the funkiest, strangest thing that either somebody sent or received from a colleague, from a company, from a friend. You know, we can all share these ideas.

Yeah. And don't forget to check out the Saturday Night Live candle, episode about ladies, giving candles and regifting candles. Just put in SNL candle gifting and you'll have a good laugh today, right around this episode. Plugs.

We have so many plugs today. You're welcome. You're welcome.

Yeah. SNL. We're plugging SNL. They need us. You're right.

Well, as always, thank you for tuning in to Lending Leadership. Please like, share, subscribe, and we're wishing you a happy holiday season. Even though it's not quite here yet, it's gonna be here before you know it, so don't wait. I'll see you on the flip side.

Don't wait, guys. See you later.