Send gifts to the people around your contact, like their spouse, family or assistant, because almost nobody does and the bar is low.
The idea
This one comes from John Ruhlin. Business gifts tend to skip a contact's spouse entirely, and assistants get handled as pawns instead of peers. Ruhlin's answer was to look after the people closest to the recipient about 80% of the time, since almost nobody else does. Make it personal, and reach as many of the people around them as you can.
How to do it
Before choosing a gift, think about who they're surrounded by. How could a gift benefit their family or team?
Personalize it. A simple custom gift beats a hefty price tag.
When gifting at scale, build around what most of your list shares: many have a partner, and most enjoy good food and wine.
Pay attention to presentation: beautiful packaging with a handwritten note.
Example
Ruhlin started out as a record-breaking knife salesman and became the go-to name in strategic gifting (most people are surprised knives have stayed so popular). His bar for any gift: get them to say "Wow, this is so thoughtful."
Gift as Artifact, Not Advertisement: A good gift creates shared history and reminds them of you every time they use it, so leave your logo off.
Personalization Over Price: Choose with their eyes, wrap it well with a handwritten note, and favor books, local treats or donations over generic gift baskets.
Connect With the Whole Human: Treat prospects, colleagues and friends the same way, with genuine interest in the person behind the title and the professional facade.