Top 10 Business Gift Ideas for Clients

When it’s time of the year, show your business contacts –bosses, helpful colleagues, important clients and other stakeholders – how valuable they are to you. Whether you just want to give them a small token of appreciation or you really want a gift that’s set to impress, we’ve got some useful recommendations to help lessen the seasonal gift-giving stress.

10. Desk ornament

This is not really a one-gift suggestion – it’s actually a category unto itself. We all have desks at work (mostly) and there’s a range of interesting, quaint and useful items which you can give, including paperweights, compasses, clocks and the mandatory bloc note holders. If you’re really stumped for ideas and don’t really know the recipient too well this can be an effective and safe, albeit impersonal solution.

9. Tie

This one is slightly more personal, and should be reserved for colleagues who you know more personally. The colour, pattern and style of the tie can be adapted personally. You should give this kind of gift to someone who actually wears ties. Prices can vary greatly, depending on whether you’d like to get something sensible or whether you want to get a designer-branded tie to pull out all the stops.

8. Cufflinks

This is a must for someone who frequently has occasions which require a dress shirt. You can go for plain sterling silver ones, monogrammed ones, cufflinks which are engraved, designer cufflinks or quirky and innovative ones. Our advice would be to play safe with gifts for people you are not so close to, but go highly personal for those you know very well.

7. Leather Zipper folio

Leather gifts always speak to quality, prestige and tradition. This is a more highbrow gift, ideal for an executive or someone climbing up the career ladder. You can personalise this gift with a monogram engraving. This is a timeless classic, which is always welcome and appreciated.

6. Battery power pack for mobile phones

This is the ultimate gift for the businessman on the move; practical, hi-tech and smart! This is the kind of gift that will also pay you as it makes sure that you can get in touch with your client or colleague round the clock, as their mobile phone battery can be replenished, while on-the-go thanks to this innovative gadget.

5. Briefcase

Possibly verging on the slightly predictable, if not outright boring side, this is a good gift to give to a high powered executive, who is keen about showing his status, even as he walks into the office. This is a nice gift for the business man who needs to have his paperwork with him at all time, or perhaps a good way of disguising his home-made lunch!

4. Food hamper

Food, glorious food! This is one of those experiential gifts, which, if chosen wisely can be a showstopper. A nicely-packaged and well thought out food hamper with cookies, chocolates, fruit preserves, seasonal candies and fudges is nice to take home or even to give to a team of colleagues to share and enjoy together. The contents of food hampers can range from the more traditional to the more innovative and quirky tastes. A word of warning, though… this one will be hard to top next year!

3. Wines

A nice bottle of wine always goes down well. And if the recipient is not much of a drinker, it is always something he can use when hosting friends and family members for lunch. You can also make your selection of wine or wines according to your gift recipient’s tastes. Depending on how well you know him, you can go for New World wines or the more traditional vintage European grapes. Then you need to consider whether to go for a red, white or rose grape – or possibly splash out on all three. How about some champagne or dessert wine too? A word to the wise here: check out company alcohol policy before sending out wine gifts to colleagues or clients, to avoid uncomfortable situations.

2. Exclusive pen

One of the high end brands pops to mind here. We’re thinking about the elegant, stylish timeless classic like Mont Blanc, here. Although there is a variety of other more reasonably priced brands. This is the kind of gift which can be personalised, monogrammed or engraved with your recipients’ initials or with your company logo (although we find that this can be somewhat tacky!)

1. Leather-bound diary / notepad

This is the go-to gift for business contacts. It’s practical and sensible and very useful. We recommend giving this a couple of weeks ahead of the New Year, so that the recipient can include important dates, appointment and other details accordingly. This is another gift which can be personalised with engraving. There are also various types of specialised diaries available on the market, including ones which are specifically-designed for particular jobs, such as managers, teachers and project-leaders. Others include features like the word of the day, astrological notes, famous quotes as well as positive thinking tools.