Christmas Gifts for Clients: The Key Ten and the Wider Book
Split the book into two tiers before you choose anything. Ten clients matter more to next year than the other two hundred do, and sending both the same thing is a waste at one end and an insult at the other. Decide who is in the top group, then choose twice.
This is the most common expensive mistake in client gifting, and it is expensive in both directions. Our gifts for clients cover both ends, and what follows is how to draw the line.
Who is in the top ten, honestly
Not the ten largest accounts. The ten relationships whose loss would actually hurt, which is a different list and usually includes somebody small who sends you work, and excludes somebody large who is already leaving.
Write the list before you look at any revenue figures, then check it against them. Where the two disagree, the instinct is usually right and the spreadsheet is measuring last year. Keep the list short enough to be genuinely differentiated: a top tier of thirty is not a top tier.
What the top ten should get
Something chosen, and something that arrives with a person's name on it rather than a company's. At this tier the gift is doing relationship work, so it should be obvious that somebody thought about it for more than a minute.
Go up a level rather than up several. Our luxury hampers and the larger range are where these usually sit, and a wine and antipasto pairing is the reliable choice for a client you know drinks and know a little about.
The part that does the actual work is the note. A card that names a specific thing from the year, a project that went badly and got fixed, a deadline they moved for you, is remembered long after the hamper is finished. A card with a company signature on it is not.
What the wider book should get, and why it is not a downgrade
The other two hundred should get something good and identical. Identical is the point: it is the only version that cannot be compared unfavourably, and at this size somebody will compare.
Our mid-range hampers are the natural home for this tier, and Christmas hampers for business is where most people start. A well-chosen shared gift at this level lands better than a stretched individual one, because nobody at this tier is expecting to be singled out and everybody notices being treated the same as their peers.
| The key relationships | The wider book | |
|---|---|---|
| Chosen how | Individually, by someone who knows them | Once, well, for everybody |
| Addressed to | A person | A person where you have the name, the company where you do not |
| The card | Written specifically, naming something real | One good message, the same for all |
| Branding | Light or none | Your logo on the gift card |
| Timing | Early, before the rush | Early, in one send |
Branding: when it helps and when it looks like marketing
Your logo on the gift card comes at no charge, and on the wider book it is the right call. It answers the question the recipient is actually asking, which is who sent this, and it does it without turning the gift into an advertisement.
Printed ribbon, a printed sleeve and a branded board are all available and are priced per hamper, quoted with your order. They suit a wider send where the gift is partly a reminder that you exist.
At the top tier, dial it down. A heavily branded gift to somebody you have worked with all year reads as a promotion rather than a thank you, and it slightly cheapens the note beside it. Your branding is set once and applied across the order, so decide the level at the start rather than per recipient.
Procurement policies, and the gift that gets returned
Some organisations do not allow staff to accept gifts, and some cap the value. Government, banking, health and large listed companies are the common cases, and the recipient is usually more embarrassed than you are when something has to go back.
Three things make it survivable. Send to the office rather than to a home address, so a gift that cannot be accepted can be redirected to a shared area rather than declined at somebody's front door. Keep the value modest enough that a policy is unlikely to bite. And if it comes back, accept it gracefully and without a follow-up: the person did not choose the policy and does not want a conversation about it.
Timing, and why clients go first
Client gifts should be ordered before staff gifts, even though staff gifts feel more urgent. The reason is simple: a client gift landing in the first half of December arrives while people are still at their desks and still reading their post, and one landing in the last week arrives at an empty office.
Same-day dispatch is available on orders placed before 1pm AEST/AEDT on weekdays, excluding public holidays, and everything travels at standard Australia Post rates for your address, with no handling markups. For a list of any size, work backwards from the date you want gifts to land and allow for the approval, which is usually the longest step.
Where to start
Draw the line between the two tiers, then choose twice. Our client gift range covers both, and for a list going to many addresses the corporate order page and the team on 1300 795 802 handle the whole thing from one order and one invoice. Unique client gifts goes deeper on the choosing, client gifts against staff gifts covers the comparison, gifts for a client you have never met handles the no-information case, and Christmas gifts for staff and clients is the guide above all of them. Nothing is paid online. We confirm the details with you and the invoice comes before dispatch, on your usual terms, which is what makes it simple for a finance team.
Enjoy responsibly.
Frequently asked questions
How much should you spend on a client Christmas gift?
Two numbers rather than one, because a single figure across a whole client book is what produces the waste. The key relationships justify moving up a level, into the larger or luxury range, where the gift is doing real relationship work. The wider book wants something good and identical in the mid-range, where consistency matters more than generosity. Set the two levels first, shop inside each band, and do not let the top tier grow past the point where it can genuinely be chosen individually.
Should client gifts be branded?
On the wider book, yes, lightly. Your logo on the gift card comes at no charge and answers the only question the recipient has, which is who sent this. Printed ribbon, a printed sleeve and a branded board are available and are priced per hamper, quoted with your order. At the top tier, dial it down: a heavily branded gift to someone you have worked with all year reads as a promotion rather than a thank you. Your branding is set once and applied across the order, so decide the level before you place it.
Is wine an appropriate client gift?
It is a strong choice where you know the person drinks and know roughly what they like, and a poor guess where you do not. Some clients do not drink, some workplaces do not want alcohol arriving, and a bottle is the hardest item to quietly set aside. Where you are unsure, an alcohol-free gift of the same value is the safer call and nobody will read it as second best. Where wine is right, a food pairing turns it into a gift rather than a bottle. Enjoy responsibly.