Planning Ahead for Client and Staff Appreciation
“The event should be distinctive and reflect the company’s brand”
I hope you’re enjoying a merry season of sipping mulled wine, munching holiday treats, and making a hearty thank-you toast to employees and clients!
And even though we haven’t yet popped that New Year’s champagne, it’s not too early to start thinking about next year. How will your company show appreciation and grow relationships with customers, colleagues, and employees in 2017?
I encourage clients to include corporate hospitality and entertainment in their business development plans and budgets. Special events and experiences, if they’re well-designed and professional produced, can be a cost-effective way to strengthen client relationships and develop new customers.
In creating and producing special events for clients, I focus on three things (beyond flawless implementation, of course. That’s a given.) The event should be distinctive and reflect the company’s brand; it should be enjoyable and memorable; and it should achieve the business goals it was designed to achieve.
To enable my clients to achieve results and memories, I often encourage them to go beyond the usual ho-hum cocktail party in a humdrum venue. Perhaps wow your guests on an unusual rooftop with a spectacular view or have them mingle and play in an experiential museum. For VIP clients, perhaps a special excursion: a seaplane trip to Victoria for dinner or a mini yacht race on Puget Sound?
Thinking ahead to how you’ll recognize, reward, and engage your staff is critical too. Will you need a zany team-building function in 2017? An internal new product launch to mobilize your sales team? An exotic getaway to reward top performers? Non-cash incentives, like events and experiences, are being used increasingly to reward and engage employees in companies across the country.
I recommend you to start pondering the activities you might arrange to strengthen customer relationships and engage employees in 2017. And let us help! C.KAY International has years of experience advising and supporting companies in showing appreciation and engaging customers and staff.
