Holiday Gift Giving for Design Professionals

By Linda Merrill

We're entering the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years and it's time we make our lists and check them twice. For business owners, we start thinking about how to show appreciation for the business our clients have given us and the work we've received via referrals from colleagues, prior clients, etc. As designers, we know how intimate our relationships can become with our clients. We're in their bedrooms, we see their family dynamics, the fights, and the occasional underwear hanging on the door knob (oh, yes!).

When I worked in public television, our video distributors used to inundate us with gift baskets, boxes of fruit and chocolates. Always a treat for the staff of any overworked, underpaid non-profit! But, those aren't particularly personal gifts and when you offer a personal service, shouldn't the gift be personal to either the giver or the receiver?

Several years ago, a friend and client of mine had used Rich Trethewey's (of This Old House fame) plumbing business on a brownstone he was renovating. That year, the Christmas gift was a box of chocolate plumbing parts, beautifully rendered and presented. That was a fun gift as it was both tasty and promotional without being too promotional. One year for the holidays, I gave clients mini silver champagne buckets filled with a split of Moet, a small box of chocolates, candy canes and a lavender sachet that I had made – all of which I wrapped and ribboned myself and either hand delivered or mailed.

Earlier in my design business, when I had many tiny clients (color consultations and the like) over the course of a year, I knew that two and three hour consultations did not warrant fancy holiday thank you's. A simple handwritten card would suffice and I made a practice of sending at least three years of personalized holiday greetings to everyone who had used my services even for an hour or two.  

The nice thing about the holiday season is that there are many ways of saying thanks. I have a friend who sends Thanksgiving greetings in November, getting a jump on the holiday rush. And course, Happy New Year’s "Thanks for another year's business" type acknowledgments are also popular. This gives us a chance to be creative without being bound to a religious holiday.  A successful marketing and business consultant I know sends out Happy New Year greetings on the Chinese New Year. This is to honor her children, who were adopted from China, and to stand apart from the crowd. She sends a single new penny in a red envelope, in keeping with the Chinese tradition of giving money, along with a nice note of appreciation. Simple, yet it would stand out.

There once was a time when design projects neatly came to a conclusion. A contract was signed, the project undertaken and there was a specific end date when a thank you gift could be given to the client. Since I can sew and am pretty handy at it, I like to give my clients something I have made by hand. This might be the aforementioned lavender sachet, or it might be a custom designed pillow for their space, if appropriate. And many designers give a nice accessory that fits the space they just finished as well. I love giving these types of gifts, but these days it feels as if the projects never really end and so it’s harder to know when to give the thank you gift. Which is why I tend to focus on the holidays since they do come regularly!

Depending on the business you're in, gifts acknowledging referrals may also be appropriate. I always feel it's appropriate to acknowledge a referral given by an existing or past client. Our best marketing is word of mouth, neighbor to neighbor and that should be rewarded. In a personal service business such as design, I think we want to steer clear of offering "incentive" gifts, but personal acknowledgments are always appropriate. At a minimum, a hand written note is an absolute must. If the referral turns into business, then a small gift of gratitude is appropriate. Some recipients, however, are not comfortable receiving such acknowledgments and the last thing we want to do is make people feel uncomfortable. I have a colleague who makes charitable donations, preferably to a cause or organization that the client supports, in the client's name as a thank you for referrals. Who wouldn't be touched by that kind of acknowledgment!

When the referral comes from design industry allied professional, I feel the best and most appropriate way to thank someone for passing along my name is to do the very best I can for that client. When I refer someone to a client or friend – perhaps a closet specialist or an audio-visual company – what I really want from them is their best work. If they do well and my client or friend is happy, it reflects well on me and my network. But if they do not do a good job and leave my client or friend dissatisfied, I feel it diminishes me and my professional stature there is no gift in the world that will make up for that.

I polled several designers and professionals in my network about the kinds of gifts they have given or enjoyed receiving:

• A beautiful set of wine glasses that are used for many years
• Personally made handicrafts such as beaded pieces, photography, needlework
• Artisan accessories for the home such as unique serving pieces, art glass
• Themed gift baskets such as those from Wolfermans Breakfast Breads and Bakery, Dancing Deer Baked Goods, gourmet foods from Dean and Deluca
• Tickets to a concert or sporting event that the recipient will love

In the end, it's about acknowledging an important relationship. Thank you gifts are not required to be ostentatious and expensive, they should be simply appropriate to the occasion and the recipient.

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Linda Merrill is a residential interior decorator based in Massachusetts. Linda's design style can be described as "comfortable luxury" and she believes in working closely with clients throughout the entire design process. Her clients are mainly located between metro-Boston and Cape Cod and the Islands. Linda writes a nationally regarded design blog called ::Surroundings:: and is the host of the design podcast series The Skirted Roundtable.