For many years we have been advising clients to make their list early.  Start in August.  August, really?!!?  Yes, August.  Now that you have finished shaking your head let me explain why.  When you start your list in August you have time to collect missing addresses as well as updating your list.  You also have time to separate your list into subcategories.  There are many ways to create subcategories.  The most obvious is by sales dollars.  You create categories say all customers who spent $1,000 or less with your company so far this year.  The next category might be people who spent up to $5,000. The third category might be up to $25,000 and you get the idea of course work with numbers that make sense for your business.  Now that you have your subcategories, figure out the budget for each category.  When figuring out the budget keep in mind any legal, regulatory, ethical and tax deduction implications.

Once you have a budget and the approximate number of recipients in each category you can begin to choose the gifts and once the gifts are chosen the packaging.

Another way to create sub-lists is to break down the list by job title and demographics.  This method enables you to choose less generic gifts.  This is true because you know more about the person you are gifting.  For example most women in the Northeast are not going to get excited over a Real Tree Cap.  For that matter , most men in the Northeast aren't going to be too excited either.  On the other hand give out real tree caps in parts of the Southeast and you have a winner - Texas you are better giving out Mossy Oak.  For all of you wondering what Real Tree and Mossy Oak even are, that is the point.  They are camophlage patterns that hunters wear.  I took such an extreme example because it makes the issue crystal clear - you need to match the gifts to the recipients.  You also need to match the dollars spent to a sales level or even potential sales level.

That is why my favorite method of creating sub-lists is to use the demographics first and then overlay the sales categories.  Now you know exactly who you are gifting, how many in each category.  Armed with this information and your budget you can hand everything off to a professional and get back to work generating additional revenue for your company.

Want to free up all that time?  Call us at 212-812-1438 and let us take over.