Everywhere you go, there are faceless entities. Recorded messages from telemarketers, information centers with press button requests for your local Bank just 2 minutes down the street, beautiful websites for everything you can imagine you need, but no direct contact number or sometimes not even a location address to find out which country you are buying from!
Have you noticed that some of the beautiful gifts on web sites are very stiff, and cardboard looking with no personality to their make up? How about some foliage now and then or a jaunty little collectible that gives the gift life. A personalized magazine to get well with.
What happened to the good old human contact? Lets be honest we would all pay a little more to actually get a person help us that was empathetic to our needs in the local hardware store rather than go to the chain super stores which are so big, impersonal and never enough staff around to help or indifferent to help.
It is no different in the gift giving industry. The immaculate gift baskets that we see set in picture perfect settings, with identical colored coded packaging and simple tied ribbons are very elegant, and maybe the choice people want to send to their Corporate contacts. But personally even for Corporate gifts, I think it is lovely to see added in between the yummy delights a Company logo pen, pad, mug or equally suitable additions to the arrangement to remind the receiver who sent it to them and why.In the gift that you send to your Aunt Gladys for her 80th birthday, would it not be a delight for her to open it and find the ribbons, tissues or other adornments are her favorite shade of teal blue with Azalea flowers – a life long favorite – entwined? Her much loved Walkers shortcakes perched cheekily at the back?
The problem is, most Companies do not promote the ‘personalized ‘touch, or bespoke hamper service. They may do it, but never seem to quite mention it early enough before you loose interest or see what else is out there. Often they cannot personalize, as too busy making carbon copies to stop and take the extra time needed to talk to you. Or have no interest in being - different.
A thought, if they are carbon copies, how long may they have been pre made on the shelf? Don't forget some Companies only market and use drop shippers to forward the gift to it's destination, in other words they have no hand in the creation of your carefully chosen gift. Could explain why you see the same photos in different web sites all across the world!
One of my regular customer’s, loves the fact that she can tell me about the sort of person she is gifting for, what they like, what their restrictions are, and even chat through the list of what we will add to her chosen look within her price range. Can you blame her?
Look out there for Companies that will give you this kind of service. They are there, but may not be the glitzy looking gift sites that you come across in the first page of your search engine site. More than likely, they are smaller businesses that do not charge extortionate prices for well filled gift baskets. Remember, those bigger businesses have much higher overheads including huge advertising bills.
I know which I rather would look for.
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