One of the biggest struggles during the holiday season is figuring out what to give clients for gifts. Luckily, we’re here to help with some handy tips! Learn how to build holiday gift baskets for your top clients. Plus, explore our ideas for client holiday gift baskets to help you take the guesswork out of your customer Christmas gifts. What Do You Put in a Client Gift Basket for Christmas?What you include in a client gift basket largely depends on the customer. We think it’s important to personalize the gift for the customer. This makes it unique to them and ensures that your present contains things that they would enjoy. However, if you are putting together baskets in bulk with a holiday theme, you can use the same elements for each one. Just be sure that you cater your client holiday gifts for the crowd you’re targeting. This means, that if your clientele consists of foodies, give kitchen themed items. A self-care or spa themed gift basket is perfect for women who enjoy extra pampering. Or gift sports fans baskets with collegiate themed products. What you don’t want to do is give a wine and cheese basket to someone in recovery. If you are giving baked goods or other food gifts, take care when making your selections. You want to avoid any potential food allergies that clients may have. Gift Basket Gift Ideas for Real Estate ClientsHere are some popular elements that real estate agents and other industry businesses use for their holiday client gift baskets:
How to Build a DIY Christmas Gift BasketWhen creating a REALTOR® gift basket to give as holiday gifts, the last thing you want is for it to look sparse or incomplete. Therefore, we’ve pulled together our top tips for building a beautiful gift basket for the holiday season. 1. Plan AheadBefore you start shopping for items to put in your client gift basket, it’s important to plan ahead. Decide on the theme you’d like to use for all your holiday gift baskets. Or write out a list of your clients with their interests to create a personalized real estate agent gift basket for each customer. This makes shopping for your gift basket components both faster and easier. It also gives you more time to take advantage of seasonal sales and special offers, especially if you’re on a budget. 2. Determine How Many Items Should Be in the Gift BasketUltimately, the number of customer Christmas gifts you include in your gift basket is determined by the both the size of the basket and the size of your gifts. We recommend you include 4-5 items in a small gift basket. For a medium-sized REALTOR® gift basket, choose 7-8 items. Finally, we suggest you pick 10 or more products for a large basket. 3. Buy the Gifts and SuppliesOnce you’ve determined what to include in your gift baskets, then you need to buy the gifts. You can also make homemade gifts if you’re extra crafty. In addition to the presents you’ll be using, don’t forget to shop for the baskets and filler, cellophane wrap for the baskets, and decorative ribbon. 4. Assemble the Holiday Gift BasketsThe next step after you’ve gathered all the material and supplies you need, is to assemble your gift baskets. Add FillerYou want to use filler in your holiday real estate gift baskets to form a base for your gifts. Filler also helps to cover any elements you use to give your gifts baskets additional height. As this is a professional basket for clients, we advise you don’t use crumpled or shredded newspaper as filler. It is also helpful to color coordinate your filler with the overall theme of the basket. Here are some ideas of the types of filler you can use to build holiday gift baskets for customers:
Densely pack the filler you choose to ensure you have a sturdy base for the contents. We recommend you pack the base of basket three-quarters of the way full if you’re using large items. For smaller gifts, fill the basket to the top. How to Add Height to a DIY Christmas Gift BasketElevating the components inside your Christmas gift basket will help to create the perfect presentation. There are several ways to add height to a gift basket. The easiest way to do this, however, is to add elements to the bottom of the basket to boost the products you include inside. Here are several ways to boost the height of the components in your container:
Secure the Items InsideWith the elements arranged, you now need to secure the items in your gift basket. To do this, you can stuff the filler around the items for a tighter fit. In addition to employing filler to hide holes, you can also mix it up by using silk flowers, scented pinecones, Christmas themed floral picks, holiday greenery, or other embellishments. Furthermore, you can also use a low temperature hot glue gun to adhere items together that don’t want to stay in place. If you don’t have a glue gun, glue dots and tape work as well. Wrap the Gift Basket for Your ClientFinally, wrap your client gift basket with clear cellophane. Then tie off the top with a ribbon. If desired, you can heat the cellophane with a blow dryer on the lowest setting to shrink the plastic around the client holiday gift basket. Alternately, you can also wrap the basket, depending on the size, with a tea towel or picnic blanket. Or try using a sheer fabric, such as tulle from your local fabric store. If you’re incorporating large items in your gift, that stay in place easily, you can skip this step. Add EmbellishmentsYou can decorate your client gift baskets to make them unique. Tie a Christmas ornament onto the basket handle nestled in with the bow. Or wrap Christmas garland around the handle in lieu of using ribbon. What Can I Use Instead of a Gift Basket?Just because you’re making a holiday gift basket doesn’t mean you have to use an actual basket for the components. There are all sorts of other containers that can be repurposed for this use. We love choosing a functional and useful alternative to traditional baskets. Here are some of our favorite alternate vessels you can utilize for this purpose:
Unique Holiday Gift Basket Ideas from REALTORS®If you’re looking for unique holiday gift baskets to give your clients this Christmas, consider some of these popular gift basket themes:
Can REALTORS® Give Gifts to Clients?Yes, you can give your real estate clients a holiday gift basket. This is assuming that you aren’t giving a gift in return for a favor or kickback. Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) states that “no person shall give and no person shall accept any fee, kickback, or thing of value pursuant to any agreement or understanding, oral or otherwise, that business incident to or a part of a real estate settlement service involving a federally related mortgage loan shall be referred to any person.” In short, this means that if you are giving a gift as a thank you without any strings attached, it’s perfectly fine. (You can read a more in-depth explanation of this and similar rules here.) Can You Deduct Gifts to Clients on Your Taxes?Yes! You can deduct client gifts on your taxes. However, the IRS does have limits on the amount you can use as a deduction. In general, you can only $25 for gifts per recipient each calendar year. The exception to this is entertainment themed gifts, such as tickets. For this type of gift, you may deduct $50 per year for each client. There are some exceptions to this, however. Branded gifts with your business information can potentially be written off at 100%. This is because they are considered a promotional or advertising expense. However, we recommend that you check with a tax professional in your area or state for clarification before making any purchasing decisions. We hope that you find these ideas for making holiday client gift baskets useful! For more gift giving tips, also be sure to check out our holiday client gifts! This corporate gift guide is filled with lots of great personalized, client gift ideas for Christmas.
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