do you call them? send them goodies? send a card? card hand written or bought? send flowers? send a sing-a-gram?

is it OK to send items you bought (flowers / gift certificates / goodies) to let's say your contact at the hotel you clean for? even if the contact isn't the hotel G.M.? i mean, with your smaller businesses you are usually dealing with the owner. larger places you don't. are some places "touchie", or frown upon, vendors sending "gifts" to the buyers?

thanx --- Derek.

Derek gift baskets are nice, pen and pencil sets, etc. But nothing that has a percieved value such as gift certificate to a Dept Store. These type of things could get someone in trouble. You can not give gifts to any goverment accounts.
If you go out to lunch with a goverment employee or for a "pop" and you are a vendor they will pay their share.

That is the way it is supposed to be. Rick is partially right. But in realality I take some golfing and some to expensive lunches (like Rays on the River) every month, and I do all the paying. They do not tell their employer where they are going for lunch or who they are going with. You just have to know who you are dealing with. In my 35 plus years of this and I have been on both sides of this fence, I can tell you the good old boy network is still alive and well. When I was in the Coporate world, I drove a brand new lease car every two years, that was not titled in my name. I am sure that is still going on and is extremely hard to get a handle on as it is so well done.

BTW, Go by and personally thank them. Do you how often this is not done. I have spent most of the past few days doing just that.

A new car from a vendor man that is a firing and nightly news story. BTW I agree with the take them to lunch or dinner at a nice place but I would never give something that has a value like cash. That's just me. Also Rambo I spent a few years in the Corp World and that's just the way we did things.

We have a gourmet cookie company in our area that can send a tin of gourmet cookies to a local business. Their cookies are amazing. And we've had excellent response from sending "gourmet" cookies to thank clients for their business. Everyone loves to eat! So you might check to see if you can find a local gourmet gift company in your area. If you don't have a local gourmet food company, you could send a tasty gift from www.harryanddavid.com





Rick Gelinas
encapman

I forgot about them cookies until you recommended them Rick. That is what my son sends to all his customers and has been doing for the last 3 years. He tried several different things but the gourmet cookies are by far the best according to his customers. It sure beats what I do. A round of golf is now about a $100 and a good lunch is $50.