Radical Generosity in Your Gifting

The word radical, by definition, means relating or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough. 

The word generosity, by definition, means the quality of being kind and generous.

I loved seeing these actual definitions when I searched them because it’s an absolute perfect fit for who we are and how we incorporate radical generosity into the culture of our company. 

For us we are kind and generous with our words and actions very often in far-reaching, creative ways. It’s fundamental to how we create, build, and nurture relationships with our clients, our industry partners, friends in the industry, and even our “Dream 25” clients. 

Auto Repair Shops are not so different from our marketing agency when it comes to gifting and being generous. You have people in your world just like we do. People you want to show you care. People you want to get to know better. People you want to nurture and continue to love on for years to come. 

To help you add to your current gifting plans or to help you get started let’s first look at some examples of who your recipients might be. 

Love your employees! Building loyalty in your team comes from your Core Values and your culture. One easy way to love on your employees is in some thorough and thoughtful gifting. 

• Random DoorDash to your employees whether at work or at home. Maybe a quick coffee or dinner at home that evening is just what’s needed at the time.
• Christmas + Holidays can be simple times to show your appreciation. What matters to them? Pick a holiday that works and means something.
• New Baby/Home/Marriage are the most obvious times to gift an employee and show your care for their lives.
• Sympathy and challenging times are perfect for showing empathy and understanding. When your team members are feeling down, need a cheer-you-up or just a reminder then acknowledge that and honor them by being kind.
• Just because
  
  

Partner/Industry Friend Gifts deserve your attention too. We all have relationships in the industry whether it’s a coach, a vendor, software, an organization or another shop owner. These relationships are a gift and can be a lifesaver in certain situations. Honor these relationships, nurture them, and build them by showing your gratitude and generosity by selecting something meaningful.

• Dream 25 (clients + industry partners)
• After meeting at event
• Staying in touch
• Seeing something on social which prompts the gift
  
  

Shower Your Clients with thoughtfulness. Our friend Adam Rath with Allied Automotive in Allentown, PA is a genius at caring for his clients in big and small ways. He is creatively thinking of little leave-behinds in the customers’ cars. These little moments of happiness create a moment between the shop and the customer that is special. 

• New clients
• Repeat clients and customer loyalty
• Special Occasion such as a new teen drivers license, a new car, etc
  
  

My Personal Favorite Vendors keep me going. I’m always looking for new ideas but these are my go-to options. 

• The Basketry is both an e-commerce option and a brick-and-mortar storefront in the New Orleans area. They offer personalized and customized gift options for me. They make it super easy too because I have gone in and setup with them the gifting purposes I have and potential types of recipients. So when I need to send a gift, for example, to a new client they already know what I am expecting and have an idea of it and are ready to go. It’s typically shipped within a day or two! The Basketry team is top notch and they take extremely great care of me!
• Holtz Leather was my original gifting option and they should have me on speed dial! I love this company so much. The quality and customer service is outstanding.I found them while Christmas shopping for Brian one year and I have now bought from them so, so many times. They offer a wide variety of gift options for men, women, corporate, and the home. Do yourself a favor and take a look! (Oh, fun fact: they even have custom company logo leather patch baseball caps)
• Smallwoods is an option when you want to do something special with a photograph. Oh! Simply stunning! You will look like a radically generous and thoughtful gifter when you send a custom framed photo from Smallwoods. 
• DoorDash and Amazon are both fun, easy options to include as well. Sending dinner, a coffee, treats from a convenience store, or something neat from Amazon makes gifting a very simple option for enhancing your gifting. 
  
  

I cannot wrap up this blog post without referencing the Giftology book by John Ruhlin. I was already well on my way to being a gifting guru when I was introduced to this book. When I finally read it I was super excited to have found this book completely full of incredible ideas AND a whole lot of confirmation to what I had already been doing. Do order this book and read it. In fact, I read it on Audible but want to buy one to have on my desk for quick reference and notes! 

You may be wondering how in the world this has anything to do with marketing. Well, it has everything to do with marketing. All in all marketing is sharing a message and when you incorporate intentional radical generosity in your company it opens up opportunities for you to share a message, create, build, and nurture relationships. There’s truly an art and a science to marketing. Gifting simply enhances what you are already doing in a very personable, genuine, thoughtful way.