Author: RANDALLGORHAM

  • How to send 200 gifts without losing your mind

    How to send 200 gifts without losing your mind

    Two hundred sounds like a lot until you have done it. The trick is to push as much of the decision-making forward as possible, and to refuse to do the parts a logistics partner should do.

    The timeline that works

    • Week 1. Pick the gift. One gift. Not three. Two backups for dietary restrictions.
    • Week 2. Lock the list. Ship the address-collection form. Set a hard cutoff.
    • Week 3. Sweep the people who didn't reply. Get them via their manager.
    • Week 4. Hand the file off. Sign off on the card proof. Walk away.

    The four things that will go wrong

    1. Someone's name will be spelled wrong on the card. Get an address-and-card proof before the print run.
    2. Three to five percent of addresses will be bad. Plan a returns/reships buffer.
    3. One person has a serious nut allergy and your gift basket includes almonds. Always ask up front.
    4. The CEO will add seven names on Friday. Have a way to bolt them on.

    What to outsource

    Everything except the list and the message on the card. Curation. Packaging. Address collection. Per-recipient personalization. Carrier handoff. Tracking. Replacements. Invoicing. If your gifting partner asks you to fill in a CSV, you are doing their job.

    GiftLoft handles bulk sends from 25 to 2,500 units. Tell us about your send.

  • How to write a client thank-you note that actually gets a reply

    How to write a client thank-you note that actually gets a reply

    The reason a thank-you note works is that almost nobody sends them. The reason most of the ones that get sent are forgettable is that they are written like the email they replaced.

    What to write

    Three sentences. The first names something specific from the work, not the deal. The second is small, personal, and probably not about business at all. The third says what you hope happens next — without selling.

    An example. After a renewal:

    Karen — thank you for sticking with us through the integration mess in March. You said something on our last call about your daughter starting at NYU — I hope she settles in well. Looking forward to hearing how the second half of your year goes, whether or not it involves us.

    What to skip

    • The word “partnership.”
    • Anything that reads like a recap.
    • Anything that asks for a referral. (Wait six months. Send another card. Then ask.)
    • Your title under your name. If they don't know your title, the card is not why you're sending it.

    On stationery

    Folded cards are warmer than flat. Cream is more neutral than white. A small logo — on the back, not the front — is fine. A return address is not.

    Every GiftLoft order ships with a free handwritten card. Browse the catalog.

  • The new-hire welcome kit, done right: 12 ideas that don’t end up in a junk drawer

    The new-hire welcome kit, done right: 12 ideas that don’t end up in a junk drawer

    A new hire opens twelve emails on day one. The one they remember is the box that arrived at their door the night before.

    Most onboarding kits are forgettable for the same reasons: they are picked by someone in a rush, they arrive with the company logo three times in three different places, and they are full of items the recipient already owns. They go in a junk drawer. The Slack screenshot is not a flattering one.

    The principle: choose for them, not for you

    The fastest way to make a welcome kit feel personal is to remove your own brand from it. A linen-bound notebook with your logo embossed on the cover is a corporate gift. A linen-bound notebook with their initials embossed on the cover is a thoughtful one.

    Twelve things that work

    1. A handwritten card from the person they reported to in their interview.
    2. A small-batch coffee or tea, in the format they answered “coffee or tea” during the interview.
    3. A linen-bound notebook, blank.
    4. A nice pen. Not branded.
    5. One snack that is shelf-stable and dietary-flexible.
    6. A candle. Yes, really.
    7. A printed welcome insert — not a brochure — with three names of people to grab coffee with in week one.
    8. A list of the three lunch spots near the office their interviewer actually likes.
    9. A small thing for their workspace at home. A coaster. A small ceramic.
    10. Their company-branded swag — but only one piece, and a good one. Save the rest for milestones.
    11. A book that is relevant to the role and not yet on every Twitter list.
    12. Time on the calendar with their manager — not a gift, but the most generous one on the list.

    What to skip

    • Generic snack assortments. They already eat snacks.
    • Stress balls. Anything that is a fidget toy.
    • Plastic items that suggest sustainability was an afterthought.
    • Anything that requires assembly.
    • The fifth-thing-in-the-box that you added because the box looked empty.

    One more thing

    Ship it to arrive the day before they start, not the day of. The empty inbox and the unstarted laptop are bad enough — a small package waiting at their door makes Monday feel like the beginning of something they want to be part of.

    If you would like us to build this for your team, we have an onboarding program that scales from 25 to 2,500 kits. Talk to us about it.