TECH WATCH

Building referrals
Gifts that Give Back

Web sites make it easier to select the right closing and follow-up gifts—so that you can stay fresh in the minds of past clients and increase your referral base.

BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK

Besides serving as a thoughtful show of appreciation, closing gifts are a key strategic marketing tool in your quest for personal referrals. And you can turn to the Web to make selecting and sending the right closing gift as effective and time efficient as possible.

Many companies with unique gift ideas market their products through their Web sites. For instance, Innovative Software offers special pricing if you buy in bulk The Complete Home Journal, a home project and inventory management software, to hand out to clients as closing gifts. Cape Fear Systems offers its 911Light as a one-of-a-kind gift for safety-conscious clients. YourHomePics.com provides art prints from photos of a home that you can give to new homeowners. Closing With Style provides custom-made home address plaques that will keep you top of mind with clients all year long.
There also are a number of Web sites offering a more diverse selection of gifts. House to Home Ideas includes gifts in many categories that could be given any homeowner; GiftTree specializes in flowers, gift baskets, and gourmet items suitable for any occasion; retailer Crate & Barrel’s Web site offers a selection of all types of gift items, including some appropriate for housewarming gifts.

Those who employ gifts as a marketing tool will find a broad range of items to choose from online. Real estate professionals turn to Web sites as a source for closing gifts for the same reasons consumers now purchase many goods online: product selection and convenience. Whether you prefer to use something as standard as a gift basket or flowers, or want something more personalized, you can find the right gift online.


Resources for Closing Gifts

GiftTree
A range of gifts for any occasion, including moving into a new home, with prices starting under $30.

House to Home Ideas
Source of home décor items that can be given as housewarming or closing gifts.

Crate & Barrel
One of the largest selections of gifts online for all occasions and all recipients, with prices starting around $10.

Previously by Antoniak:
Tech Watch: Do More, Carry Less " />
E-mail Campaigns Offer Marketing Option
Internet Presence Considered Critical to Effective Marketing
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Do you have technology you’d like to learn more about or a new user twist that you’d like to share with your peers? Let me know about it by e-mailing antoniak@dtccom.net, and I’ll do my best to give it the coverage it deserves.


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