2008 is my first Christmas as a freelancer, so I thought I’d take the time to say thank you to some of my best clients with some little yellow boxes of joy.
Inside the box. All wrapped up and ready to post
This week, I posted several yellow boxes to my best clients of 2008 as a way of saying thank you and also as a way of saying ‘hello, don’t forget about me.’
Why?
I’ve worked in offices before and xmas means one thing; presents from suppliers. These bribes gifts usually come in the form of bottles of wine or similar – one year I got a dog blanket from Google!
For some reason, freelancers don’t tend to do this or should I say, they don’t always see themselves as a supplier and often don’t realise that these little touches can set them apart from the competition.
My hope is that it says two things:
- Thank you.
- and that I’m a little more professional/creative than some other freelancers.
It’s worth mentioning that this tactic really wasn’t as cynical as it could appear. 2008 really was great for me and I really did want to say thank you to the people who made it so much fun (and financially rewarding).
What was in the boxes
The boxes contained lots of yellow things including: highlighter pens, packets of juicy fruit chewing gum, dried custard, and M&Ms and also a few other fun yellow things such as a toy car and a rubber duck.
Let’s not go overboard here, I could have put in some really expensive yellow trinkets in the boxes but that wasn’t really the point; the point was the packaging. I wanted to create an experience for the people receiving and opening the box; something that made them laugh and possibly made the colleagues around them wish that they’d been sent a yellow box too.
Hmm…
Yes, I know it’s a little camp to be sending clients little yellow boxes; especially considering all but one box went to male clients. I think that because it’s xmas and because of the content of the boxes any awkwardness can be overlooked – just. It’s an important point, while it’s important to appear friendly it’s more important to not been seen as creepy and weird and I think, I managed to stay on the right side of the line.
If you want to receive a yellow box (or similar) next xmas you’ll have to hire me.
Did you receive a yellow box? What did you think? Or did you send your clients a little gift to say thanks this year?
Love it.
I think that this is a really good idea and certainly makes the customer feel valued, this year I have stuck with Christmas cards, but may have to get more creative next year to.
Good work on the blog, I am always checking for updates, Merry Christmas.
Christmas cards is also a good idea. I suspect a lot of people neglect to that as well.
That is a really nice touch. I know it would mean a lot to me to receive something like that.
Merry Christmas Phil :)
Phil
This is a great idea, I think you’re spot on with the ‘experience of opening the box’. Look at how people love opening Apple products or Moo stuff as a prime example.
Good work.