Client Appreciation Gifts that Get Remembered, Not Regifted | RR388

Welcome everyone to this week's episode of

Relationships Rule. Have you ever received a corporate gift

that went straight into a drawer, or even worse, the

donation bin? Well, my guest today has a lot to say about

that, and I love it actually because we are aligned in so

many ways about this. Tracy Domino is the founder of Event

Outfitters, a gifting company in Tampa Bay, Florida, that works

with universities, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 teams. Before

that, she was a sales executive at Tiffany and Company and

planned more than 1000 luxury events, including presidential

inaugurations. Tracy believes a gift is never just a gift. It's

the moment someone decides whether they matter to you.

Welcome to the show, Tracy. We have so much to get into here.

Well, thank you for having me, Janice. I

appreciate

it. Yeah, no problem. I when we started

talking, I I knew right away that we have the same values

around the importance of what a gift means, and and the thought

that needs to go behind it to to make it worth the time and

effort that someone put. Well, you can tell when someone's put

the time and effort into it. Let's put it that way.

Absolutely. Yeah. So let's start with this. You came to gifting

by a pretty unusual unusual road. You were in sales, luxury

events, inaugurations. Walk us through how you got here and

what all those years in high stake rooms taught you about

people.

So, like, I always say my my career makes

sense in reverse, not really going forward. It never like

lined up that way, but I thought I was going to go into sports

actually. Oh wow! I was a sports management minor and a PR major

in college, and realized that was not the path for me. It was

just I loved being a fan. Didn't really necessarily want to be on

the business that, and went into events from there, when that

that was a venue that we did tons and tons of events of all

calibers. But at that time in the Tampa area, that was the

largest event venue that did pretty much all the charity

galas, like the massive charity galas at that time. Since then,

big hotels have been built, and they are kind of more spread

out. But back then, that was kind of the spot. And from

there, Tiffany and Company hired me from away from there to

represent the West Coast of Florida on their business sales

side. Which most people don't know, Tiffany has a business

sales side. But if you think about a lot of their crystal

gifts or silver gifts, and as well as things like their

sunglasses and some of their homeware, is which they used to

have a lot more of. But they all of those items are Tiffany

business gifts, as well as the most famous one is probably the

Super Bowl trophy, which they make their silversmiths make

every year, and the World Series trophy as well. And and is it is

it the tennis one too? Is that yes, U.S. Open, the

U.S. Open

trophy. NASCAR NASCAR has a trophy. There's

ones on the PGA Tour, like tons of the most famous silver

trophies, probably except the Stanley Cup, mostly come from

Tiffany. Wow! And all come through the business sales

division, and so that's very great exposure to a lot of

organizations, large and small. Because to have a Tiffany

account, you could be anyone. I mean, any small business could

open a Tiffany account, as well as all these major sports

franchises and leagues. All could have, you know, that. So

we got to work with everyone from like title sponsors to

these organizations, as well as much smaller groups and got to

learn all these different things about their needs. But what we

all learned, or I learned, that was so interesting is that

Tiffany has one of the most recognizable packaging options,

probably in the world, and as far as luxury goods go. And

people would get excited about that box before they had any

idea what was inside it. And at that time, you could buy like a

$25 candy dish and send it in a Tiffany box. This was a long

time ago, but like maybe you know. But people felt such value

as a recipient when that blue box would show up, like that was

picked for them, and that was really eye opening to me because

there would be all these gifts that, like in corporate America,

people received. I I watched my own father who. Was a president

of a company and would receive all these different kinds of

things, and a lot of it just looked like it came in a brown

box, and it looked like it could have been anything, and and you

could tell people spent a lot of money on it, but it just looked

like it could have been another gift basket from Costco, you

know, like which is nothing wrong with those gifts; they

just don't look very thoughtful, and and and I just realized that

people could sometimes spend a lot less money and look a lot

more thoughtful if they just picked it properly and packaged

it correctly and presented it properly. So from there, I left

there around '08, which was when the economy changed

dramatically, of course, and it was a little awkward to send

Tiffany business gifts at that time when people were laying off

employees by the hundreds or 1000s, and opened an event

luxury event planning company and did that for a long time.

And because Tiffany, I also handled their in-store events on

the business side, there too. But then, opened my own company,

and we did luxury weddings, predominantly a lot of big

Indian weddings, big over the top, you know, Jewish weddings.

Yeah, all different denominations, of course. But

like the ones that were the most detail oriented and involved.

And again, noticing that the things that got remembered most

of the time were the smallest details that, again, almost

never cost the most. And but they were thoughtful, and they

in a wedding they related to the couple the most. And like the

thing that's probably the most obvious that everyone sees is

like when someone's dog is included in like the cocktail

napkins, you know, like that kind of silly stuff. But like

that's what makes it so you can't take one couple out and

put another couple in, and suddenly the wedding makes no

sense anymore, you know. So as my life changed and my daughter

got older, I realized that I was not going to be able to travel

at that same pace, and kind of went back to the gifting world,

realizing that a lot of my clients still had a need. A lot

of my friends and former friendly competitors also needed

someone who understood events, who could also deliver for them,

because a lot of events are companies thanking their

employees or companies thanking their customers, and that is

sometimes an oversight part that was not really done properly and

could use someone who understood that. So that's kind of how I

ended up. Okay, long-winded way.

That's okay. So when when you sold Crystal at

Tiffany, I um we talked about this. You had a clever solution

for for clients who insisted on adding their logo, and we're

going to get into that a little in a little bit. But tell us the

ice bucket story and what it taught you about the difference

between being remembered and being advertised.

Yes. Okay. So this is a really good one. So at

that time, Tiffany had a open the open handle ice bucket. I

probably sold more of that than any other item, and I'm not sure

if anyone else sold it that much. But I loved this thing

because I thought an ice bucket only comes out on a good day,

right? So I thought it was celebratory, and it comes in a

big box, and people would want to put etch their logo right on

the front because they were saying, "Well, this is like our

bank's holiday gift," you know, or whoever whoever they were.

And I just thought, like, well, if like what seems to you and

me? What seems to

you and me the obvious, right? If I am

this is what I would say, which I think is

obvious, right? Like, if your boyfriend gave you a pair of

earrings, he doesn't have to carve his name into them for you

to remember that he gave them to you, or your husband, you know,

or your mom, whoever. Like, if something, if something's

special enough, you remember it. Now, granted, tchotchkes and

like things that you give away at a trade show are advertising

items. Those are in a different category. I'm not talking about

them. I'm talking about something to truly say thank

you. So, what we did a lot of times for those clients was we

would have like the etching done in the bottom of the ice bucket,

so because it's clear, you could see it when you would take it

out for the party. You would, as the person who owned it, you

would take it out. You would see it. You would think great things

about whoever sent it to you. You'd fill it with ice. It would

not show because it wasn't even color. It was just you know in

there, and then your you would put it out, and your guests

would think you just had fabulous taste and had this

beautiful ice bucket. You'd put your champagne bottle in there,

and then at the end of the party, you would clean it out

and put it back away, and that that was it. You know, it was

just if that. Logo was on the front. The chance of that same

ice bucket coming out for a party was probably a lot less

because no one wants to look like I got this for free. It

kind of just like would have. I don't want to say cheapen it

because it's still a great gift, but it's just like the the point

is different. The point is like not I'm thankful for your

business or for your loyalty or whatever the message is, it's

more very in your face of like here is something that is our

company's name on it, and that was which is obviously different

than like putting the person's monogram on it, which would be a

you know a different message.

So how did you? I'm not

sure why I'm moving here, but I apologize for

that.

No, that's okay. How did you did you have any

issues talking the the client into putting the etching

underneath and putting their? Did you have so

sometimes? And some people still did want to

put things front and center, and I think it would just depend on

what the point of it was. And sometimes they were right to put

it on the front. Like if it was like a 75th anniversary of a

company, and it needed to be more of a commemorative thing,

it makes more sense, like if you've come to an event that is

commemorative as more than just saying thank you or sending

someone in the mail something that says thank you.

Okay,

more marking an occasion that you attended than

that the logo of saying this, you know, the 75 years on there,

it kind of makes more sense of what that is. Also, I was lucky

enough to get to work with the New York Yankees, and I love to

talk about them because people's teams, whatever your team is,

your alma mater, your you know the team you root for, people

will proudly show those logos, and that's kind of the

difference. So, like, they put their logo front and center, and

it looked fantastic. And people were thrilled to receive that

because it was like a status symbol almost. Because they were

saying, "Wow!" Like the Yankees sent me a gift, which was very

then like. no offense to the bank or the landscape company or

to the you know any other business, but there's just a a

different aura that comes with a logo that is the team you cheer

for, and you wear their shirt and you wear their hat, and like

it's behalf of your personality that you cheer for this team.

Yeah, but you know it's it's so interesting

because you know we talked about this and and and how I've talked

about this with other people on my podcast as well. If you're

sending or doing a gift or a niceness for somebody, it's not

about you; it's about them. Correct, right? So, except for

the, you know, the, the, I guess the status of the New York

Yankees piece that you that you talked about, it just doesn't

feel right to plaster your logo all over something you're

sending as a gift. So I love the idea about the putting it

underneath in the ice bucket, for example. Even when you know

somebody received the the trophy or the beautiful glass trophy at

the New York the U.S. Open, they say it's from Tiffany's, right?

But it's going to have their name engraved on it, and and

it's about them in that case, right? It's about them. Yes,

that that is that's a kind of I think a

different thing. I think the the thought though is the strategy.

You have to understand why am I sending this? Am I sending this

as marketing, or am I sending this as appreciation? And um and

those are different things. And there is a time to send

something as marketing, but if you think you're sending

something as a gift, you need to make sure you're not sending

something as marketing. I know,

I I know. It's like even when I I do that, you

know, I send cards to people, and sometimes I send gifts. But

when I send cards to people, or when I receive cards from

people, and it's Merry Christmas, and they put their

business card in it, it loses it. So it's the same kind of

symbol, symbolic piece, right?

Right. Yeah. With the only exception there, I

would say, is if they thought you had no idea who they were.

Otherwise, which is like, why are they sending it? But like,

yeah, they if they if they think they know you would know who

they are, then why would they? You know, like if you well, why

am I sending

them a Christmas card?

Right. If

if it's a marketing piece, I don't know.

To me, they're two different things.

I think it depends because I think for

some, because I think companies send Christmas cards.

Yeah, people

also send Christmas cards. Okay,

so

I think it depends on what is being sent

because, like, a company could send something on behalf of the

company, which would then say their company name is like

they're the ones sending the Christmas card.

Yeah,

but I don't think you should put a coupon in it.

Exactly. Yeah. Okay. But I mean,

so I think it just depends because that

company could be wishing you a happy holiday. I don't think

there's anything wrong with that. I don't. But I think if

you're just, but like, it would be weird if you sent your

business card in with your Christmas cards to your friends

and you don't do business with like that, or you don't have

that kind of relationship with that. It sounds like you're

trying to get business through your Christmas card. I think

those are two kind of different things, and I think that's like,

what is what are you trying to say? And that's what you have to

think about. Always

the first thing. What are we trying to say here?

Okay, so you shared a story with me about a friend who received a

Georgia Tech cup from someone hoping to win his business. Why

did that small gesture land so well, and what does it say about

the role of research in building trust?

So this is a great story. So he, my friend,

is clearly a Georgia Tech grad, and it wouldn't make any sense

if he wasn't right. That would be a very strange, right? Right.

Of course.

Yeah.

But the person who was trying to do business

with him instead of sending a it was a Yeti tumbler, so it was a

good quality item. Instead of sending one with his business

logo on it, he looked on LinkedIn or somewhere researched

him and realized that he was a Georgia Tech grad. If he did

enough research, he would probably also know he was a

Georgia Tech donor and involved in the university, so what's

really kind of cool there is that he wrapped up a, you know,

he didn't even have to have that custom made. He just like found

and

ordered it online, I guess, a Georgia, you

know, Yeti cup, and with a personal handwritten note said

you know something to the I don't know the exact note but

something to the effect of saw this thought of you hoping that

we could work together in the future and whatever else he said

but my friend said well I had to call this guy like there was no

way I could just let that go without showing my appreciation

and that that absolutely stood out from like other approaches,

and they do end up doing. They did end up doing business

together. They still do business together. I don't know to what

degree that of that man's business, but the thought there

is just you're trying to do something specific for one

person, and you were able to take how much time could it

possibly take? Right to

not as much today. Like I mean, like you

could like if the

person's name isn't the most common name on

earth, like you could probably figure out like some fact about

them, either again, what team they root for, what school they

went to, where, what town they're from, so you could

figure out something, and then you could say because it doesn't

have to be a yeti tumbler. Like if you know that they grew up in

Savannah, Georgia, and now they live in California, and you sent

them like Savannah B honey, and said you know something maybe

you're home too or something from home, and you sent some

note about that. Like that just shows that you aren't just like

mass sending.

You took the time every hour.

You said that to that person, and that's what I

talk about all the time. Is like the point of a gift is like the

appreciation, or not the how that person feels when they

receive it. Like, what does it elicit from them immediately?

And by just taking that one extra little step,

you

well, it's going to impact completely what you're

trying to make it. What you like, why you're sending it in

the first place, will be so much more effective,

and

it's probably less costly a lot of times too

because you don't have to really be like mass doing anything.

Like you could your your reply rate will go up because you

don't have to like send something to everyone. You could

just pick your. Like top 10 prospects, and just concentrate

on doing the right thing for those people, and then you know

not the wrong thing for 100 people.

Yeah, makes so so so much sense. So, not every

relationship is at the same stage. How do you think about

the difference between a gift that says "Let me introduce

myself. One that says thank you for your business, and one that

invites someone to experience your brand.

I think there's all different spots there,

right? Like, and and someone who has given. Well, I'm going to

start with like kind of the most the best relationship probably

someone who has like worked with you for a while someone who your

business is I don't want to say reliant on but is very fortunate

to do you know to work with that person. I would say you need to

think about all your touch points with those people because

as much as like the nicest gift could be wonderful, if your

service with them throughout the course of the year isn't great,

it doesn't matter what you send them. Like you have to really

take care of those relationships, and we all want

to have you know work life balance and all of these things,

but if this is your number one customer and they call you on

Saturday, I pick up the phone because that's probably more

valuable to that because they feel like wow this company

values my business, and then like that, like whatever you

send them is going to be just taken with such more

appreciation because they're going to feel all of those touch

points, and they're going to feel like these are people who

value me. Like, and that when that box shows up, they're going

to feel that. So I would say that those very good

relationships are critical that you touch them in a lot of ways.

Now, someone who you're like trying to introduce yourself to.

That's a different kind of thing. So, I mean, I've had

clients. We do custom shoes as one of the things we do. Custom

shoes,

sneakers. Yeah, and I had a client one time who,

well, this was one specific client, but we've done this for

a couple people. But they did a custom. It looked like a like um

like a Nike Air Force One kind of sneaker, and um, but it was

just one, you know, one sneaker. But it was all custom designed

in like their brands, colors, very cool, very cute, and they

sent it with a note that was like trying to get my foot in

the door, and like, and it was in this very cute box, and

very cute. The

con, so like, it's not like a gift. Like, no

one can wear one shoe. Yeah, it was like

conversation, but

but it was like very interesting when it showed.

It wasn't, you know, a brochure. It wasn't a catalog. By the way,

I just

want to clarify. You didn't mean Nike Air Force

One, did you? That's what you said. Did you mean Nike Air?

No, Nike Air Force One is a is a. Oh, I

didn't know

that. Okay,

the style of shoe, and this was like a shoe

that looked like that shoe. It wasn't exactly. No, I

understand. Yeah,

but um, but that's like a a style of shoe

that's like unisex and

yeah,

pretty cool. But like a street shoe, and um, and

it had a custom packaging that was designed and colors. But

that handwritten note that was in the inside that said, you

know, then whatever I don't remember exactly what the

business was trying to do with the other business, but but that

would work for any company. I mean, you could literally send

any shoe. Like you could go to Target probably and get a shoe

trying to

get a foot in the door. I love it. Yeah,

and I mean, it's not like it like that was a very

creative, higher end way to do it, but

the

idea is still kind of like a stand out. You

know, like one would get that, and they they get a kick out of

it if nothing else, and go like, "This is a creative person," and

I would want to at least talk to them and see what they had to

say. Exactly.

So something like that is not meant like it probably. I would

imagine a lot of the people who received that kept it like with

their desk items, you know, like I like think like with their

awards and stuff that they have, just like it's like a

conversation piece. So it probably hung around for a

while, even though it didn't have like an actual utility. It

was just interesting And different, so I bet other people

came in and asked about it, which

makes you

have that like extended life, which is want to

have also. So those kinds of things are easy to. I mean, it

depends again on how many you're doing and what your point is.

It's not going. Be right for everyone, but it's something you

could do that's fun and kind of funny. And I think people take

themselves very seriously. And the people who don't probably

stand out, like you don't want to. I'm not saying embarrass

yourself, but like realize that like unless you're doing brain

surgery, you're not doing brain surgery, right?

That's right. Yeah,

you can be a little bit more interesting

sometimes.

So you know, we talked already about me sending

cards. So how does gifting fit with follow up? Like, where does

it stop just being a card and need to have a gift?

So our company, we try to gift our clients at

their first substantial order. So we that and what like the

saying on the card is it says, well, we do a branded tote, one

of those like they're like the recycled one. One of the Oprah's

favorite things totes that is like a packable tote, so it goes

in a kind of a small branded box. And the message on there is

like you carry a lot from here on out. We'll carry the details,

and it's and then we of course put a note in there. But that's

like a useful thing to them. It's not. It is branded, but not

in a very obvious way. But it is a very utility item because,

like, that's like a little bag like this that could fit in

anyone's purse or suitcase. That could always be a useful like

thing. Everyone has tote bags, but like a packable tote is kind

of a helpful.

Yeah,

and it has recycled. You know, it's

recycled. It's a B Corp. It's like all the fun, you know,

things about that. So that's like something we like to do on

like people who we believe are think they're testing us out for

whatever reason. Like you know, and the kind of business we're

in, everyone kind of has someone already, like or they're buying

online, or they're they're, you know, maybe they've had some way

they've been buying this stuff, so they normally don't send all

their business to someone new at once, but they are seeing what

this relationship will be like. So we do those kinds of things.

I would not say though, like I don't know what every you know

person watching what their equivalent is of someone buying

200 pencils is, but like if someone orders you know a very

small order, they don't necessarily get the same thing.

They may get more handwritten note. So I would say like in

your company, figure out your own margin and where it makes

sense for you to send whatever the thing is, but I think the

thing should be substantial enough that the person goes,

"Whoa!" You know, when it comes in the mail, like it feels like,

did I did I even deserve this? Nice,

that's nice. Okay, I get that. Okay, because

you talk about making clients feel chosen rather than sold to.

So, what does that look like in practice, and how have you seen

that feeling that feeling turn into referrals and repeat

business? Obviously, your creativity. I'm thinking because

that's what I'm feeling. Well, I would

say everyone knows who their like ideal

customer is, and this kind of goes back to the wedding

business a little bit. And like when you were working with

someone who really aligned to your ideal customer, it was like

magic, right? Like you worked harder for them because you felt

like you they like appreciated what you did, and every person

has a different version of who that is. So, like, there's like

an ideal customer for everyone, and everyone can be the ideal

customer for some for someone. But when you find the right

match, there, I think like that's where it's it feels kind

of magical, right? Like you feel like this is like the person I

can really do great work for, and I think that to be in that

rhythm and in that like lane as much as possible, you sometimes

need to turn down the wrong business, and it's sometimes

hard for newer entrepreneurs. And I have been in these same

shoes to say, well, this is business. Like sitting in front

of me, like do I say yes to it? And I would say maybe. Like it's

not always no. It's just like, is this a customer who has the

potential to be your ideal customer, but they are testing

you out with like a very small thing that is not ideal, but

like they may be awesome for you. Well, then, yeah, do their

pen 100 pen order, you know, or whatever your version of that

is. But if all they're ever going to be is 100 pen order to

you, then maybe they're not. The right fit, and you're going to

get annoyed every time you see their emails because, and you're

never going to treat them as well as you probably should

because to them that's their big order, and it's just not what

you do, and that's fine. And there's someone who will do that

happily, and um, and and that's okay, but like just finding the

right match of who the right customers are, and and not being

afraid to say to someone, "I'm just not sure we're the right

fit for you for this," and then directing them where they should

go. Because if you just leave them with nothing, then that's

just well, first of all, it's rude. But like, it's just it

doesn't really help anyone. But then they could at least leave

you with a positive experience, going like, "Hey, they didn't

really help me, but they got me to where I needed to go." So I

think of them in a positive light. Is probably

well. I think you know a lot of my listeners. I

mean, let's make it real here. I think that solo business owners

may have, you know, a very small budget these days for sending

gifts to people. So I say, and they may not be your customer.

I'm being honest here, but just some ideas around, you know, you

want to make that small budget go right, go as far as it can,

not be a waste of time or money. And where do you see things,

money going wrong most often? And and what should they do to

make it worth their while to. I guess they don't want to lose

that customer, so they want something that they can impress

them with. But like, okay, so many things going through my

head in in the sense like, should you spend the money on

the customer you don't want to lose, or should you send the

money to the all of the customers? You know what I mean.

Like, should you spread it out? So I don't know which where. I

would

say it depends, but

yeah,

my instinct is not all the customers because

they're not all the same, and not only the customers because I

would look at the business and say, "Where is my business

coming from?"

Yeah, so sometimes that may be

a referral partner. That could be a

competitor of yours. That could be a vendor that you work with

who is very complementary to the business you are in, and you

send each other business back and forth all the time.

Yeah,

that person may be more valuable to your

business than any one of your customers. Good

point. Yeah, if

that is the case, I would recognize them before

any love

on them. Love on them. Yeah, if

that is because they're in the trenches with you

every day, and like that would be more valuable. I think in

that case, I will say, no matter how big your business is, you

have a budget. No one has ever said to me the budget is

unlimited, and you know, no matter for their size business,

they still have a budget that feels big to them.

Sure,

you know it feels like a lot of a lot of money to

them, no matter how big their business is. And they're like,

we got still gotta stretch the dollars. That's pretty much

everyone. So the question just becomes, what do you need to do?

Like, what are your goals this year? What are you trying to

accomplish? I don't necessarily always think that the holiday,

like I don't always say Christmas, New Year's, like the

December holidays are the best time to send a gift. If you

can't send something that's going to stand out, then don't

send it when it's going to get lost in the shuffle. Would be my

first. If you could maybe send it at Thanksgiving and say we're

so thankful to have you as a customer. That would probably

first your first probably you're gonna be the first one that

arrives that's more likely to get remembered. And if you're

like I can't get myself organized for the holidays, my

busy season is the holidays. Send it at Valentine's Day. No

one gets anything at Valentine's. I know. I was

just going to say Valentine's Day is the best one

because you can love on your clients, right? Right,

and say we love having you as a customer. We

love doing business with you. Whatever, and and doesn't look

late. It just looks right on time for Valentine's

Day. Exactly. And some

companies have a new budget that starts in

January, and they could plan if they didn't plan for the end of

the year. They could redo, or they could split that budget up

and hit some people at the end of the year, and then hit some

people in February. Most of your customers are not friends with

each other, so they're not gonna. They're not posting, you

know, their gifts on all over the place. Like most people

aren't gonna know. Oh, you. Sent that customer this like so, you

don't have you know you could also have different tiers of

gifts like if a if a customer spends X or has been with you

this many years or depending on how your or they've referred

clients to you your customer may spend kind of eh but they've

sent you three of your best customers, they're probably more

valuable to you than some of your best customers because they

just are out there singing your praises. So, I wouldn't just run

a spreadsheet of like sales value, and

yeah,

it's a lot of other factors. I think that I

would consider in terms of, you know, it's or some companies

like the person in purchasing like has to buy from you, but

like doesn't even like you, and like they're just you know like

they just have to because they do, and like or the reverse,

they love you, but they can't buy from you for some reason,

you're like, which is terrible when that happened. But just

Are they making this choice to work with you? Do they

have the power to change the decision? Because sometimes,

like the person you actually work with day to day is not the

decision maker. So maybe you need to gift them and their boss

because maybe the boss has made that directive, and then has

stepped out of the way. But you know, you just have to kind of

you'll know about whatever those different situations kind of

are.

Can you think of a story off the top of your head

that that you were so proud of that creativity for that client

that ended up being the best deal for everybody. It could be

small or big, like the best deal

or the no. I don't mean that. I

mean it. It went really well. That's what I mean

by that. And you were so proud of that. That

well, there's one we're working on right now,

actually, that I think is kind of a cool one. It's um, I I

can't say like who, but the idea exists um a company that is

based here in Tampa is called Aqua Vault. I don't know if

you're familiar with this, but if you've ever gone to a hotel

and saw that you could get a like a little safe that attaches

to your lounge chair, have you

seen? No, no.

There's um.

Oh my god, that's great! It

was invented by a group of guys who were like at a

wedding and went in the ocean in Miami, I think, and all their

stuff got stolen, and they were like,

"Yeah, we were

like, all our stuff was in our shoes."

Shocker! Like, where was it? And they went and sold this item to

like all the hotels in Miami Beach, and like had it all

created themselves. I think I heard

about this somehow, but

and um, and then they created a more portable

version because like that you could just rent from a hotel if

you're a guest at a hotel. More

saw it on Shark Tank or something. I don't know

Shark Tank. They were yeah.

So you can rent that yes from hotels from like

more of the high end hotels, which are like more of the

Target that do typically would stock this, but they have made

also a version that is more portable that a person can just

carry around with them that you could take to Disney World and

put on your stroller, or you can put on your own lounge chair and

that sort of thing. So we have a wealth management company that

is going to be sending them to their customers, thinking like

we're protecting you, we're taking care of your most

valuable thing, and like there's the messaging there is really

cool, and I love the fact that it's like to local companies,

and that's an item that I think you can logo because like it's

not, it's not like a like a jacket. I mean, it's not like a

thing. You know, it's like more of like a utility item in that

it's it's just like supposed to be very helpful and something

you probably wouldn't have bought yourself unless like you

really. So they're going

to have the logo of the wealth management company

on

correct, yeah, on there, and it's not going to be

too obvious, but it's going to be on there and then in in

branded packaging also. That's very

smart, though. That did you come up with that

idea for them?

We did because it was interesting because I had

met the guy, the Aqua Vault guy, and I was like, I know exactly

who needs this, and that's what we just try to do is because

there's so many things that have just been so overdone, and we

just try to find like what's a different thing, and like that

material is able to be embroidered, so we're gonna you

know do that. There are different things always, and.

Trying to find out like what's the right thing. Yeah,

that's another

different kind of thing that was really cool. That

was one of our clients, an event planner client a few years ago,

had a private equity client who they were having a party and

inviting all their employees, and it was at the CEO's home,

which was very lovely, and they did like a like a college

homecoming kind of vibe of this party, and the decor was

outstanding. And they pretty much built a spirit store, and

we did. And this was like all employee appreciation, and we

did the coolest gifts. We did like Toomey backpacks, Lululemon

backpacks, Fiori sweatshirts, golf balls. But all the branding

was removable. Like on the sweatshirts, it was like a

zipper pull, so you could like take it off if you wanted to,

but it was on there for like the fun of it. But like you take it

off, and and then they got to pick like what color sweatshirt,

what color backpack, or what style of backpack, and it was so

over the top. But like

customized gifts for from because they were

going.

But the whole point of the event was to gift

these people, yes, but they thought they were just kind of

going to a party. They were going to get some stuff. They

didn't realize how good the stuff was going to be, and they

were all like, "Whoa, I didn't know I was getting," you know.

And Matt really went over great, you know, just so great. And

they all knew, like, they all worked for the same company.

Like they knew who gave it to them like the same ideas, right?

Like they didn't need all logoed up to know. Oh yeah,

they they talk about that to their friends that

their company did this for them. Oh my god, it's amazing.

Exactly, and that's the stuff that you hear

about on LinkedIn, and that's the stuff that like gets that

traction and does so well for companies. So that's that was

very cool.

Well, you talked to me about somehow we

discovered that that Jesse Itzler was your mentor, and I

have just started following him. And and was it your podcast that

you started as a personal challenge inspired by him?

I did. He has a a belief. I guess you could say,

that of this Japanese word wasogi. Yeah, and he he. I don't

know if I'm gonna have it right now, but he says you should do

like six mini adventures a year, four habits, and one like your

defining challenge, and for this year, I decided to do to start

this podcast. And and actually, the Aqua Ball guy I interviewed

on the podcast. I was going to say, I bet you met

him through there. Yeah, I

did. And and I've been following Jesse for a

really long time, and he's given me such great advice that has

been so impactful in my business. So I recommend anyone

who's listening who has not followed him. He's the guy that

did the muffin thing, right? Wasn't it?

He did. He did the TED talks with the muffins.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, one

of the greatest stories.

It is a great story, and I encourage everybody

to check that out because, okay, just very briefly, what was the

story? Just to share it.

So again, this is not my story, but no, no,

it's Jesse's story, and it was back in the

day when he was back in the day

when the original like TED talks were happening,

like the main TED talk, not like a little. He found out about it,

but it was like too late to get a ticket, or he couldn't get a

ticket. But he still wanted to be there at the time. He was

selling. They they had a company, Marquee Jet, and they

were selling memberships to Marquee Jet, and he knew that

the people in attendance would be good customers, potential

customers for him, and he realizes this place is like Fort

Knox locked down. There's no way he's getting in. And the first

day he's like trying to figure out what's happening, but he

realizes there's like this coffee shop, and people are

going in and out of this coffee shop. So the next day he gets

there early, and he buys all the muffins, and people come in and

they're like, we don't have any muffins, and then he's like, oh,

I have muffins over here and they're free, but I need to talk

to you about Marquee Jet. And apparently, he like sold a a Jet

membership that day, and then

take care of these people after that, and just a great story of

creative thinking. Oh,

totally. Yeah, and

out of the box, you know, that didn't even have

to pay for the conference. I know.

And so, have you been able to sit down in with

founders of companies? Like, does he do a mastermind, or does

he do like?

And he did something. Pre COVID, he used to

do. He may still do these. I'm not sure, but he did this. It

was like a like an online mastermind, like pre COVID,

where he would talk about different things. Then you could

ask questions, and then during COVID, I can't remember exactly,

but I feel like it was like once a week, like it was like a Zoom,

maybe once a week. Um, and then there was like workouts, like

every morning or something that you could do in your garage. But

like no, like during COVID, um, when it was kind of crazy back

then. I try now to think of it, but I've just been following him

a long time and and much many different capacities.

Yeah, so you've learned a lot of that, and he's

such a creative guy. That's amazing. Well, this has been

amazing. There's, I could probably talk to you forever

because I love that creativity and the ideas that you come up

with, and and so thank you for that. Thank you for a

thoughtful, interesting conversation. I love how

everything you shared comes back to one simple idea: the best

gifts are about the person receiving them, not the person

sending them. It's all about you know who is it for, what's the

reason, whether it's a cup from someone's alma mater or a logo

tucked out of sight in the bottom of an ice bucket. It's

the attention behind the gesture that people remember, and if

you, if my audience would like to put this into practice a

little bit, maybe Tracy can help out. And she started by offering

us a free guide called the Guide to Gifting That Builds

Relationships. And maybe you could just tell us where that

can be found. I'll put it in the show notes, Tracy, for sure.

Yeah, there is a website that we keep our our all

our guides and all of those like offers, but there is a free

option there, and we walk all our clients through this

process, and it will help you just really think through where

like what you're trying to do, and I hope it saves you money,

if nothing else, because for small businesses, we're all

small, but you know, like so many of us as small businesses,

we need to be not wasteful with our resources and and make them

be impactful. So hopefully, this works for people that they can

download it. The link will be in there. Yeah,

it's a stand dot store slash event outfitters,

and I'll put it in the show notes. And I think that will be

helpful to everyone listening. Also, I hope this inspires you

to think about one person you could make feel truly seen this

week, because at the end of the day, it's all about

relationships, and relationships rule, and I also have put in. I

will put in the show notes where people can find you at your

website and so on, and on LinkedIn and Instagram. So, any

last words?

No. Well, that's it. I just say just thank you,

and I hope I was of use to to your listeners today.

Well, it's a great topic for me. I love it,

and I think that people really need to think about what they're

sending other people, why they're sending it, and it

doesn't have to be huge. It just has to be well thought out. I

think.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

So thank you again, Tracy, and again, stay

connected and be remembered.