Prepare for Deliveries Before You Go
Leave it on the porch.
Take it to a neighbor.
Cross your fingers and hope they get it.
Do these delivery scenarios sound familiar?
They do if you’re not planning the drop-off as eagerly as you determine the gift basket’s cost.
The holidays have everyone on a long, tight schedule. You know it’s true because your life is hectic now, too, so in order for the entire gift basket sale to go smoothly, it’s wise to determine every delivery ahead of time.
How do you start? Your order form can include an area where you ask the customer about the place where the gift basket will be delivered.
The more you know about the area and person who’s receiving the gift, the better you’re prepared for a smooth delivery.
I often ask the customer for the recipient’s telephone number and call before traveling. I tell the recipient who I am and that I’m delivering a package and want to ensure that they’ll be at the office or home.
I’m usually asked who the package is from, and I certainly understand the question in this security-conscious era. I tell who it’s from but ask them, in my most-humbling voice, not to let the gift giver know that they know it’s arriving. They’re happy to keep the secret.
This procedure is also necessary if a courier is handling deliveries. In fact, it’s mandatory when you decide to outsource this procedure.
What’s your delivery nightmare story? I know you have one.
Do You Customize Your Gift Baskets?
Adding products and embellishments that are exclusive to your gift baskets is a favorite of designers everywhere.
In case you’re not sure what’s meant by customization (the definition will soon be added to the dictionary), it’s when the outside product packaging includes your logo or a specific message for the gift basket’s occasion.
Customization might also be a design based on your region or state. Private label products are also part of this category.
Many of us enter the customizing phase by ordering personalized ribbon for a corporate customer. We get permission from the client to copy their logo onto ribbon, and the ribbon is added to all gifts made for them.
Personalizing may then move into customized labels placed on food packages and cellophane. But be careful. Too much custom stamping may be overkill for the receiver.
Part of your skill as a designer is to suggest, to your client, a blend of custom labeling and distinct products to create a thoughtful line of gifts and baskets.
You’ll find more information about private label products here as well as a special directory with manufacturers that help you with customization.
Gift Basket Articles, Stories, and Lessons
1. Newsday.com recently spoke with a designer who operates a gift basket/flower shop, asking her how the high price of gas is affecting business. You can read the story here.
I was surprised to read that she only charges $1 per delivery.
How are you handling delivery charges? Are you passing the cost to customers, or do you provide additional incentives to keep them buying?
2. TBO.com (Tampa Bay Online) profiles a woman who recently opened a gift shop. You’ll see a tall gift basket in the photograph accompanying the article.
Do you find that your taller designs sell faster than shorter ones?
3. A designer recently asked how she can stay within a fixed budget to photograph her baskets. I respond at Ask The Gift Basket Expert, explaining that it doesn’t take a lot of cash to create your own photography studio.
The photo shown is from the Gift Basket Design Studio Extreme Makeover.
4. Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes after my emergency surgery this week. I urge all of you to care for yourself the same way you care for every order.
What’s In Your Gift Basket Toolbox?
A broken balloon. Newly-torn cellophane. The strangest things happen to baskets while traveling to a client.
When the destination is important and there’s no time to waste, you can be sure that something will happen to that gorgeous basket somewhere between getting into and out of the car.
To solve the worst of problems, designers carry their own version of a doctor’s bag, a suggestion I share in The Gift Basket Design Book.
Move over aspirin — the contents of this bag promises to remove all the pain associated with having the smallest of things go wrong to ruin the event.
Your bag doesn’t have to be an actual bag. It could be a toolbox, a wire-bound carryall (shown above) or a small cardboard box. Use whatever works for you and fill it with the following products, which will travel inside of your vehicle at all times:
1) One sharp pair of scissors
2) Sticky tape or glue
3) One roll of transparent tape on a dispenser
4) Two to three unfilled balloons with matching cups and sticks
5) A minimum of three star sprays in the color of your choice
6) One all-purpose pick enhancement
7) One bunch of raffia, any color 
One roll of brushed gold curling ribbon (unless another color is preferred)
9) One roll of all-purpose ribbon (determine the best color and width to carry)
10) One queen-sized carry bag
Today’s gift basket designer always carries these tools in case of an emergency. If the vehicle’s tire suddenly goes flat, you need a ready spare. The same can be said of a basket design that’s just suffered a hazard.
Keep these tools handy. It’s a great investment in time and against headaches.
Gift Basket Gets Stolen
Did you know that the gifts we make are targets for crime? Here’s a story from West Virginia I read on the weekend about a women who, while supposedly delivering event photographs, was lifting a gift basket valued at $200.
“…when they returned to the conference room a little later, one “Family Entertainment Fun Pack” basket was missing. The basket contained $150 to $200 in merchandise including gift cards and gift certificates, candles, a blanket, cookies, candy, popcorn and four pounds of fudge.”
As you’ll read in the story, the basket was found in the suspect’s car “covered with coats and blankets.”
This article brings to light the need for security when delivering gift baskets. Look for back rooms, curtained areas, and other locations within a large facility where baskets can be temporarily stored so they won’t disappear.
If using courier services for deliveries, it’s wise to talk with the representative about security measures in place when your baskets are in transit. What if one of your gifts is taken from the truck? Who’s liable, and how do you file a claim?
Be sure your courier contract covers that, and find out how you own business insurance provides coverage. Business insurance is addressed here.
I’m glad to read that the basket was recovered. Has this situation happened to you?
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