Many designers create other types of gifts to sell along with gift baskets, which makes them more money. What else do you offer?
Beyond gift baskets
My insurance agent was ready to buy gifts but instinctively knew that ordering 200 gift baskets was not in her budget. Her question to me was simple:
“What else do you have?”
That question helped me to realize that in this creative industry, my expertise includes more than gift basket designing.
It’s why I coined the phrase gift solution specialist, which is highlighted in the book, How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business.
See your business larger than it is
In most cases (and depending on your inventory, which you choose after reading another article) you offer so much more to clients than traditional gift baskets. Are you:
- Flaunting that expertise on your website
- Sharing that information when you speak with prospects
- Adding that detail within your marketing materials?
I had to think fast before answering my agent. Thankfully, I realized that 3-5 specialty food items contained in a holiday tote bag lined on the inside with matching tissue paper was within her budget and a money maker for me.
In addition, the labor to make the tote bag gifts was so low that I could complete the order under an hour without hiring staff.
When I delivered the gifts, the agent gave me a stack of her business cards, which I placed within each tote bag. What a wonderfully-quick sale with less labor and less time, too.
Ask yourself what else do you offer
The realization that my service provides various gift options was the entry to selling much more in different formats. You can do the same.
- Think about what customers have requested in the past. Have you overlooked offering a different option that you can fulfill?
- Decorative box containers that you have in stock may not sell briskly. Can they be a low-cost substitute for a higher-priced basket?
You have many options to satisfy your clients. Take a hard look at your inventory and decide what you can easily make to satisfy all of their gift-giving needs.
How can you taken advantage of this revenue stream within your gift basket business?
