Are Welcome Gifts or Swag Effective?

A focus on delighting customers has led to the rise of welcome gifts or swag from businesses. But is this approach really effective?

Even a thoughtful and useful gift is unlikely to increase customer loyalty and satisfaction. After all customer satisfaction is determined by the service received, not the gifts given. So, I believe that the practice is misguided and leads to global waste. 

Instead, let's concentrate on delivering a service that meets our customers' expectations. One aspect of this is to provide clear explanations about the service before the purchase. 

Managing expectations by detailing what to expect involves seeing things from the customer's perspective, We want to look out for any inappropriate expectations that customers might have so our brochures or proposals give clearer explanations, even on issues that are clear to us.

For example, we use a Bronze, Silver, and Gold approach to our trademark registration services. 

One of our Gold service clients assumed they would not incur any additional fees even if their trademark was opposed.

They didn’t appreciate that despite having clear search results, it was possible that an existing brand owner might  take a broader territorial view of its rights and oppose the application. That's an inherent risk with trademarks. 

If an existing brand owner opposes your application, whether they're in the right or in the wrong, you still have to decide whether to withdraw your application or to incur the extra time and expense involved to argue your case. 

Although our trademark email was already long, I decided to add further information to it so it’s crystal clear that none of the service levels cover the work involved to respond to a third-party opposition. 

In conclusion, instead of swag, let's focus on managing expectations to prevent any misunderstandings, and delivering the best service possible to satisfy customers.