When SDR teams use gifting as an outreach strategy, there are three typical outcomes:
- High-Impact: Gifts establish relationships and convert to revenue
- Low-Impact: Gifts are acknowledged but barely affect revenue
- Negative-Impact: Gifts are perceived poorly and lower conversion rates
High-impact gifts get posted on LinkedIn and are cheered on by teams that wish they thought of the idea. They start sales conversations and carry the relationship through the buyer’s journey.
Negative-impact gifts do the opposite. They are perceived as bribery, attention-begging, and drive prospects to unsubscribe.
They sound like; “We’re offering you a gift in return for your time.”
And translate to; “We have no value for you, so we hope this gift compensates.”
So what’s the difference between high-impact gifting and negative-impact gifting?
The Golden Rule of Gift Outreach: Gifts get positive responses when they are personalized AND tie back to the relevant value of your offering.
Step-by-Step Email Gifting Framework:
- Personalization: Specific messaging that appeals to your prospect
- Value: Explain why you’re reaching out and what you can offer them
- Tie-Back: Get creative and tie value back to their personal interests
- Gift Offer: Offer a thoughtful gift that they’ll remember
- Call-to-action: Ask for the next best step
Here’s what it looks like:
Hi (first name),
Personalization: Noticed you’re interested in (personalization from LinkedIn content/Google search/personal blog/social media).
Value: I’m reaching out because I wanted to show you how our (solution) helps with (value proposition).
Tie-Back: Just like your (hobby/interest), it will (tie back to value).
Gift Offer: Sending you this (gift) for (personalized reason). Use this link to confirm shipping.
Call-to-action: Can I get 25 minutes on your calendar next week to learn more about you and your team to see if there’s a fit?
*Picture (optional)*
Talk soon,
Giano
5 Examples Based on Category and Title:
- Revenue Intelligence: VP of Sales – Golf
- Product Analytics: VP of Product – Family Announcement
- HR Services: Director of HR – “Dog Lover”
- Project Management: VP of Operations – Football Fan
- Cyber Security: CIO/CISO – Private Profile
Example 1: Revenue Intelligence (Ex: Gong, Chorus AI)
Prospect: VP of Sales
Interests: Likes Golf updates on Twitter
Hi (first name),
Personalization: Was doing some research and noticed you’re into golf. Bet you’re looking forward to the heat in Phoenix ending as much as I am.
Value: Reaching out because I wanted to show you how our solution helps sales teams close more deals by automating recording, taking notes and giving valuable feedback to your team during the sales cycle.
Tie-Back: Just like when you hit the links. You need to know your course to hit a respectable score.
Gift Offer: Sending you a pack of Callaways on us for your next round. Use this link to confirm.
Call-to-action: Can I get 25 minutes on your calendar next week to learn more about you and your team to see if we’d be a fit?
Example 2: Product Analytics (Ex: Mixpanel, Amplitude Analytics)
Prospect: VP of Product
Interests: Posted on LinkedIn about a newborn baby
Hi (first name),
Personalization: Was doing some research and saw you just added a new member to your family. Congrats!
Value: I’m reaching out because I wanted to show you how our solution gives visibility into user behavior to understand what drives impact and continuously innovate your product.
Tie-Back: As a new parent, I’m sure you understand how important it is to always understand behaviors and adjust for what’s coming next.
Gift Offer: With that in mind, I’m sending you some teething toys on us as a congratulations (and to help you keep the little one occupied).
Call-to-action: Can we connect for 25 minutes next week so I can learn more about your team to see if we’d add value to your process?
Example3: HR Software (Ex: ADP, Gusto)
Prospect: Director of HR
Interests: “Lover of Dogs” in LinkedIn bio
Hi (first name),
Personalization: Noticed in your bio that you’re a dog lover. Great Danes are my favorite, what’s yours?
Value: Reaching out because I wanted to show you how our solution helps HR teams manage their staff, reduce errors and improve business efficiency.
Tie-Back: As a Dog lover, I’m sure you understand why your people need the proper training, management and organization to keep those tails wagging during the work day.
Gift Offer: Which reminds me, treat your pup to some toys on me. Hope you and your best friend love it. Link here to confirm shipping.
Call-to-action: Thought we could connect for 25 minutes to share more about your current system and see if we can add value. What does your availability look like next week?
Example 4: Project Management (Ex: Smartsheet, Asana)
Prospect: VP of Operations
Interests: Has a personal blog where they write about industry news and mentions Football in their bio.
(first name),
Personalization: Was reading up on (company name) and came across your personal blog about (blank).
Value: Wanted to reach out because I noticed how important (use case) is to you and thought you’d be interested in how our platform helps teams increase productivity by 20% with an effective and collaborative workspace.
Tie-Back: Also, noticed you’re a football fan, so I’m sure you understand how important communication is for execution on the field.
Gift Offer: Sending you this (football team) tumbler as a cheers. Use this link for secure shipping.
Call-to-action: Do you have availability next week to connect for 25 minutes so we can learn more about your team and see if there’s a fit?
Example 5:Cyber Security (Ex: McAfee, Symantec)
Prospect: Chief Information Security Officer
Interests: Very private, doesn’t post much.
(first name),
Personalization: Reaching out because
Option 1 – Name drop: because we work with company 1 and company 2 to help and they’re seeing success with…
Option 2 – Case study/content reference: because we just published this case study about how we helped (company name) with (use case) and I thought you’d be interested.
Option 3 – Work tenure: I saw you’ve been with (company name) for 10 years and thought you’d be the best person to have a valuable conversation about (use case).
Value: We help teams automate VPN usage and monitor user identity to protect against unsafe networks.
Tie-Back: As you know, keeping your company safe is a thankless job that often goes unnoticed when things are running smooth.
Gift Offer: So as a thank you for everything you do, I’m sending you this mug, on me. You’ll receive a separate email from our gifting vendor for SOC-2 compliant shipping.
Call-to-action: Thought it would be worth a chat to learn about how you’re doing things and if we can add value. Interested in learning more?
FAQ:
Who should I send gifts to?
Think of gifting outreach like gifting in real life. You don’t give gifts to just anybody for just any reason, right? Save your budget for maximum impact with high-value targets.
Where in my cadence should I use gifting as a touchpoint?
Short answer: Depends.
If your audience is open to creative outreach, I recommend using gifting in the first email touchpoint to make yourself memorable and then follow up from there.
Example: Marketing, Sales, Human Resources
If your audience is hesitant to accept gifts for certain business reasons, it might make sense to only offer gifts when familiarity is established.
Example: Healthcare, Cybersecurity, Finance
What if I can’t find anything personal about them?
Option 1: Talk to your gifting platform team about specialty gifts that appeal to your general audience (see appreciation mug in example 5).
Option 2: Use a different channel like calls or emails. You’re on a limited budget.
Where can I find something personal about my prospects?
Most SDRs aren’t making it a priority to dig into hobbies and interests. And most are surprised how much they can find when they actually look.
- Twitter “Likes”
- LinkedIn posts
- Personal blogs
- Company website bios
Will prospects think it’s unprofessional to look at their personal information?
People who publish public content appreciate it when people take the time to read it! If someone responds negatively, they probably aren’t a fit anyways.
With that said, be respectful of personal profiles like Facebook and Instagram.
Final thoughts:
Gifting is the BEST way to break through the digital noise, stand out and establish a relationship. Just never forget the Golden Rule.
Gifts get positive responses when they are personalized AND tie back to the relevant value of your offering.
Interested in learning more about gifting outreach? Follow Linkedin.com/in/gianofiore.
