Raise your hand if you ever received a gift at a member-guest tournament that you just loved. If you’re like me you end up giving away most of the ‘gifts’ you receive at these events (or heaven forbid, re-gift), because it’s usually stuff you don’t want or need, it’s cheap or let’s face it, ugly. Am I right?
The budgets the member-guest committees work with are often so skinny (especially for the women’s events), that finding something meaningful or nice for $30 leads them to the flavored-lip-balm-with-ugly-make-up-bag scenario or scented candle or the shoe bag that Nike was closing out because no one wanted it in the first place. I have one of those. It’s at the bottom of my closet. Didn’t have the heart to unload it on someone else.
WHY NOT CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE?
We were recently invited to present our collection at the member-guest tournament at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, New York, a lovely club with gorgeous fairways and stunning views of Peconic Bay. The reason I bring it up is that the unique thing about this particular event was the club’s decision to eschew the usual pre-selected-gift and offer gift certificates to each player instead. This meant the women could choose what they really wanted or liked on the wide array Equipt for play goodies. Excellent idea, if you ask me!
It was fresh and new and exciting for the players. Each one could apply her gift certificate to the product of her choice and go away with something that had value and meaning for her – and that she actually liked. Sebonack was the big hero is this play. The feedback was phenomenal and so was the buzz.
A half a dozen guests went straight back to their clubs to ask them to do the same thing and my phone has been ringing ever since. It’s why I wanted to tell the rest of you about this in case the idea resonates with you, too. Whether your budget is $30 per participant or the unusually generous $150 (as was Sebonack’s), getting a real ‘discount’ on one of our many pretty and practical products is the best gift a tournament could offer.
GIFT CERTIFICATES
If you’d like to know more about offering gift certificates at your member-guest event, call me at the office: 631.725.1881. I’ll be happy to work with you to come up with something new and exciting.
