Southern Hospitality Archives - CANE RIVER PECAN COMPANY

How to Safely Navigate Corporate Gifting Policies

Giving makes us feel good—especially when we can offer a gift to someone we respect or genuinely admire. Likewise, receiving a gift can make us feel recognized and valued. In the business world, however, these tokens of appreciation fall within the realm of corporate gifting — and things can get complicated.

For businesses in the governmental sector or even large companies with broad public awareness, gifting often comes with red tape that is focused on ensuring client gifts, vendor gifts, customer gifts, and even gifts for employees and colleagues are appropriate and comply with accepted corporate gifting policies. Why? Well, these types of businesses usually have the public eye weighing on them, and gifts can inadvertently imply favoritism or unfairness in certain aspects of work. That unfairness could cause office tension or worse — legal trouble.

While that might sound like corporate gifting is an impossibly risky task, it really isn’t. You just need to keep a few guidelines in mind to ensure you are always hitting the ethical and professional high notes when you give gifts in a business setting.

Understand how a corporate gift is defined.
Motive—the reason for giving a gift—is the most fundamental element of corporate gift giving. A gift is something freely given with no expectation of payment or anything to be given in return. It doesn’t seek to influence business decisions, and it doesn’t present a conflict of interest. Similarly, the gift shouldn’t be expected or requested. A true gift precludes any sense of quid pro quo—a favor for a favor—or bribery. When you want to give, be sure to give something that is unmistakably a gift.
Determine what gifting restrictions exist and honor them.
With reputations at stake, big companies and federal agencies are more aware than ever of optics and ethical standards. To minimize the risk of misperceptions, most have established corporate gifting policies that not only identify who may give or receive gifts but also detail the circumstances, types of gifts and monetary-equivalent values that are considered allowable.
- Most company policies do allow modest gifts that fit within their established monetary boundaries.
- In many cases, employees are required to report gifts that they receive.
- If a gift is noncompliant, the recipient may have to decline it.
- Often, corporate policies use the gift-giving rules in place for federal workers as a working model.
- Some companies bar gifts altogether or specify that gifts must be shared or—if not sharable—reissued through a lottery, for example.
  
  By researching your intended recipient’s gift limitations, you can ensure that they will be able to accept your gift without any problems.

Time your gift appropriately.
Business decisions can be tough decisions involving large sums of money over the course of years. Because of that, people who have positive experiences working together may be eager to repeat or extend that partnership. Conversely, a new partnership may offer fresh, exciting opportunities. Nevertheless, gifts should not be perceived as an attempt to sway a business decision, and timing impacts how appropriate corporate gifting practices are. To avoid awkward situations and conflicts of interest, be sensitive to decision-making timelines and any professional challenges your potential recipient may be facing.

Find a Gifting Specialist That Gets It

All federal agencies and many businesses have corporate gifting policies in place to promote ethical, fair work practices and maintain professional reputations. But this actually makes choosing appropriate work gifts easier! In fact, once you become familiar with a company’s gifting policy, you’ll be certain that you’re choosing vendor or client gifts that fit and will always be welcome. To gift well, all you really need is something modest, tasteful and shareable.

That’s why Cane River Pecan Company has become a premier specialist in corporate food gift giving. The very nature of food—the ability to give a little or a lot, how it lends itself to creating assortments, its affordability, and even its perishability—makes it suitable for many business gifting policies.

For example, our premium pecans and custom-designed gift trays, boxes, baskets and tins of assorted pecan delicacies will delight recipients and comply with many corporate policies that require food gifts or gifts that can be shared. We know you want to be able to show appreciation to everyone on your list, and our extensive variety of customizable selections are especially created to make that happen.

Get Started Today

From holidays and seasonal celebrations to birthdays, anniversaries, grand openings and more, you’ll be able to recognize any occasion, individual, team or business effort appropriately and let clients and colleagues know that you’re thinking of them. Your client gifts will be inclusive, just the right size and given in impeccable taste.

If you’re ready to find deliciously appropriate gifts for your company gifting program, start by exploring Cane River Pecan Company’s selection of corporate food gifts today. With such a variety to choose from, you’re sure to find a suitable selection to sweeten your contact’s day.

SOURCES

https://www.sbnonline.com/article/ethics-corporate-gifting-not-get-trouble

https://sendoso.com/blog/your-guide-to-corporate-gift-giving-laws/

https://www.hersheypa.com/assets/pdf/code-of-conduct.pdf

The Importance of Thanking Vendors

Managing a business can be complicated. We set goals and work hard to meet them, but success is rarely achieved as a stand-alone venture. Instead, our products or services often depend on the quality goods and services that our vendors provide. Usually, our best vendors become almost a part of our organization—supplying the “secret sauce” that enables us to do what we do so well time after time.

Because these business relationships are so vital to our own successes, a genuine thank you every once in a while is a worthy investment. Vendor appreciation is a vital way of expressing that gratitude and maintaining healthy business partnerships long into the future. These displays of appreciation can benefit both giver and recipient in pleasantly surprising ways.

Confirmation of Approval:

A gift offers concrete reassurance that you’re happy with your vendor and the level or quality of the services that they give. Payment is often viewed as just the price of doing business, and verbal thanks may be perceived as no more than polite professional courtesy. However, an actual gift conveys unmistakable sincerity and approval. Your gift may even boost your vendor’s confidence, leading to more successes for both of you.

Culture of Respect:

When gift-giving becomes a part of your company culture, it conveys a positive perception of who your team really is. You’re successful, and you’re willing to recognize the people who helped make it possible by recognizing them. Everyone loves a winner—especially one who shares—because success promises possibility for everyone. Your vendors will want to be a part of what you’re doing and hope that they might one day be able to give back to you.

Standing Out:

You’re almost certainly not a vendor’s only client. More likely, you’re one of many. Sending a unique gift can set you apart and bring awareness that you have something special to offer. When a vendor takes the time to understand exactly what you actually do and how they fit into that process, you become more than just another entry on their accounts receivables.

Brand Recognition:

The gift you give speaks volumes about your brand. You may be known in your own specialty realm of business, but corporate gifting gives you another way of crossing into other disciplines or industries to form additional partnerships. When you associate yourself with a local brand that has an impeccable reputation, for example, that in turn reflects well on you and your brand.

Communications and Priorities:

The right timing on a corporate gift can be just the thing to bring you to the forefront of someone’s memory when a new project comes along or a colleague asks for a referral. You may not be able to be constantly present, but tasteful gifts that connect can keep you fresh in your vendor’s mind. If they know that you’re thinking of them, they may be more likely to think of you, too.

Shared Word of Mouth:

Personal referrals and testimonials are priceless, and so are gifts that are shareable. Sending a client or vendor a gift that they can easily share with others is another way of spreading good will. When the gift is shared, your name will be too, and the quality of your gift will speak for you even when you’re not able to speak for yourself.

Stoke the Happiness:

Giving to express gratitude makes us happy and improves relationships. Employees are more motivated to work for managers who say thank you. In relationships, people are more willing to discuss concerns and be more interested in a positive outcome when a partner makes them feel appreciated. In short, expressing gratitude for what we have often brings even more good things to us.

Make Them Feel Special

Corporate gifts for vendors are a way of building on what you already have and creating something even better. With stability, trust and boosted confidence, vendors may be more inclined to improve business partnerships or even expand them. Deals may be easier to strike, and terms may be more favorable.

Saying thank you is easy, and holidays, business anniversaries and milestones are perfect opportunities to thank the people you depend on. If you would like to know more about corporate gifts for vendors or easy ways of expressing appreciation in your business partnerships, explore Cane River Pecan Company’s collection of corporate gifts. You’re sure to find unique gifts to delight any vendor and show your appreciation.

SOURCES:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier

https://www.firstrepublic.com/articles-insights/life-money/build-your-business/five-reasons-client-gift-giving-is-good-for-business

50 Seasons of Growth: Innovation Meets Dedication

I often wonder how different it must be to run a company in 2019 than it must have been 50 seasons ago.

A typical day for me starts between 8 and 9 am and is filled with a variety of jobs. It can include overseeing our marketing and sales, working on new product development, (by the way, we are working on a line of pies at the moment and the packaging that goes along with them) then checking in with my operations director, customer service team and retail team.

We recently opened a new retail store that is located a few miles from our core operations, so I travel there multiple times a week to visit with our staff there and see how I can support their efforts. I also manage to keep a pulse on the pecan industry, as a whole, and unique gourmet gifting trends that are always emerging. I manage our ad agency account as well as any social media engagement.

I have a fiduciary responsibility to the company, for both the shareholders (my family) and the employees that work here. I also keep an overall eye on the general direction of the company through new ideas and products that are relevant, inspiring and unprecedented. And finally, I have to be able to navigate what we need now versus what we can use later, to keep moving the company forward in a competitive gifting landscape. We are constantly evaluating the products we offer and the behind-the-scenes technology and facilities it takes to get our products out to our customers. Over the course of a day — I can have my hands involved in a lot of unique areas.

And believe me, no two days are the same.

Navigating the ‘Net

Fifty seasons ago, the internet wasn’t around. It seems strange to imagine a time where an online presence didn’t make or break a company — and what a game changer it has been for all companies, regardless of the product or service they offer. The internet accounts for nearly one third of our annual sales and continues to grow. Embracing the internet and understanding how it plays a vital role in day-to-day operations is a must for most companies. For us, it has opened the door to many new customers, but it also has added to the mix of things to learn about and how to deploy those resources for the betterment of our growth and profitability.

Social media plays a huge role in our company, and social platforms are ever increasing the avenue to gain new customers, promote new products and make direct sales. While we participate in several social media platforms, we must learn ways to leverage what is happening on these platforms to further our ability to offer our products and services. Social media is a fast-moving ecosystem. Personally, I am in it, but I am also 50 years old, so I feel like I have one foot in, and one foot out of the social realm. That is a scary place to be at times! I have to get to a place where I rely on information from younger consumers, learn their shopping habits and put our company in a position to embrace those buying opportunities.

Stayin’ Alive

If I was talking to someone planning on opening a specialty or niche food company for the first time, I think I would tell them to be really sure that you are not developing or offering a product that might be a fad product. Pecans are, in my opinion, tried and true. The Native Americans depended on them. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson planted them. Here in the deep south, we revere them. Pecans are part of our southern lifestyle, they are embedded in our culture. Pecans are also America’s nut. For others, who want to get into the specialty food business, I would say, don’t get too cute. When I think of this, I think of all the cupcake shops that opened up a few years ago and were all the rage for a while. While a few of these micro-bakeries made it, most did not. Fads are a dangerous place to operate if you want to be in it for the long haul.

So how have we survived? In large part, thanks to these three main values: Passion, Commitment and Creativity. We must be passionate about pecans and the job of servicing our clients with an outstanding gifting service for their recipients. We all must be committed to the goals of the company and our commitment must not be self-serving, but for the good of the entire company. And we must always strive to sell our products and services creatively. That is what will give us a competitive edge in my opinion. Our latest creative endeavor? Boudin Pie. If you haven’t had it, you’re missing out.

Being profitable solves a lot of potential problems, so making enough money to keep the business “in business” is key to our success. With financial stability, many of the other things take care of themselves — we will have more freedom, more influence, more creative expression and certainly room for innovation. If we aim for a certain amount of financial success, it makes room for the other things that come along.

Dreaming Big

We want to grow, no doubt. We recently moved into a renovated building on our Main Street of New Iberia in the newly-formed historic district, and we are beyond excited about this new location. I have always felt that a 50-year-old family company like ours needs to be on a Main Street. It’s what you expect to see!

We have a lot of plans for this building, including an expanded retail-facing component that will include a pie bar for having a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, and a pecan exhibit space so we can educate folks on the history and industry of pecans. We think it will be an exciting addition to downtown New Iberia and for tourists that come to our parish to visit. Also, we hope to expand our mail order catalog reach and certainly grow our online presence with digital marketing. After 50 seasons, I feel like we are just getting started!

The pecan pie is the poster child for pecans and our industry. Even though pecans are more than just pie, let’s be honest, it’s a damn good place to start. And who doesn’t love a good piece of pie? After the creation of the Boudin Pie, we’re excited to explore other flavors. Look out for the up-and-coming Bourbon Pecan!

I want Cane River Pecan Company to be a top tier gifting company with a national footprint. I also want to be the leading gourmet pecan provider nationwide, and we are already well underway. We are known for only offering an exceptional line of pecans and pecan specialties, but the goal now is to take what we are doing and offer it to even more people around the US. The South has a rich association with pecans and heirloom recipes that demand fresh pecans. We want to be the source of those pecans so we can support the southern food traditions that have been handed to us.

In our 50th season, we are selling almost every pecan product we want to offer. With pies soon on the way, we feel like we have a well rounded offering of exceptional products. The trick is not to offer too much. People can become overwhelmed with choices. Do a few things, and do them very well. With internet sales soaring, more people are being exposed to our brand than ever before. However, only a few of those new customers are getting a chance to visit our store, so we must bring that same, great Cane River Pecan Company experience to them. Innovation never really stops; finding new ways to excite the recipient of our pecans is a constant endeavor for us — and we love rising to the challenge.

Our ability to continue to share our southern heritage and Louisiana food culture is what sets us apart from other gourmet food companies. Everyone knows that food is our hallmark in Louisiana; to be involved in the food industry — the most exciting industry in the state — is fun to be a part of. And we have a lot of great ideas that we want to see come to fruition. The future is bright for us!

50 Seasons of Growth: Celebrating the Lessons

I’ve spent April celebrating National Pecan Month, as everyone should, and marveling that 2019 marks my family’s 50^th season in the pecan industry. Fifty years! What a milestone. I’ve found myself doing a bit of reflection on where it all started and lessons I’ve learned over the years.

You may know where it all began. About 180 miles north of New Iberia, Louisiana, it starts on the Cane River, which runs through Central Louisiana and dissects the historic city of Natchitoches, Louisiana. My father bought our pecan orchards, nestled along the banks of the river, in 1969. Years later, he opened a small, seasonal retail store on Front Street in the city of Natchitoches.

What you may not know is that my mother started our mail order division of the company. She was the one who came up with the idea to start selling pecans as gourmet holiday gifts, using pecans that my father grew on our family farm. After closing our seasonal store years later, the retail business of selling our pecans moved to where we lived and still operate today — New Iberia, Louisiana. In addition to my mother running the mail order operations, my two brothers and I started a pecan cracking company in our family garage. We ran the “Nutcrackers” until my youngest brother left home for college. Simpler times.

The start of the company wasn’t without its challenges. After all, getting customers to believe in giving gourmet pecans as a gift was a tough sell at first. If you can believe it, there was a time that giving pecans was not really a thing. Luckily, people came around to the power of pecans as presents. Getting people to believe in the idea of our style of gifts was one of the first wins for Cane River Pecan Company.

Since the beginning, our business has enjoyed steady growth, year over year. When we started selling flavored pecans in our signature red tin, sales really began to take off, and we gained national traction. Offering a branded tin made Cane River Pecan Company memorable, and it began to set us apart from other pecan companies in the country.

Hometown CNO

Though it may be hard to believe, for nearly 13 years before becoming the Chief Nut Officer you know today, I worked in sports marketing and administration. After more than a decade of working in that field, I was inspired to leave my big city corporate job in Chicago to return to Louisiana for a few reasons. First, I love Louisiana and our food culture. To “come home” and be a part of that was intriguing to me. And the opportunity to work for myself was really a big pull to get me “home.” And of course, there are a bunch of cool things that I missed about being in the South, like attending LSU football games, duck hunting, the Cajun lifestyle, being close to family and continuing a family tradition of working in the pecan industry. I feel the same way today. No regrets whatsoever.

While we’re taking this trip down Memory Lane, I often get asked about how I came to be the Chief Nut Officer. I remember while on a flight home, I read an article about the man who runs the famous little red wagon company – Radio Flyer. He was the self-proclaimed Chief Wagoneer. I knew I needed a title that would get me access to the C-suite for corporate sales, yet light enough to have fun with the company. Right then, I decided I was going to be known as the CNO of Cane River Pecan Company. After all, at the end of the day, we sell pecans. It’s not that serious. And you know what the best thing is? Over the years, people sometimes forget my name, but they never, ever forget my title! Whenever I give a person my card, I have the pleasure of a “wait-for-it” moment until they read my title, and they always give a little chuckle. It’s memorable. And hey, don’t we all need to be memorable in business? Of course we do!

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

Running a company is tough and unpredictable to say the least. We are faced with so many incredible challenges all of the time and each year, the challenges change. It really never stops and the pace is incredible, even for a small company like ours. Our original challenge was marketing the pecan itself, our later challenges have included upgrading packaging, expanding our selection of pecan specialties, building a real mail order catalog, embracing the internet, technology upgrades and facility improvements. I consider these healthy challenges, as every one of them speaks to an increased demand for delicious pecan goods.

I am proud that we have been able to offer a consistently great range of products and services year after year and have grown as a result. Sure, we spend a lot of time and financial resources to grow the company. But when you can grow organically by offering great products to a new and unsuspecting customer, and they in turn buy the product for themselves because they were so impressed, well … then you have something unique on your hands. That is when it becomes special. That’s why, thanks to customers like you with an insatiable appetite for our delicacies, we are still here to celebrate yet another National Pecan Month.

10 Ways To Be Thankful in a Corporate World

The corporate world can be an intense, competitive space. It’s a complex business-scape of colleagues and contractors, clients and customers, vendors, bosses and employees. Often policies, promotions and profits rule, leaving corporate environments feeling synthetic, dehumanized and lonely.

In truth, our own success usually depends upon our ability to build and maintain genuine relationships with other people. A significant component of that skill is learning how to be thankful and letting that positive approach guide everything we do.

Building Relationships Like a Pro

We may grow older and attach an MBA or other lofty title to our name, but relationship building remains the same at any age:

Recognizing that another person holds unique value
Demonstrating that we value their role in our own life, career or business by consistently displaying appreciation in appropriate ways

Sometimes, we may fail to see another’s potential immediately. However, being thankful is an active, inclusive process that builds not only on past successes, but also on shared disappointments and a continuing future. As trust and relationships grow, so do the people within them.

Thankfully, there are countless ways of incorporating the positive aspect of gratitude into your professional repertoire to build relationships with others:

Approach every person as a friend. Before transitioning into business, greet them and let them know you see them as a person. Ask about their family, the new puppy or their last round of golf. Even if you don’t know them well, you can still find ways to strengthen the friendship.
Offer a coffee break invite. An invitation to a one-on-one with a flexible time limit can honor personal comfort levels—and show you’re engaged in spending time with them.
Include someone in a group outing. Extending an invite to someone to join the friend circle signals acceptance—just be sure to be a good host throughout the event!
Remember important life events: A card, a note or just a verbal request to pass on happy wishes for a birthday, anniversary, graduation or other milestone event is meaningful. It makes the other person feel good, and it also marks you as a thoughtful, reliable person.
Drop in for meaningful life events. Dropping by for their family’s extracurricular activities like a bake sale fundraiser or car wash shows your interest and support.
Give credit where credit is due. Dash off a quick note or email when someone has helped you or done a task well. It doesn’t have to be long or formal, but effort should be recognized.
Celebrate across the board. Any given day—not just holidays—is a great reason to just say thank you. Do you need to boost morale? Try some small employee gifts as tokens of appreciation. Have you recently started working with some new contractors or marked a milestone anniversary with tried-and-true business associates? Vendor gifts let them know you’ve not forgotten their role in your organization. Do you have customers who represent the heart and sole of your business? Modest client gifts have been shown to work wonders with client retention.
Spotting a perfect item that immediately brings someone to mind is always an opportunity to show your appreciation. These are often things you could endlessly search for with no luck, yet they magically present themselves at tag sales or other unlikely venues. They’re finds with a personal twist. Something you can casually give to leave a person humbled and pleased—but not indebted—that you thought of them.
Consider others’ comfort. Crunch-time projects typically mean missed meals or a visit to the vending machine. A generous order of takeout with beverages on the house is a considerate gesture and an acknowledgement that you view your team as people—not machines.
Share successes. When a venture succeeds, include the people who were instrumental to that success in the result. Offer a vendor a tour that allows their team to see the results of their hard work or better understand your objectives. Take a team to see and understand a vendor’s operations. Allow valuable clients to see what made the upgrade they requested possible. Make your successes inclusive.

On a personal level, being thankful builds one’s reputation. Even more important, however, it can be contagious, restoring humanization to a too-often dehumanizing work environment. It encourages willingness in others to pass it on and take a positive, thankful approach themselves. When trust becomes the norm, it can make your companies known for being a great place to work and do business.

Cane River Pecan Company believes in the strength of gratitude and its power to shape professional relationships. If you want to learn more about building professional connections, download our ebook, The Gift of Giving: A Cornerstone of Southern Community and Tradition.

The Art of Being Thankful

Every day, work pressures force us to move faster, work harder and churn out better products. To meet the challenge, we begin pushing ourselves harder, demand more of our associates and coworkers, and more from those we value most—our families.

But what if we chose to take a breath and shift to a more positive mindset instead? What if we chose to be thankful as we moved forward? I’ve found that taking the extra step to show appreciation, whether in business or in my personal life, can go miles— especially when done right. After all, there’s a lot to be thankful for.

For me, “thank you” is one of the simplest things to say. Yet, for some reason, many people deem it unnecessary or worse — a sign of weakness. In truth, simple expressions of gratitude can be powerful:

A verbal “thank you” may seem simple, but it can unlock smiles and nods as well as a willingness to keep pushing forward and get the job done.
A heartfelt, handwritten note may be saved, reread and remembered. It’s proof that someone noticed and took precious time from a busy schedule to deliver a thank you. It’s also confirmation that someone doesn’t take what’s given for granted.
Consider that actions can be stronger than words. If a member of your household consistently goes out of their way to make your life easier — be it by fixing your lunch or managing the household — take over and do the same for them when possible to show you appreciate their gestures.

Everyone wants to feel that their accomplishments and efforts are meaningful. Even the most simple expressions of gratitude can become priceless investments in trust and loyalty. But with such hectic schedules, how can we help ourselves recognize all the things that deserve thanks?

Cultivating Perspectives of Empathy

Actually see all the people who show up to work with you every day. From the front desk employee who cheerfully takes client calls and manages the day-to-day minutiae, to the coworker who tags in to ease your workload on the busiest days. The ones who answer your calls, talk through challenges and ultimately make your expectations become reality. Operate from true awareness of what you’re asking of yourself, and the people you and your company depend on. Take accurate stock of how much effort is required from everyone and what would happen if any one of them failed.

Overtime hours, deadline extensions or compressions, special events, new product rollouts, schedule shifts and even just business as usual come with difficulties for company owners and employees alike. Those affected may feel stressed, overexerted, under-appreciated or overwhelmed. These challenges ripple throughout a company and extend into associated networks — as well as personal lives.

Your family may take the brunt of any frustration you’ve experienced through the workday. They’re the sounding board you turn to when you can’t discuss an issue with a boss or coworkers, and they take on new stress from any issues you bring home. While your spouse may be supportive and happy to hear you out, their show of empathy to you may take a toll on their own emotions and feelings. It’s incredibly important to express how appreciative you are to have them by your side to share any worries or challenges you face, otherwise they can go through their own form of burnout.

Being mindful of the effort others put forth comes from a place of empathy — a recognition of the shared human condition. We all have goals, responsibilities, hopes and dreams that we’re trying to fulfill. As you practice empathy, you may discover just how important many previously unnoticed people really are to your success and all that you have to be thankful for.

Invest To Keep Gratitude Genuine

When business is involved, most of us can detect, to a degree, when gratitude is inauthentic. Ingenuous offerings of thanks may fall flat due to a perceived connotation of why the recognition is taking place to begin with. People are, by nature, wary of gratitude that might come with a hidden ask or expectation.

Authenticity means taking interest in the person behind the uniform, or beyond their relation to you, and making consistent efforts to connect in an honest way. Take the time to learn about people, their goals and the events that are meaningful to them.

When you have the opportunity to help your coworkers, family or friends by thanking them or adding to their good fortune, you’ll be able to do it naturally, in simple ways that ring true to their preferences.

Lessons of a Lifetime of Gratitude

Owning a business that has always been a family affair brings with it a long history of enduring relationships. Cane River Pecan Company is rooted in the certainty that genuine acts of appreciation can strengthen — and even cement — meaningful professional and personal relationships.

Over the years, we’ve grown and flourished thanks to the trust and loyalty of our partners, associates, employees and customers. Every day, I remind myself that I owe all of these members of the Cane River Pecan Company family, and my own family, a debt that I can only hope to repay with acts of gratitude — simply and genuinely.

For more information on Cane River Pecan Company and tangible ways that you can express your gratitude, visit our website, or call 1.800.692.3109.

The Importance of Crafting Genuine Professional Connections

Is there anything more awkward than a networking event? You’re in a room full of strangers, being talked at as opposed to being talked to, while collecting business cards quicker than a ticket-taker at a theater on opening night. However, as uncomfortable as it may be — networking is a delicate yet vital business skill. When done right, it allows us to thrive and grow simply by engaging in a natural give and take of meaningful rapport and mutual interest. Too often, though, ambitious efforts to connect leave us feeling uneasy and straining for authenticity that just isn’t there.

Despite this, genuine business relationships can and do exist. Dedicated professionals — the people you want to meet and have on your team — constantly search for others in their industry who are equally committed to excellence. Here are a few ways you can create authentic business connections in your professional circle:

Share Knowledge and Assistance. Give what you want to receive. Tip off worthy colleagues to professional opportunities that would be beneficial to them. Let them know if you’re willing to serve as a reference for them. Be generous with the valuable insights that only experience brings. If you want help from your network—and we all do—set the golden standard by initiating an atmosphere of help and trust yourself.
Explore Shared Leisure Interests. Open the way for a more personal, non work-related connection. Sporting events are natural venues for invites, but there are many others. Is a colleague a nature enthusiast or art aficionado? Do they perform in community theater or volunteer on the weekends? Find a common interest, and take part in it.
Acknowledge Life Events. Remembering or helping people celebrate special occasions lets them know that you see them and value what they have, too. Births, birthdays, graduations, marriages, the purchase of a home and anniversaries are some of the most important moments in a person’s life. Even a gesture as simple as a card slipped in the mail assures the recipient that your friendship is more than just a social climb.
Make a Physical Effort. Don’t rely on email alone. If you work near someone, get up and walk to where they are for a face-to-face. The electronic world of reply all makes actual personal interaction all the more valuable. When you call or visit, you’re not covertly multitasking, copy-pasting or texting. You’re invested in the other person, and the effort proves it.
Be Inclusive. In a few years, that intern may be a project manager for the cutting-edge company in your field. Likewise, that administrative assistant may know of an upcoming job opportunity that is perfect for you. By reserving genuine professional relationships for only those you think can help you right now, you could actually be limiting your own future.
Respect Boundaries. Give professional relationships time and space to develop. Too much too soon may make a person uncomfortable and even prompt them to question your motives. Keep overtures within an appropriate professional comfort zone that builds on history and a balanced relationship. Let colleagues meet you halfway on the give as well as the take.
Own Your Reputation. Our profile often precedes us, and that reputation accrues over time. Decide early on whether you want to be the person that others refer their friends and colleagues to — or the person that others warn their friends and colleagues about. Each genuine interaction adds to your track record and potential network of connections.

While building strong professional relationships takes time and consistent care, the returns offer longevity and understanding. Thoughtful actions now may yield a return on investment for years to come. Plus, as each of you succeeds, you have the bond of shared history and the ability to ask for advice or help.

Each genuine connection you nurture can starburst into another network of equally authentic professional relationships. It may yield the solution you’ve been seeking, the referral of the decade or the foothold for a whole new direction.

Strengthening Relationships Through Corporate Gifting

Here at Cane River Pecan Company, we help business professionals build meaningful relationships with colleagues, clients, employees and friends. We believe that the best gifts are equal parts simplicity and quality, with a healthy dash of Southern tradition.

If you’re looking for assistance in selecting that perfect corporate gift for a connection worth celebrating, contact us through our website, or call 1.800.692.3109. Our experienced corporate gifting specialists can help you send the perfect selection for every occasion.

3 Easy Steps to Sustain Your Client Relationships Over Time

Business is built on relationships, but keeping those relationships warm and engaging over time can be a challenge. Like any relationship, they take work to stay strong, and thoughtful notes and gifts can help — as long as you do it right. “Part of the reason for giving a gift occasionally is not just to say thanks,” says Larry Oakner, senior partner at Tenet Partners. “It’s to maintain a memorable contact with a client when you’re not working with them on an ongoing basis.”

Here’s how to make it work.

1. Follow the Platinum Rule

The Platinum Rule goes beyond the Golden Rule and recommends treating people the way they want to be treated. You might recognize the anniversary of when your client became your customer, says Paul Hebert, senior director of solutions architecture at Creative Group, but it would be much more effective to celebrate the day they went into business themselves. “Recognizing that says ‘I’m in business too, I know it’s hard,’ and all of a sudden, you’re not just an organization that sends a bill; you’ve personalized it,” he says.

2. Embrace the Element of Surprise

Look for ways to give “just because” notes or gifts to clients. Hebert suggests celebrating client relationships in the same way you celebrate employee relationships. “We recognize that we’re glad employees are still here; why don’t we do that with customers?” he says. Clients don’t always expect gifts outside of holidays, so it can make a bigger impact when you celebrate the business journey you’re on together at other times of the year.

3. Get Emotional

Don’t be afraid to be human when you send gifts to your clients or customers. Recipients value handwritten notes and warm sentiments. When you send a corporate gift, you’re acknowledging that your clients are people, and you’re interested in treating people well, Hebert says. “If you think about most relationships with clients, they’re very transactional — after a sale it becomes a matter of accounts payable and receivable. Gifting changes that relationship from transactional to emotional.”

For more tips on how to strengthen your relationships with your clients, download our ebook, Growing Business Through Employee Recognition and Customer Appreciation.

There’s a Fine Line Between Staying in Touch and Being in Touch

No matter their industry, income or generational outlook, business leaders across the world have one thing in common—they’re human.

Isn’t it odd that we’re more tethered than ever to our communication devices, yet the company we keep can still feel… disconnected? We’ve all seen it with families at restaurants and in the hands of, shall we say, “distracted” parents at city parks.

Be honest: when someone uses the phrase “face time,” you probably think of the video chatting software first.

I suppose that’s because there’s a fine line between “staying in touch” and “being in touch.” And in my years of experience as a C-level something-or-another, I’ve learned it’s far more important to focus on the latter.

Frankly, it’s the reason Cane River Pecan Company is the business it is today. I tell people we’re not so much a pecan company as a business relationship company that happens to sell pecans. (The best pecans money can buy, by the way. But I digress.)

“It’s the thought that counts” is an ancient axiom, but its staying power is well deserved. No matter how many emails we have in our inbox, we all want to feel genuine connections. In touch. We want to be acknowledged by our colleagues, appreciated by our superiors and, basically, to be understood.

There’s something salient about even the most trivial of personal relationships — about your barista knowing your regular order or a client who cares enough to know more about you than what’s listed on LinkedIn—my family started this company to make those little moments of humanity a little more common.

I’m not asking you to be friends with all your clients, colleagues and employees. That would be ill-advised. But forging a personal connection isn’t about depth so much as it is about acknowledging what’s just below the surface.

Give us a call on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry if you’d like to learn more. (Or if you’d like to meet us face to face, let us know and we can make it happen!)

How Connecting with the Community Can Help Your Business

In the age of social media, online advertising campaigns and relentless notifications, small-business owners can often overlook the real-world connections that play an integral role in the long-term success of their company.

While they don’t offer the instant gratification of a social media reaction, real-world connections over the long run can help your company in a dramatic way. Public appearances, participation in community events and the cultivation of personal relationships can all give your company a competitive advantage.

There are plenty of tried-and-true methods to increase your company’s community outreach and visibility — and they don’t necessarily cost a lot of money.

For example, consider sponsoring or coaching a children’s sports team, teaming up with a nonprofit organization for a fundraiser or renting a popular venue for an evening and inviting all of your clients or neighbors to a private party.

Jacqueline Whitmore, founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach, which provides executive leadership and business etiquette training, suggests hosting quarterly dinners with six to 12 clients or other business owners, where conversations don’t necessarily have to focus on business. Those connections can pay off down the road in unexpected ways. “Entrepreneurs and business owners are eager to meet and mastermind with smart, like-minded people who are also in search of reciprocal, long-lasting relationships,” she says.

Michelle Christie, an online visibility coach and social media expert who helps clients position their businesses to generate visibility, says volunteering is one of the easiest and most cost-effective community outreach techniques. It’s also a great way to make a meaningful positive impact on your community. “Getting all employees together once a month to do some Saturday morning cleaning in a community park will improve a company’s reputation and the look of the local greenery,” Christie says. “Make some company T-shirts for your employees to wear and you’re all set.”

For more tips on how to strengthen your businesses’ ties to your community, download our ebook, How Small-Town Values Can Transform Networking Skills.