A doctor is urgently removed from meeting with a patient. The reason? A sudden, unofficial prescription for cake.

“It was intentional to do something nice,” Bill Clunas, CFP, FMA, said of delivering cake to clients’ offices the day before their birthday and being the first to celebrate the occasion, “but also to get people talking about, ‘My advisor doesn’t do anything like this for me!’”

Indeed, the strategy drove referrals for the 12-year MDRT member, who also brought plates and forks. The client’s colleagues sometimes didn’t know it was almost their co-worker’s birthday until Clunas’ delivery arrived. Yet after five years of regularly doing this for top clients, Clunas had to think about which clients knew each other and whether he’d then have to bring cake to those he otherwise wouldn’t. Even though the gesture always made him and the clients feel good, he hasn’t done it much lately.

It begs the question: What, if anything, should you send to clients or prospects to stand out? And how do you avoid creating a pattern that becomes unsustainable or, even worse, unappreciated?

Valuing variety

Yong Wu also saw dessert-based success. She used her company’s service that delivered birthday cakes to the 10 clients who gave her the most referrals. The five-year MDRT member didn’t have to do anything beyond providing the list of clients; her company’s team would ask the clients how they wanted their cake customized, and then a contractor would pick up and deliver the cake. The first time or two that happened, clients were surprised and felt special.

But after about four years of the same thing, Wu noticed that what once was novel had become ordinary.

“Sometimes I didn’t even know if they got it,” said Wu, recalling when clients stopped reaching out to say thank you after they received her gift. “I’d message them and ask, ‘Did you receive the cake for this year?’”

Eventually, three clients told her she could stop sending the cake. Wu recognized that she needed to vary her offerings. So, three years ago, she sent top clients reusable bags during the holidays. Another year, she sent tea sets. Last year, she sent water bottles with the client’s first name on them, and it was a hit.

“They appreciated the bags and tea, but I don’t think they had the same excitement as the water bottles,” said Wu, noting the thank-you’s she received for her most recent gift. “That’s something practical they can use every day.”

Thinking ahead

Gifting likewise remains relevant for Saad Anthony Baksh, BSc, who asserts the maxim “If you forget the clients, the clients forget you.” So, the 18-year MDRT member provides tickets to certain events for his top clients and sends calendars or desk planners to all clients.

Plus, when a top client’s child takes the college entrance exam, Baksh sends the family a $50 restaurant voucher, typically from establishments operated by clients, or a $25 ice cream voucher for the parents to take out the child after getting the results. Baksh started this after having a child of his own and gaining new appreciation for the concerns and values of parents and families.

“I also call the clients to check in after the test and tell them to expect something in the mail,” he said. “I’ve gotten very good feedback, prompting new business and referrals.”

It was intentional to do something nice, but also to get people talking about, ‘My advisor doesn’t do anything like this for me!
—Bill Clunas

In addition, Baksh’s staff will handwrite a birthday card for 100 top clients, which Baksh signs with a personal note to each. For example: saying he hopes his client is cooking for his wife too because they share the same birthday. He also calls them, which creates another touchpoint opportunity. Lower-tier clients receive an automated WhatsApp message or email for their birthday.

“Birthdays are special and only once a year; it doesn’t become monotonous,” Baksh said. “Everybody appreciates getting some level of recognition.”

Increased personalization

Jordan L. Cohne, RICP, used to send birthday cards but felt it was a practice that needed a refresh. An effort to call people on their birthdays became too cumbersome as well, particularly if a birthday fell on a weekend or Cohne was out of town. So, the 16-year MDRT member went from sending physical birthday cards to digital ones (prompted by an automated system) and sending a holiday card featuring a photo of him and his family to about 150 households.

The personal touchpoint results in clients emailing kind notes like “Your family is beautiful” and sending Cohne their own holiday cards.

“The next time we do a strategy call, they might say, ‘Can’t believe how big your girls are getting,’” Cohne said. “Clients getting to know more about you helps build attachment.”

Clunas also sends Thanksgiving cards with fall imagery on them and a message thanking the recipient for being a client. One client memorably said of an image of leaves falling onto a long country road: “I can actually smell this picture.” Clunas’ assistant also handwrites the addresses, so clients are more likely to open the cards.

Sending a tumbler cup can be another tangible and symbolic touchpoint in the winter. For one client with a winter birthday, Bing He, a 10-year MDRT member, bought and delivered a pair of thermos cups. Giving one to the client and one to his spouse advanced her connection with both by delivering something warm literally and figuratively.

She also brought a box of egg tarts to the client’s workplace and, a couple of days later, received her first referral from that client.

Everybody appreciates getting some level of recognition.
—Saad Baksh

When less is more

For Jeremy Mark Wellington, Dip PFS, Dip CII, however, the downside of clients being unimpressed by what they receive, or frustrated by no longer receiving it, is more substantial than the benefits of sending something.

The 15-year MDRT member used to send birthday cards, chocolates, Christmas cards, flowers and wine. But about a decade ago, Wellington realized no one said thank you for birthday cards. And no matter what gift he sent, after a couple of years, satisfaction turned to expectation.

And the feedback he received when he stopped sending birthday cards and gifts? Absolutely nothing.

That’s not to say Wellington doesn’t send out anything. In addition to personalized Christmas cards to everyone, he sends cards when there’s an important reason that’s unique to the client, and the card might be a picture of his office or a cathedral near where he lives, with a personal, handwritten note. (He says clients would know if he ever used AI to write a message, even if it looked like his handwriting.)

Similarly, Wellington doesn’t send a regular newsletter but will send information on occasion if he thinks it’s something clients would be interested in and that they wouldn’t already have seen on the news, like anti-fraud awareness and advice about why an all-time high in the market is nothing to fear.

“If you’re writing it just for the sake of it, why bother?” Wellington said. “Our small number of clients know and trust us and want to deal with us, not the gifts that we give.”

Our small number of clients know and trust us and want to deal with us, not the gifts that we give.
—Jeremy Wellington

Innovate to appreciate

Of course, each advisor decides what works best for them and their clients. Clunas still regularly sends Dr. Seuss’ “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” when a client has a baby, but the gesture comes with a twist: Instead of merely intending to feel like a warm way of looking ahead to a child’s future, Clunas tells the client to have important figures in their child’s life (like teachers, coaches, etc.) sign the book progressively (and secretly). Then, nearly two decades later, give the child the book as a meaningful surprise gift at graduation.

The idea sparked when Clunas and his wife did that for their children. Their daughter nearly cried upon receiving the book after high school graduation. The comments from influential people in her life felt like an impactful record of the life they already could feel grateful for, appreciating the past before wondering about what was to come. It inspired Clunas to wonder, This is so cool; why don’t I do this for my clients?

That means having to be stealthy to maintain the secret over time, like giving teachers the book for a day or two and trusting they won’t lose it. In eight years of doing this for clients, there have been no close calls, and some clients’ kids who received the book are getting close to graduating. In the meantime, Clunas (who also sends clients’ kids the book “The Richest Man in Babylon” as a guide to personal finance after they graduate university) checks in on the progress of the book during meetings with the clients.

“No one ever says, ‘That sounds like a lot of work,’” Clunas said. “They say, ‘I only wish my parents had done something like this for me.’”

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