Merry Christmas! No, it’s not that time of the year, but the sentiment certainly applies. You are probably reading this in July, and if you are in the state of Missouri, the very last thing you are probably thinking about in July is Christmas. On the other hand, isn’t is interesting what the words “Merry Christmas” have become to mean in our current society? For most of us who observe Christmas, there probably is no more celebratory time of the year than the Christmas season.

This last year I found myself at the end of the year doing two things that somewhat surprised me when it came to the approaching holiday season. The first thing was that I had read some parts of a book called “Simplify your Christmas” by Elaine St. James, and the second thing I did was to read a book by John Grisham, of all people, entitled “Skip Christmas.” Both of these books talked about the concept of trying to go back to the true meaning of Christmas. The message of both books was “less is more.”

The information in these books got me thinking about what I had done for Christmas with regard to my clients for years and the time, money and energy it took to accomplish this. The first question I asked myself was, has it been worthwhile? The answer came back, absolutely! The second question I asked myself was, did it make a difference? Again, the answer came back, absolutely! The third question was should I continue to try to give clients gifts at Christmas? Again, the answer came back absolutely!

What I did try to change though, was a way to try to think of something more unique for Christmas than just the traditional bottle of liquor.

Having been in the practice of law for over 30 years, you can only imagine the number of gifts I have given to clients. In the seventies, bottles of liquors and wine or gift baskets with wine in them seemed to be the most common gift. Over the years, I have tried to be more unique. At one time I had a chocolate candy bar made up with my firm’s name and logo on it and gave that away to clients. One year when the local professional football team was doing incredibly well I gave out large tins of popcorn that had the team’s logo on the can. Eventually I turned to large poinsettia plants and last year I gave live wreaths I got from a client in the floral business. Interestingly enough, as the presents have become less commercial and more traditional, I have gotten both quantitatively and qualitatively much better feedback.

One of the philosophies I have tried to adopt in regards to holiday gift giving is the same philosophy I have in most things that I do in my practice and in my life. Many years ago when I was in college, the thought formulated in my mind that there were really two ways to do things in life that seem worthwhile: the first way was to do something conventionally and do it as well as it had ever been done; the other way was to do something unconventionally and do it as well as it had ever been done. I know you won’t be surprised after reading many of these articles that I would always adopt the unconventional way of doing things. The concept is that by doing something unconventional and doing it as well as it has ever been done, you create more of a lasting impression with those people who observe what you are doing.

Last year I received a card from a local law firm that wished me a Happy New Year. The message on the card indicated they wanted to take the time to wish me a happy and prosperous year and they felt that by sending out the New Years cards instead of the traditional Christmas card, it would stick out, be noticed and remembered. The firm was right! I think that was the only New Year’s card I got, but you can imagine how many Christmas cards I got. Somebody in that firm is a savvy marketer.

Several years ago there were some particular issues that played significantly in the local newspaper regarding people in need. For no other reason than it was the right thing to do, we gave the money we would normally have spent on Christmas for clients to charities in need and sent cards to our client indicating that is what we had done. Again, the positive feedback was amazing.

As you can see, the whole concept of giving to clients at holidays is to try and make the gift unique, personal or memorable. Yes, I do believe it is better to give something than nothing even if it’s not one of the better gifts the client ever got, but if you can give something that stands out — even though it might be inexpensive — you will have achieved what your goal. You will have achieved another step in getting clients, keeping clients and making them happy!

I think the way we determine what clients should get what at Christmas is an interesting procedure. Because of the availability of records on our computer, we can tell you exactly which clients expended the most amount of fees with our firm on a yearly basis. We then divide those clients into small, medium and large gift categories and try and tailor the gift to the amount of fees the client has paid. When in doubt, we always ratchet the category up a notch in order to err on the side of being generous. Additionally, we have ongoing clients that have been with us for a number of years. In those cases we are sure the principals receive the major gifts, but all the other people we come in contact with at the company are remembered by some gift even though it might not be as large as the one given to the principal. It is incredibly important to remember the people you have day-to-day contact with at your practice who may not be the ultimate decision makers, but who impact the utilization of your legal services with clients on a day-to-day basis. Again, when in doubt be generous.

It has always surprised me how conservative and down right “tight” lawyers can be. My best advice in this category is “loosen up.” If you spend $50 for a Christmas gift for a client and get $5,000 worth of legal service from that client on a yearly basis, one would think that is an incredible return on investment. Now, you might feel you would get that business anyway, so why spend the money? I would ask you what makes you so sure you are going to get that legal business anyway? The competition for legal services has never been greater in our country. My metropolitan area has more lawyers per capita than any other metropolitan area in the United States. There is always another lawyer looking to handle your clients business faster, better and cheaper. Taking the time to take care of your client at appropriate times and giving them a gift that is memorable is a good way of continuing to solidify your relationships with your clients.

I was thinking about the various presents I have received from people I do business and was trying to come up with the most memorable present I have received. There is an attorney in my area I have referred a lot of cases to over the years and I remember one year he gave me a personalized leather briefcase. I used that briefcase for 5 years, and every single time I saw it I thought about this attorney. What a brilliant idea on his part to give me a gift that made me think about him daily. If you can find this type of a gift to give to your clients, can you imagine how much legal business you would get? Think of creative ways that your client will constantly be reminded of your availability to them to perform legal service, and you will have achieve a major step in getting clients, keeping clients and making them happy.

Next week we are going to talk about another concept with regard to gift giving that involves remembering clients’ birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions with cards or gifts. I think you will find some of the examples I use will give you some great ideas to try and utilize some of these items in your legal practice. The week after that we are going to talk about special creative momentos or gifts connected to special results or occasions as another way of continuing to solidify your client base. Not only can this create some good will with your clients but frankly, it is down right fun for both you and your clients! I think you will find some of these ideas helpful to you in your legal practice.

Talk to you next week!

Jim Wirken is a civil trial attorney and the Chairman of the Board of The Wirken Law Group in Kansas City.