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Prospecting on Purpose is Forbes meets Saturday Night Live - it’s *the* show for everything prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
As business grows more complex, the biggest opportunities emerge when we learn beyond our own industries. From hospitality and design to technology and travel, this is where professionals come together to exchange ideas, uncover new perspectives, and prospect for business with creativity, authenticity, and intention.
Hosted by Sara Murray, a heart-centric sales champion, each episode helps you raise both your vibes and your game. Sara's playbook is simple - ABAV: Always Be Adding Value. Embrace your authentic self, lean into your unique strengths, and sell the outcome instead of the product or service.
Join Sara each week as she sits down with world-class thought leaders to unpack today's business strategies, mindset shifts, and relationship-driven approaches to growth, giving you practical ideas you can put into action right away.
Connect with Sara: www.saramurray.com IG: @saramurraysales LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/saramurraysales/
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
You're listening to Prospecting on
Purpose, where we discuss all things
prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
I'm your host, Sara Murray, a sales
champion who's here to show you that you
can be a shark in business and still lead
with intentionality and authenticity.
Tune in each week as we dive into methods
to connect with clients, communicate
with confidence, and close the deal.
My guest today is Kade Kimber, a client
experience strategist, keynote speaker,
and the creator of Gift Intelligence.
Kade spent two decades in enterprise
marketing leadership working across nine
countries and supporting a business line
worth more than $6 billion before turning
his focus into something most companies
talk about, but few actually build
with intention, the client experience.
He helps founder-led and partner-led
firms, along with professional
services businesses in fields like
wealth management, law, architecture,
hospitality, travel, create experiences
that feel unmistakably distinct in
crowded relationship driven markets.
His clients include names like
the Ritz Carlton, Marriott, Morgan
Stanley, and Northwestern Mutual.
And I have been fortunate enough to
meet Kade in person and see him speak,
and I was really, really surprised at
how thought provoking this concept was.
So I had to invite him on the podcast.
Kade, welcome to Prospecting on Purpose®.
Kade Kimber: Thank you so much.
I appreciate you having
me, and the kind words too.
It was great to actually meet
you in person and also have some
great conversations from it.
Looking forward to more.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Likewise.
And we're both from Utah, which is
not a very common, commonality, so we
have to like, represent the Utahans.
Kade Kimber: Yep.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Well, I would love to maybeâ¦
You know, iâ¦
The bio obviously does a tiny bit
of your origin story, but give us a
quick intro to, like, why you left
corporate and started your business.
What did you see that made you build your
business around the concept of gifting?
Kade Kimber: Sure.
And actually, what's interesting
is I didn't immediately leave
corporate to start my business.
So it all started very early
in my marketing career, which
ultimately ran about hmm, decades.
But early in my career, I noticed how
terribly business gifting was being done.
You know, We were spending insane amounts
of money on fruit and cheese baskets or
whatever, some forgettable thing, but
most often promotional items or branded
merchandise being disguised as a gift.
And so at one point, I went to my boss and
I was like, I think there's an opportunity
here to do better with this turn it into
something that actually delivers results."
They weren't interested, nor were the
other key stakeholders, and so I started
my gifting company, and then three months
later was gifting for the US Women's Open.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Cool
Kade Kimber: That started a whole path
for me that ultimately, 10 years later,
led to me leaving corporate full-time.
I grew it on the, on the side as
just a, a side venture, basically.
I never even marketed it, which is funny
considering my background was marketing.
I never actually marketed my business.
I grew it to the six-figure
mark with just word of mouth.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Oh, that's so cool.
It's like typical entrepreneur journey.
You find a gap in the
market, you find a problem.
I loved your phrase branded
merchandise being disguised as a gift.
I think we all have the cupboard full
of water bottles that we don't use.
Kade Kimber: The cupboard where all
things go to die is what i like to call
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah,
Kade Kimber: it
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
or like a garage sale or the
Goodwill bin after a while.
Kade Kimber: or to Goodwill,
yea.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
And it's so wasteful, too.
I think that's where s- swag gets
a bad rap because sometimes I look
at swag I get and I just think,
"This is just future landfill."
And so I love that you're building
something that's very intentional
because I've been the recipient of great
gifts, I've been the giver of great
gifts, and I absolutely agree with you.
It can really deepen the relationship.
So I'd love to learn a
little bit more about that.
Like, why do you think people still
today are not treating thisâ¦
they're, like, treating
it as an afterthought.
What are you seeing in the market,
and where, how can we start
looking at this differently?
Kade Kimber: Yeah, and I think
uh, your comment early on
actually highlights exactly that.
So often after giving a keynote or
a workshop or even just having a,
a discovery call with a client or a
prospect, the comments are usually,
"I never thought of it like that.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm
Kade Kimber: This was thought-provoking."
Right?
Which means people simply aren't thinking
of gifting as a marketing strategy,
and that's why it's not being done.
People don't think about it.
It's, just become routine.
And I think most often gifting
is approached as a procurement
task, not as marketing strategy.
It's how much budget do we have, and
that's where things start to go awry
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
It's funny too 'cause I I think
that the word that we need to
focus on here is the word strategy.
The, we're not just talking about
gifting for the sake of gifting.
We're talking about very strategic,
intentional efforts and, and you know,
obviously we're, we're talking about
it under a marketing umbrella, but I,
I have a sales lens to everything and
I use gifting in my sales life too,
and this is really, I think, a great
blend of where sales and marketing can
really come together to help support
their client relationship that's outside
of CRMs and KPIs and email sequences.
We're all spending our time on that,
and what's gonna make you stand out is
something that's gonna make you memorable,
and that's really, I think where the
gifting has potential if it's done right.
So I think there's a couple
things that I wanna ask you about.
Obviously everyone sends
stuff at the holidays,
Kade Kimber: Yes
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
but then that feels like if your,
your intended recipient's getting a
bunch of gifts and they're a bunch
of fruit and cheese baskets, like,
how do you stand out in that time?
Kade Kimber: Mm-hmm.
Well, So I think first of all,
don't do that time, right?
, Don't send the gift during that
time, and that is one of the biggest
advantages that people have , with such
ease if they just shifted the timing.
There are a few really k- key
components to having a gift be relevant.
Well, And relevance being one of
them, but having it drive impact.
So the relevance, the timing, and the
meaning are all really important parts.
With timing, so often it is year-end
gifting, and it's not just, not
just ineffective because it's all
sent at the same time, but there's
a lot of other components to it.
One of them being no one is
making a decision in December.
So when we talk about it right, we'reâ¦
So sales and marketing, I think
you bring up a great point.
So we have email sequences, we
have social media campaigns.
approach of strategic gifting
isn't separate from sales.
It's just like any other
marketing asset which is meant
to be a tool used for sales.
So it's a great prospecting,
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mmm-hmm.
Kade Kimber: As well.
But as you know, companies
are making their plans, their
schedules, their calendars in Q3.
By the end of Q3, you're mostly ironed
out so that you can get everything
finalized Q4 to kick off January 1st.
If are gifting in December with the
intention of impacting decisions
that are made for the following
year, you've missed the boat.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
You just wasted all your money,
Kade Kimber: Yep.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
and you waste the
opportunity to be relevant.
The timing and the meaning
are nothing because you're in
the bucket of everyone else.
And I love no one's making
decisions in December.
That is so spot on.
I will tell you for my business,
August and September are really busy
prospecting times for me because that's
when the budget is set, and if one of
your biggest objectives that you hear
is, "We don't have the budget for this,"
okay, well let me, let me talk to you
ahead of time so you can get the budget.
But I like the idea of being
intentional with your gifting.
Can you give some examples of what you've
seen works well from a timing perspective?
Kade Kimber: Sure.
So timing, we get a lot of very
traditionally focused clientele where it
is a December gift, and often it feels
like a stretch to go outside of that.
And so the next easiest point to
do is the second week of January.
So the second week of January is great
because you have moved past the first
week when people might still be on
PTO, and they're not going to be in
the office , because most gifts are
going to go to offices, not to homes,
in the corporate gifting space anyway.
So they're, they're back,
but they also are refreshed.
They're not as, as busy, and they
have made it through year-end.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm
Kade Kimber: Important part of it is that
the , messaging is forward-looking when
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah
Kade Kimber: you move
into a January thing.
So you're not talking about,
"Thank you for this past year."
, It's, "We know you've got
amazing things in the year ahead.
We are so excited to see what
you're going to accomplish.
Thank you for allowing us
to be part of that journey."
That is very forward-looking.
I feel like December messages feel
like bookends or chapter ends.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah.
Thanks for your business versus
Kade Kimber: Thanks for your business.
Thanks for your support this year.
We appreciate you."
Okay, not a bad sentiment, but
it's not doing you any favors.
And then the other really crucial part of
it is the second week of January you're,
you're sending a gift for a reason, right?
Even if you haven't identified that
upfront, no one sends a gift just
for the sake of spending money.
And so often what ends up
happening is people confuse
the emotion with the objective.
So, For instance , we're
sending it for appreciation.
Well, That's the emotion.
That's not the objective.
The emotion drives the objective.
The objective could be , increased
referrals, improved retention
rates, doors opening for meetings.
So you have some sort of an objective,
especially if it is to land more meetings
or to finally get them to take that
phone call or whatever it might be,
December, you're not going to achieve
that because the, the response almost
inevitably is, thank you so much for the
gift," assuming they even say thanks.
Let's
touch base in the new year."
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Exactly.
Oh my gosh.
Well, I want to, I want to pause
you for a sec to ta- to like hit
a nail on the head that you said.
You, Having an objective for what the
gift is supposed to achieve is what we
mean when we're talking about strategy
and intention, and I think these days,
intention is just thrown around a lot, and
there's not a lot of, like meat behind it.
So I really appreciate that example
of the forward-looking element to it.
Yeah, let's, we want future
business, not bookending a year
where you're in a crowded noise,
they're not spending any money.
Exactly, let's touch base in the new year.
The window is a stupid window.
So I love second weekend of
Kade Kimber: Never happens.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
January.
That's awesome.
What are some other good times to gift?
Kade Kimber: So there are multiples.
, , I think they're, you know,
they're the obvious ones, right?
But the best time to send a gift is
when nobody else is thinking to do so.,
The timing changes everything
because people don't remember
those average moments.
So great examples are difficult
moments, and it could be a
service recovery situation.
In those scenarios
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Wow!
Kade Kimber: often people will
send an email apology, right?
Not a gift.
A gift is going to stand out.
, Immediately after trust is placed.
some companies are really good about
contract signing acknowledgments.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm.
Kade Kimber: Most aren't.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah
Kade Kimber: The trust has been placed
in you over a competitor in that moment.
It's an amazing time to really
connect and reinforce that
they made the right decision.
Progress milestones during projects,
especially if there are delays.
But so often we celebrate
the end, not progression.
And so it could be that , a
phase was finished or we
reached a significant milestone.
It could be a celebratory one.
Referral moments are another big
one, not just when you get revenue
off the referral, but in the moment
that they put their reputation on the
line to recommend you, acknowledging
it, and you're also reinforcing
that behavior so it happens again.
think personal life
moments , are really important.
It can be new babies, graduations of kids
or grandkids, especially if you're in
a multi-generational focused business,
getting into that next generation.
It might be the loss of a loved
one that you're wanting to let them
know that you're thinking of them.
And it's important to note that
those are not marketing moments.
They're
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah.
Yeah, such a good distinction
Kade Kimber: Human moments, that's where
the relationships are actually built.
lastly, I would say the quiet
seasons are another favorite of mine.
And that's again, when no one else is
sending something, because it's going
to stand out and feel more authentic
because there is no business objective,
notable business objective to it.
You have a business objective,
but it does not feel that way.
You're sending something because
the relationship matters.
I
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Right.
Kade Kimber: those are
great times to send.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
I love all of those.
I had a realtor, one of the top
realtors in Los Angeles, on the
podcast a couple seasons ago,
and she did a home-iversary gift.
So whenever it's home-iver-
the anniversary of them moving
into their home or closing on
their home, she'd send a gift.
But then it was also like, "Refer me to
your neighbors," or, "They might have
to move," or, "Their mom has to move."
So she says she gets a lot of
business from the home-iversary
gifts, which is so interesting.
What about
Kade Kimber: Well,
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Let's use a real example.
I have a lot of travel advisors
who listen to my podcast.
What would be, , timing for a travel
advisor, and obviously maybe, We're
gonna get into some, like, what
are the gifts but, but before we do
that, like, when would it be a good
gift to send for a travel advisor?
Kade Kimber: So there are a couple
of different great spots for it.
It could be in anticipation of an
upcoming trip and it could be something
that is sent tied to that experience
the location, whatever it might be.
It, and it doesn't have to be tied
to the location, by the way, too.
It could be, let's say they're going
because it's an anniversary trip.
Like, Okay well, there's
a celebratory opportunity.
It doesn't have to be specific to the
fact they're going to XYZ location.
It's celebratory.
It could be that you are having things
delivered to their room, basically
doing room drops during the trip.
And then
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah, that's nice.
Mm-hmm.
Kade Kimber: the follow-up, want
them to continue to use you, right?
And so it's a follow-up,
"Thank you so much.
Here's a relaxation gift.
I know it was a really
busy time on your trip.
Let's, you know, kick your feet up
and get back into reality with ease."
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Oh man, those are such
good examples, Kate.
And the other thing, so as people
are listening to this, because as
you're talking, I am a great gift
giver and I'm very thoughtful.
that's one of my, I think my
core values or my core strengths.
I had a meeting in Palm Desert at
a surf park, and it turns out the
chief engineer just had a baby.
And so on my drive to the surf park
in Palm Desert, I stopped and grabbed
like a little baby blanket and a
card, and I had the guy sign it.
And you know this engineer has
never gotten a gift, especially
like, you know from, from other men.
And so I think it comes very natural
to me to be thoughtful and think about
milestones and find ways to, to add value.
That's, That's, you know, my trademark
phrase, like always be adding value.
But what if someone's listening
and they're just like not naturally
thoughtful, or they're, or I, I don't
like to say it that way, but it's
not one of their core strengths.
You know, what can people do to start
to build this muscle a little bit more?
Kade Kimber: Sure.
And I think it'sâ¦
The question isn't what should I send?
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm
Kade Kimber: The question is why
am I sending it, to whom, and
are they going to be the best at
impacting my objective and the when?
So once you figure that out,
the product itself honestly
almost comes to life on its own.
And so you're like, "Oh
yeah, here is this scenario.
This is the reason we're sending it.
Here's the timing.
This is what would make sense for that."
The other really important thing to
keep in mind is, and I don't want to
say shoot for just above baseline,
it really is not hard to clear the
hurdle into exceptional gifting.
It might not be exceptional to
the degree of here's a pro doing
it, but it's exceptional in that
it stands out above status quo.
That really is not
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
The bar is low right now.
The bar is low
Kade Kimber: low, so low.
Sending a gift sometimes is, is simply,
you know, you're vaulted over this bar.
But it really comes down to understanding
why, you're doing it in that moment, and
what you want to accomplish from that.
Everything else can get sorted out.
the other important thing to keep
in mind is if you get your messaging
right, the gift itself honestly
doesn't have to be as amazing.
The, the meaning behind it is
conveyed through your message.
I think with your home-iversary
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm
Kade Kimber: example, it's amazing.
The note card message hopefully
never asks for a referral.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Right
Kade Kimber: The note card message should
be something along the lines of, "I enjoy
working with amazing people like you.
You're what makes my work
feel valuable and fulfilling.
Thank you for being you."
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Or I hope you're loving your
home, or, five years in, I hope
it's, you know, little Timmy is
enjoying the front yard or whatever
Kade Kimber: know.
Like, you know, You're making it
about them and about that emotion
and that meaning, not about what
you want from it, because inherently
that is going to drive the behavior.
That's the big difference.
And so when it comes to picking
a gift, you really don't
have to be great at gifting.
It helps if you are, but
you don't have to be.
It's coming up at a starting
point of why, who, and when.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Why, who, and when.
Relevance, timing, meaning.
I love it.
Kade Kimber: Yep
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
And, And I think too, one thing
that's kind of like sparking thoughts
here is when you're doing this with
a lot of thought, you know, we're
talking about it becomes a strategy.
I would love to hear from you and
your experience and the clients that
you've worked with, what are some
like realistic expectations people
can expect if they do a strategic,
thoughtful, approachable gifting versus
the swag, slop, branded merchandise?
Like, what are some of the
returns that you've seen?
Kade Kimber: The most immediate return
and, and we'll get into some that are more
measurable here in a moment, but the most
immediate return is going to be a deepened
relationship, immediately deepened.
There are a lot of directions
that can go from there, right?
So my biggest thing is: How do you turn
gifting into something that's measurable?
In marketing, it isâ¦
gifting seems to be the only thing
that we don't measure the same as
every other tool and tactic, right?
how do you turn that to
become something measurable?
And that's where you see what,
what the returns are going to be.
example, if your objective is to drive
referrals, want to have a measurable goal.
So you want to increase referrals
by X number or X percent by X date.
That's measurable.
Simply saying appreciation,
okay, that's not measurable.
The appreciation is the emotion that's
going to drive the referral gaining.
But also, one, one little side
tangent here is kind of my sticking
point with gifting in general is
you need to be very intentional, not
to overuse the word, but being very
intentional about who you're gifting to.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mm-hmm.
Kade Kimber: Not everyone has the same
capacity to impact the outcomes you're
striving for and trying to create.
think in terms of profiles, so I have
what I call the identity profiles,
and it is fixed, certain, and movable.
fixed people are going to be those that
no matter what you do, it is highly
unlikely you're going to impact the change
you're wanting from that person based
upon what you know and historical data.
They may never have given a referral.
They may never be likely
to give a referral.
They might have made it abundantly clear.
Or it could be something where if
your goal is to deepen your account
or broaden within a- an organization,
if they have said that they are
at max, they're not taking on new
vendors, they are not expanding spend,
okay, that's more or less fixed.
is the one that a lot of
people give to unnecessarily.
Certain is that they're already giving
you referrals, which is great, and
that's a relationship to certainly show
appreciation for and, and reinforce,
but that's a different objective
than trying to gain new referrals.
So if your goal is to gain additional
referrals, you're not needing to
gift to the person already doing it.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Right
Kade Kimber: you want to be is in
that third bucket, which is movable.
Those are i- individuals that are
going to likely react and drive what
it is that you're striving to do.
again, it's starting off
with a measurable objective.
From a statistics rate, gifting,
honestly, the, the research on it's
all over the board from fifteen to
forty percent for the conversion
rates, which is considerably higher
even at the low point than like social
media, LinkedIn campaigns, et cetera.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
click
Kade Kimber: Yep
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
open rates, like you send an email to
your 30,000 person list and you have
2% open rate is good in the industry.
It's like, my God.
And then they're not getting
business out of that email either.
Kade Kimber: all they've
done is open the email
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
exactly,
Kade Kimber: all they did
is actually open the email
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Well,
Kade Kimber: You want them to do it.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
You know, it's I- this- the reason
why I'm getting so excited about this,
Kade, is obviously like I like it.
I- I'm drinking the Kool-Aid because I
know it's worked in my experience so well.
and I love, in my, in my sales
workshops, we have, we have to
increase the revenue per relationship.
That's part of the strategy.
It's a relationship building
sales approach and strategy.
But I usually use the stoplight, like
red light, yellow light, green light.
And so we talk about who can you move?
can you move a red person to yellow?
That would be fixed to movable.
Or could you move it to movable
to green and make them certains?
And I- I like that language better
than the stoplight language, so
I might borrow that from you.
But I do really appreciate
the fact of whenâ¦
Because when you're hunting within an
account, you know, there's a lot of
business that can be built through your
existing customers, but you have to be
thoughtful about how you're gonna do that.
And I think gifting could be a really,
a way to show your authentic, your
authenticity too without, without
competing in, with your competitor
who's, your competitor who's
trying to get in with that firm.
And I have a, a great story.
You know, we talk about always
be adding value in the workshops.
I had one of my clients call me the
other day, and he goes, "Sara, I,
you know, I'm just like hearing your
voice and I was trying to get in with
this guy who used to be a competitor,
but now he's a prospect for me."
He goes, "And I knew that
guy liked Pappy's whiskey."
And apparently Pappy's whiskey
is like $1,000 a bottle.
I didn't kn- I didn't know that
when I heard this story, but it's
an expensive bottle of whiskey.
And so he calls the guy and he
says, "Hey man, it's been years.
Let's catch up over some Pappy's.
I'll bring it by your office."
And so he invited the owner of
his company to come with him.
But he said, "Listen, we
cannot talk about work at all.
Like, we're just there to
drink and chill and catch up.
Like, we don't wanna talk about business.
Please don't talk about business."
So they go to the meeting, they
have a great time, they catch up,
they leave, and he has two pro-
two giant hotel projects for him.
And I hear that all the time, and
it's so funny because I think people
don't wanna spend the effort if they
don't, if they don't see the return
or if there's no guarantee of return.
But that's defeating the purpose
of connecting on a human level.
But if you do it authentically, it
becomes a lot easier to get the sale,
easier to get the business out of it.
So I just really resonate with
everything you're saying and I just
appreciate your, your thoughts on this.
Like, it's such a cool thing to talk about
Kade Kimber: Thank you.
Well, And I think you're hitting on
some really crucial points there in that
people to see that immediate return.
And the reality is, especially
with gifting, the return
isn't usually immediate.
It depends on what your
objective is, though.
So we have clients in the event space
that use gifting to secure that yes.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Mmm-hmmm
Kade Kimber: to be a very measurable
thing, but also much more immediate.
And so we've had as high as 95% of
positive RSVPs off of a gifting campaign.
kind of an outlier, but that's just to
show it, it works for a lot of areas.
If we're talking referrals, if
we're talking revenue growth, are
going to take a little bit longer.
It's not that all of a sudden you're
going to be-- wake up and be like,
"Oh, yes, this referral came in
the next day because of this gift."
That's not to say it never happens.
In fact, it does happen.
But that's not a reasonable expectation.
And so it's looking at it
in the long, long game.
It's a gamble.
It's a bet,
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah
Kade Kimber: Like any
marketing outreach is.
The key to it is being strategic
so you're not wasting money like
you often are with the social media
campaigns, with newsletters that
never reach beyond their inbox.
You know, it's, It's a way to
truly connect with people at a
very meaningful level without
high of a risk, I guess, if
you are doing it correctly.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah, I like that
Kade Kimber: costs from social
media or, or what have you.
From gifting, it's changing it from
what is likely a sunk cost now with
any gifting being done to, okay, I'm
being much more intentional about
why, who, and when I'm sending this,
and therefore outcomes get achieved
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
What are your thoughts?
Because I have a couple of firms that
I work with in my network where their
policy doesn't allow, like, gifts because
of potential bribery or kickbacks.
You know, that you don't want
salespeople to, "Hey, I'm gonna
give you this giant TV if you put
my stuff in your, in your project."
So what Iâ¦
And I think the limit that
I've heard's 25 or 50.
You know it's, it's a dollar amount.
What is your approach there?
If someone's listening and they have
clients they wanna send it to, but
they're not allowed to accept gifts or
they're a little anxious, like, what
would be a good kinda middle ground?
Kade Kimber: So I think in
those scenarios, the messaging
becomes more important than ever.
That is not going to be one
of your standard thank you for
your, your business situations.
The messaging is going to be
really important, and then looking
at what would be impactful at
whatever dollar cap you have, what
would be impactful to that person?
What would mean something to them?
One of the biggest things I set
out to accomplish when I started
in the gifting business gifting
space specifically, was how do you
achieve authenticity at scale, right?
Like, howâ¦
so often people assume it either has to
be this really expensive gift or it has
to be a really hyper-personalized gift
that's deeply customized to the recipient.
That's not always doable.
In fact, more often than not, it isn't.
That's not scalable, People don't have
bandwidth to go out and be h- you know,
super thoughtful about every single gift,
especially if you have dozens, hundreds,
or even thousands you're gifting to.
So it'sâ¦
comes down to figuring out why
people do business with you.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Hmm.
Okay
Kade Kimber: There are a lot
of ways to figure that out.
In my consulting work that's, that's
one of the things that we do, and
it is so interesting because it
usually is not what people assume.
it is a matter of taking those
learnings and those reasons
and translating it into a gift.
In the case of a low cap, a twenty-five
or fifty-dollar cap, people do
business with you because you are a
family-oriented business or you are
really family a family-owned business
and they love that about you, or they
love that you support their family, that
takes a lot of trust for their family,
something to do with family, right?
Let's just say that as an example.
Gifting or making a donation even to an
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah
Kade Kimber: That supports, Like, in
my case, I have a, my own foundation
that supports foster kids, and so
it would be something like that.
I'm not saying donate to myâ¦
I mean,
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
yeah, let's plug it and we'll
put it in the show notes.
Kade Kimber: donate to
my foundation so, yes.
So Fostering Joy is my foundation, and
that's great if people would want to
donate to that for a family scenario,
but it's those types of foundations.
It could be to a school.
It could be, personal favorite and
what's near and dear to me, is covering,
the meal costs for a student, right?
So going to an elementary school, "Hey,
I've got two hundred and fifty dollars."
Let's say you've got 10 clients
that you've allocated twenty-five
dollars, that's your cap for.
Two hundred and fifty dollars, I
want to put it on someone's tab for a
student that is behind in meal payment.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
cool.
Yeah
Kade Kimber: Those are meaningful things,
and when you're writing your note card,
y- you know, "Thanks to you and your
support, we were able to cover food
costs," you know, s- "lunch costs-"
whatever it is for ex-students, or we
were able to help so many foster kids get
luggage to carry their possessions instead
of having to use trash bags, right?
It's, there's a lot of things that are
out there once you tap into the meaning
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah.
Kade Kimber: what is going to
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
That's a great answer, because people
would rather have that than a coffee mug.
You know I, I think thatâ¦
And I think that that's
most people feel that way.
But I do want to, you know,
as we're wrapping up the
episode, like I do wannaâ¦
I like presents and I actuallyâ¦
It's funny, 'cause I've always been in
sales and I've never, very rarely been
the recipient of a gift as the vendor.
I will tell you, there was one
woman, Diana Wong, I'm shouting
her out 'cause she was amazing.
She's a Chinese interior designer, did
a lot of luxury work, and every year
during the Lunar New Year, Chinese
New Year, she would invite all the
vendors that helped them throughout the
year, like the, the ones that were in
her circle, and she would have us for
lunar dinner, Lunar New Year dinner.
And a lot of her staff was Chinese, so I,
you know, I'm a vegetarian, I didn't know
what I could eat, and they were justâ¦
It was so gracious of her and I
just respect her so much from that,
because business is a two-way street.
Now, with my, my business,
I've been able toâ¦
I've been on the receiver of quite
a few gifts now, and it's fun.
Like, I got a pickleball set that
I use all the time that's branded.
And so and I have a pair of headphones
that I got because I'm in the, you know,
audio business in one of my industries.
So it means a lot, because every
time I go play pickleball, I think of
Samantha who gave me the set, you know?
and so I think that's the point we're
trying to make is it's, it's to deepen
the relationship so they remember
you, they know, like and trust you,
and that's what we all need to do.
So I would love to hear, because
you talked about this in your
keynote, what are , what, what
do we need to put in our gifts?
Like, what makes up the perfect gift?
Kade Kimber: Oh, so the,
the perfect gifting formula.
So first of all, a nod to or a
shout-out to Diana for that, because
I think that is incredible that she is
looking at it as that two-way street.
Iâ¦
Nobody gifts to me.
And I
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
I bet.
I'll get you something
Kade Kimber: a lot of pressure right?
I, I get that.
What do you give to somebody
who does gifting professionally?
I get that, but it doesn't
have to ma- be amazing.
Some of our clients one of them sends
me a Valentine's Day card every year.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Yeah
Kade Kimber: has their courier drop
off a gift card and a, a treat to
a local restaurant that they love.
Those are all very thoughtful
things, we don't need to have
logos on at all because everyone
remembers who gave them a great gift,
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Exactly right
Kade Kimber: right?
And so that gift, the perfect formula
to create that gift, is four parts.
So number one is foundational.
Foundational is your
packaging, your presentation.
How is it going to land on that doorstep?
What is it going to look
like when they open that box?
What is it going to feel like?
I, you know, I spentâ¦
is gonna sound insane, because it is.
But I spent eight years looking
for the perfect satin ribbon.
Itâ¦
The double-faced satin ribbon.
There's a lot of them out there.
There's a lot of really good
ones out there, but there
wasn't quite what I wanted.
Eight years later, I finally found it, so
that's what we use on our, our gifts now.
But it's a matter of that
initial foundational unboxing.
The second thing is, I like
to say we think inside the
box, because we literally do.
Thinking inside the box, there are three
components to that make for a great gift.
Number one is something that
can be enjoyed immediately
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Hmm
Kade Kimber: That's usually
going to be a consumable.
That could be candy.
We were working on one, concept earlier
this week for a top Scotch whiskey
brand that's doing an activation.
There was no immediate enjoyable.
There's gorgeous gifts in there and
amazing products, but there was nothing
immediate that the client, had recommended
or had, had requested, I should say.
Normally, we're the ones
coming up with the ideas.
In this case, they came to us with a list.
What we added to it was whiskey
on the pops, which is a, a gourmet
caramel popcorn, whiskey popcorn
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Oh, cool.
Okay
Kade Kimber: That's something
people can enjoy immediately.
So the other two items, and it's important
to note it doesn't necessarily need to be
three items, it can be the, the same item
doing multiple purposes, but the inside
the box second item needs to be something
that is long-term or longer term.
Long term would be that,
that travel coffee mug
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
My pickleball set.
Kade Kimber: Your pickleball set.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Okay
Kade Kimber: Whatever it might
be, your headphones spa robes.
I mean, There's a lot of long term.
Longer term would be like a
candle, something that's got
longevity
but still a shelf life.
And
then the final thing is
something unexpected.
Something unexpected can just be a
different form of a, of a typical item.
So as you heard, heard in the
keynote, my favorite example of
this is microwavable popcorn.
Anytime I say microwavable popcorn,
usually conjures up images of
that Act II yellow and, and blue
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Blockbuster Video buckets fromâ¦
No.
Kade Kimber: That exact thing, right?
And so microwavable popcorn, an
unexpected version of that is
microwavable popcorn on the cob.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Cool
Kade Kimber: There's actually
a farm in Utah, of all places
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Oh.
Kade Kimber: that does-- go Utah, that
does heritage, it's a heritage farm
that does, you know, the popcorn on
the cob, beautifully packaged, great
labeling, everything, and it comes with
this paper bag, and you just drop the
cob in the paper bag and put it in the
microwave and then you've got popcorn.
it's an unexpected thing.
The concept with the activation gift,
one of the unexpected things that
we're working on is we had custom woven
blankets designed that bring in the brand
colors, but also the recipient's name.
Typically speaking, personalization is
not something we recommend or require,
but in this case it made sense for what
they're doing, and so it's unexpected.
You get this beautifully woven
throw that's in these brand colors
for your favorite Scotch whiskey
company, and your name is brought
in to the equation on top of it.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
On it that's pretty sexy
Kade Kimber: unexpected, right?
So it, it can be over the
top unexpected or just, "Huh,
never thought to do it that way
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
The corn on the cob in the microwave.
Yeah, who wouldn't wanna do that
right away versus the Act II popcorn
sitting in your pantry till it expires?
So repeat the formula one more time.
Give us the hits on the four steps
Kade Kimber: One is foundational,
two is something enjoyed immediately,
three is something long-term or longer
term, and four is something unexpected
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
I love it.
So I wish we could get into a
million examples of the fun gifts
that you've, you've gotten into, but
but for the sake of time, we can't.
But if people who are listening that
wanna reach out to you and explore
a gifting strategy, what's the
best way to get in touch with you?
How do you work with folks?
Tell us how people can find you
Kade Kimber: Sure.
So
kabekimber.com
is going to get you to my main site
where you can learn more about the
consulting work we do in both client
experience and gifting strategy.
It also links oh, and keynote
speaking and workshops, and then it
also links over to Kimber and Oak.
So kimberandoak.com
is my gifting arm.
It's our execution arm, and you can
see more examples of gifting there.
Welcome to hit me up on
LinkedIn as well, and i- it'sâ¦
there's a lot of ways to work together.
can be as simple as, "Hey, we have
this event coming up," or, "We
have this s- scenario coming up.
need help with the, the gift,"
and we can take care of all that.
It could be that we need an organizational
brand , or a gifting strategy in place.
What does that look like?
We want to improve our client
experience and have consistency,
especially if there are a lot of
handoffs in your organization.
What does that look like?
Or going in to do keynotes,
workshops, virtually or in person.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
I love it.
Well, I am so grateful that you
took the time to join us today.
I feel really energized.
I have a lot of ideas for my
own business, for my clients.
I think it is something that
100% is worth the investment.
It totally moves the needle, and now we
have an expert we can tap into for it.
So I am so grateful to know you.
Thank you for coming on the podcast and I
can't wait to see what the future brings
Kade Kimber: Absolutely.
Thank you for having me.
Appreciate it.
Sara Murray - âProspecting on Purpose®.:
Thank you so much for listening to
the Prospecting on Purpose podcast.
If you loved what you heard today,
subscribe to the podcast and
please rate and leave a review.
For more info on me or if you'd
like to work together, feel free to
go to my website, saramurray.com.
On social media, I'm usually
hanging out @saramurraysales.
Thanks again for joining me,
and I'll see you next time.