Calling Aussies! Corporate gift etiquette in Australia (OT) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: lewis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2015, 10:18:19 pm
content: Hello aussies! Very off-topic question for you:I run a UK based business and have a very good customer in Australia. It's fairly usual in this country, to show appreciation for all the good business you've been doing over the past year, to give your best customers some sort of Christmas gift. (It usually goes to the purchasing manager or buyer!) Usually a decent bottle of wine, or maybe one of Fortnum & Mason's excellenthampers.Is this sort of thing done in Oz? Or is it considered weird and/or obsequious? What's a usual present? Any recommendations as to the supplier?I do genuinely want to thank them for their custom, it's not some greasy-pole-climbing exercise to get more business.Let me know your thoughts!

author: apelly
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 10, 2015, 10:36:46 pm
content: That's not unusual here either, although an increasing number of companies have policies forbidding acceptance of gifts.An occasional long lunch is probably the most common 'thank you'. A bottle of reasonable wine is a common currency too.A lot of suppliers here will spam you with Xmas cards signed by their whole office. Total waste of time.

author: Dago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2015, 05:13:19 am
content: I guess the biggest issue is that it can be interpreted as a bribe of sorts, for this reason many companies usually have some kind of hard cap on gift value. IIRC for example Nokia had a cap of 35€ for gifts.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 11, 2015, 06:59:20 pm
content: If you know how many people are in the office get them some Christmas themed donuts or something similar for the whole office, they can take the remainder home to family etc. Good mileage and looks more like a genuine gift rather than favoritism. Wine and a hamper can't easily be shared.

author: jamesbrown
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 05:26:00 pm
content: Quote from: lewis on September 10, 2015, 10:18:19 pmHello,It is a very common culture of giving a bottle of wine or other liquor as a gift....

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 08:47:37 pm
content: In my company, we can neither give or receive gifts.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2017, 11:58:31 pm
content: A slab of beer is what aussies really appreciateit's THE ultimate no brainer goodwill gesture

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:41:39 am
content: Morning tea sent to the office is often a great thing.Be super careful if its a goverment department. they have very strange rules. If your unsure, ask before you send it.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:50:46 am
content: I dream of a day when gratuities in all forms are outlawed and punished by termination of the recipient and giver alike. Please just resist the temptation to do this. It is nothing but a blight on the system.(My employer does business in Australia so I took the liberty of voting.)

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:57:53 am
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on July 12, 2017, 11:58:31 pmOften the case as 2 dozen bottles can be appreciated by a larger group within the organization over friday arvo drinks.Having said that, if you know your client, pick your poison. I'm partial to a heavy Red or a nice Single Malt and thus when I've been a good boy, that's what I tend to receive.Some of my clients are Govt organisations, and as such a card and a handshake is all I'm allowed to give.It really is dependent. If it's allowed, grog is pretty universal though. If you're buying beer, don't cheap out on VB or XXXX.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:59:01 am
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on July 13, 2017, 02:50:46 amThank fuck we don't have too many people like you down here.

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 03:03:56 am
content: Quote from: BradC on July 13, 2017, 02:59:01 amAnswer to VPs and a board of directors about profitability for a while and you'll start to see it my way.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 03:31:30 am
content: Quote from: apelly on September 10, 2015, 10:36:46 pmAt several companies I have worked at (USA) when vendors send gifts it is almost invariable big boxes of sweets (cookies, candies, even gourmet popcorn tins). It just gets shared among all the employees at the headquarters building in the break room. So nobody is particularly beholden to the vendor over gifts. One very good vendor sends a gift card to the local pizzeria every year which buys a catered delivered lunch for everyone that day. Gifts of alcohol to the office are unusual in the USA, though fine for business dinners.

author: B-Skunktail
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 04:27:52 am
content: I'll often receive a bottle of wine or similar from Contractors if it's been a good year as a thank you. Our company usually throws a thank you function for our clients in November. Allot of our clients have to declare "gifts" over $60.00 so the function is a bit of a work-around.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 01:16:47 pm
content: Tread with caution. Something of nominal value is usually acceptable, providing they offer similar items to anyone else in a similar relationship.At IBM some years ago a vendor offered me a high end Panasonic HiFi stereo video recorder worth a fortune as a gift. I was a bit taken back by the offer and said no. Despite accepting such a gift as being unethical, IBM also had very strict rules. However, one of my female colleagues at IBM was sent a bouquet of flowers by a vendor with a congratulatory note for her impending wedding. Her manager ordered her to return the flowers and tell them gifts are not accepted. That was mean, and the young woman was a little upset.Unlike in the UK, US citizens are committing a crime if they pay or accept bribes anywhere in the world, thanks to the high ethical standards set by President Jimmy Carter.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 01:47:28 pm
content: I gave an EEVblog meter as a gift for helping out on a video. Big government company politics stepped in to investigate it but ultimately cleared it because it had my EEVblog brand on it so it was deemed to be simply company mechandise and not a gift

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 01:57:55 pm
content: What JoeN said, don't single out one employee, send a box of something 'to the team at', you can get away with that quite often and build a nice relationship, it always goes down well when a team receives a tray of choc chip muffins or a big tin of chocolates.Corporate anti bribery regulation means any gift over a certain value (£20 I think for the UK or at least the company I'm at) has to be declared and subject to scrutiny if it's given to one employee.Bottles of wine or other 'stuff' with your corporate branding on it, may be treated as marketing promo but don't bank on it.When I had a budget to give out booze it was always a good idea to have had enough of a relationship with a client to know what they liked, casual discussion about hobbies, pub etc. worked really well and they were dead impressed I knew so if you go the booze route, have a friendly chat and see what you can work out.Would you be able to send foodstuffs to Aus though, they have pretty strict rules about that and a *lot* gets confiscated and destroyed?

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2017, 02:24:33 pm
content: Quote from: CJay on July 13, 2017, 01:57:55 pmFundamentally nothing fresh. If it's tinned, shrinkwrapped or the like it's often ok. The rules are pretty well documented on the Aussie customs web site. Always declare as a precaution.I often bring tinned Haggis back with me. The only thing I've ever had queried was a pint of Scotch in an unlabelled bottle which I had pulled as a sample from a Hogshead in Ben Nevis, and that was a quick chat with the customs guy before I was on my way.

author: Dubbie
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 01:35:52 am
content: We give a nice bottle of champagne in a custom box at xmas time

author: DTJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 01:44:51 am
content: Uber Eats a couple of dozen Crispy Kreme donuts to the office for morning tea?Usually the purchasing guy gets to keep bottles of wine etc which can create some angst among the workers - that is if the receivals guy or receptionist doesn't snaffle it first.

author: 3db
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 10:49:18 am
content: A big brown envelope filled with cash.

author: 3db
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 10:51:52 am
content: Quote from: BradC on July 13, 2017, 02:59:01 amEpic !!

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 12:51:03 pm
content: Quote from: 3db on July 14, 2017, 10:51:52 amCan I respectfully ask, how do you think the gratuity system improves your life as an employee interacting with a vendor? Please try to quantify the net benefit to yourself as well as your colleagues.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 01:29:48 pm
content: Send some local product, if in California, send "Jelly Bellies" gourmet jelly beans.. another great gift is chocolate bars. Trader Joes sells very high quality pound sized chocolate bars for $4.50 .For government employees, send Mil-spec donuts.A-A-20054A, COMMERCIAL ITEM DESCRIPTION: DOUGHNUTS, FRESH, PLAIN, COATED, OR FILLED (28 JUN 1991) [SUPERSEDES EE-D-575] [NO S/S DOCUMENT]., This Commercial Item Description (CID) covers market varieties of fresh doughnuts, packed in commercially acceptable containers, suitable for use by the Federal Government

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 01:57:39 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on July 14, 2017, 12:51:03 pmIt wasn't me who made the crass comment but I'm really interested in how it makes your life worse and if it's a particularly problematic issue in your industry segment?

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 03:31:21 pm
content: Quote from: CJay on July 14, 2017, 01:57:39 pmIt was not meant to be crass or pithy. I genuinely meant it.I asked first, so please quantify what you perceive to be the benefit of this system. I'm curious, because I've been involved in buying capital equipment for well over two decades and have been on both sides of the system. I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot.So, how do you feel the gratuity system benefits you and your colleagues? How does it benefit your employer? What about the shareholders if your employer is publicly traded?

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 04:16:29 pm
content: Quote from: LabSpokane on July 14, 2017, 03:31:21 pmI wasn't suggesting your comment was crass or pithy, I was referring to the comment in another reply to your original one.We operated slightly differently, we were primarily a service organisation so capital equipment purchase/sale wasn't the main revenue stream in our business, as such my experience of gratuities may not be entirely comparable with yours.The main benefit of the system as I saw and operated it was as a relationship building exercise, we dealt with small businesses where there may have been 1 or 20 employees and the owner was usually the point of contact so it was a very personal business and people like to know they're appreciated, hence the reason why I would chat with clients and try to remember if they liked red or white, lager or bitter etc. A small gift of appreciation once a year could go a ways to maintaining that relationship, a relationship that helped when things went out of stock or circumstances dictated that we had to break an SLA.The best way we kept clients happy was exceptional service (98% of jobs were first time fix within 8 business hours for instance) and that helped earn the service department I ran almost 70% of the UK marketplace whilst competing against the manufacturer's own service department.When on the receiving end of a gratuity from a customer I always took it to be a commendation for our good service and it was used as a team bonding exercise, showing them that clients appreciated their work was valuable.There was no benefit for the client who sent the gift as the rates remained the same, SLAs were the same for almost all clients (we had offshore clients who could only be reached when tides were out and the weather was fine so their SLAs were at the mercy of those conditions).We didn't have publicly traded shares, but profits were very nice thank you, they gave me a good salary as well as a few BMW and Mercedes for the time I worked there so I think the benefits of being nice to clients didn't harm the company.So, your turn, the downsides?

author: LabSpokane
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2017, 05:00:25 pm
content: From a supplier standpoint, your experience exactly matches mine in that small gratuities result in a large return on loyalty and are very profitable. This is particularly true with employees who feel undercompensated or under appreciated by their employer.This is a surprising aspect of human nature: that the price of coercion is usually very small. For an extreme example, look no further than someone who commits espionage for money. The sums received in most espionage cases are always pittances relative to the large risks of conviction for treason. Similarly, an employee will frequently act outside her or his employer's best interests in exchange for relative pittances because of the high social value of a little appreciation.The gratuity exists because of its high effectiveness in reward versus cost. I will not argue against that for a millisecond.From the aspect of a customer, the gratuities, even though small, are incredibly powerful to overcome. Employees are very reluctant to pressure for competitive bids and take vendors to task for underperformance in this system. I, too, accepted the free lunch trips in the big, white Cadillac early on in my career. It took me a while to understand how such things influenced my and others' commercial judgement, and based on that, I changed.I could easily justify the costs of this social system in millions with my employer alone. We do not receive free cars, but have a relatively egalitarian bonus system. If profits are X, bonuses are Y. Without a doubt, the bonuses not received under the gratuity system are several orders of magnitude larger than the costs of the gratuity to the suppliers.Then there is the resentment of the recipient by colleagues excluded from such gifts. It does not make for a harmonious work environment.This system is certainly, as well, the fault of employers who shun the responsibility of fair pay and bonuses of good work, and leave it to suppliers to provide the niceties and thank yous. If only they realized what this was costing them, they would realize that it's much less expensive to treat people properly and engage suppliers effectively.This is not to suggest a hostile relationship with a supplier, but rather to realign relationships based on cost, performance, quality, service, and leadtimes as opposed to who provides the nicest swag.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2017, 08:49:56 am
content: Quote from: 3db on July 14, 2017, 10:49:18 amI think we have a winner here,attached to the slab of beer

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2017, 09:46:50 am
content: Quote from: Electro Detective on July 16, 2017, 08:49:56 amHere that is called "cooldrink" for the "thirsty", and you get it at the "Saxonwold Shebeen".

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2017, 02:29:26 pm
content: Just a note. Or maybe a rant..This may seem unrelated, but its not.Bribery is on the upswing everywhere in the world (its a backlash against the positive changes since the Enlightenment but especially the last half of the 20th century) and its rapidly becoming a threat to our planet's entire future.Its happening via FTAs, notably "trade and investment" and/or "services" FTAS which attempt to harmonize all standards to the lowest common denominator, then the immutability of decisionmaking in FTAs (this is the worst aspect of them) makes bad decisions by governments permanent by invoking what is really the treaty loophole around democracy. Increasingly, some particularly bad FTAs also contain "standstill" or "negative list" or "top down" type rules.. (Everything included by default) This is being pushed by my own country, the US. So, frankly, what this means is that most of what government does is constrained by hidden external deals and provisions (a defacto world government) into only being deregulation, i.e. profitable for corporations and never not, or they gain a right to compensation! - as happened to Australia over tobacco advertising, etc. but its also a serious problem with everything concerning services- health insurance for example, a reason why things are sliding backwards so rapidly in the US is one of these deals, dating back to the late 90s, that nobody dares to tell the country about.)The effect eventually will be to exclude honest people and businesses from everything everywhere, (especially lowering the quality and professionalism or politicians, in effect making honest politics impossible) and lowering standards (like safety standards) and reducing accountability.They also contain provisions that do an end run around wage and labor laws to hand contracts to foreign firms which can tender the lowest bids, bypassing national laws setting standards for immigration.They get around that by means of labeling those jobs temporary and turning them into an entitlement of countries and qualified firms in perpetuity if they can bid the lowest. (and pay wages so low they could also be said to be a form of internships, excluding entire classes of people too poor to undertake education when the result at the end of attaining an advanced degree will be years of low paid labor, an area increasingly monopolized by huge international corporations which lower everything to the lowest possible price and quality)The promises on services- made in the 90s - an era which represented a bubble which gave many the false impresion of a completely different set of circumstances, were an attempt to tie governments hands forever, and they are coming back to haunt the developed countries today, causing a huge amount of dishonesty. (lying) by politicians.Of course those changes are being advocated for by calling them "procurement reform" but they are really the exact opposite.So, end of rant.This is just something Ive been thinking about a lot recently, how to explain it to people.

author: Electro Detective
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2017, 11:38:47 pm
content: Briberyhas been surpassing greed for centuries,and the root cause for problems today, at all levels, business and home.They don't teach it at 'schools' because it would be bad for business for those controlling their'big picture'You would have to have some form of mental illness or total lack of morals, dignity, fairness and equality to either offer bribes or accept themPersonally I reckon it's just being underhanded andCHEAPa useful tool for co-operating incompetents

author: mrpackethead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 18, 2017, 12:40:03 am
content: At christmas, we send our overseas clients, a scenic calendar, and a small hamper of NZ items. Its 'modest' and appropriate. For one of our customers, we reduce that to a calender, so it fits their rules. Mostly its about intention.For my really imporant subbies, i will buy them somethign as well. And that goes down to my regular courier drivers, who go out of their way to make stuff happen for me.