161: Steve Buzogany on Client Appreciation That Actually Works

Most client appreciation gifts are killing your referrals.

Steve Buzogany should know. As founder of The Appreciation Advocate, he’s helped countless service-based businesses fix their client appreciation strategy.

After selling nearly $100 million in real estate himself, he learned what most agents and entrepreneurs get completely wrong.

The bottle of champagne at closing. The branded pen with your logo. The generic gift card stuffed in an envelope.

These gifts aren’t building relationships. They’re sliding you into obscurity.

In Episode 161 of Gratitude Geek, Steve reveals the three ways gift-giving deceives you. He shares why you need to “attack the kitchen.” And he explains how to collect juice so your gifts actually matter to the people receiving them.

If you’re a solopreneur, coach, or service-based business owner who wants more referrals without being pushy, this conversation will change how you show appreciation.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation:

The Three Ways Gift-Giving Deceives You

Steve calls them the three big problems with client appreciation.

First, most gifts only make one impression. That’s it. One and done.

You spend $200 taking a client to dinner or a sporting event. Great experience, right? Sure. But it’s still just one impression. As a marketing expert, your job is staying top of mind. You can’t do that with one impression.

Second, that one impression is usually neutral or negative.

People send lazy gifts. Gift cards. Flowers. Edible arrangements. Items with their logo plastered all over them. These gifts hurt your reputation because there’s no thought behind them.

Third, the whole process is a big lie.

Nobody tells you your gift sucks. They smile. They say thank you. Then they turn around and regift it, sell it, or toss it in the Goodwill pile.

Bad gifts get the same feedback that good gifts should get. So you walk away thinking you nailed it. Meanwhile, your client is thinking “what an idiot.”

That’s the death cycle of gift-giving.

Collecting Juice Changes Everything

So how do you give gifts that actually matter?

Steve calls it collecting juice.

When people gossip, they spill the juicy details. Your job is listening for it. Your client mentions they have two cats? That’s juice. What are the cats’ names? What color? How old? What do they love doing?

They mention camping? You need to know more. Are they serious campers or weekend warriors? What gear do they use? Where do they go?

This isn’t interrogation. It’s genuine curiosity about who they are.

Then you use that juice when it’s time to give a gift. Instead of a generic item nobody wants, you give something that shows you actually listened. Something personal. Something they’ll keep.

That’s the difference between a gift that gets regifted and a gift that gets remembered.

Attack the Kitchen

Steve has a strategy he calls “attacking the kitchen.”

Most people spend their time in the kitchen. So when you give kitchen gifts, you stay top of mind every single day.

Think about it. How many times do you walk through your kitchen? Eight times? Twenty times? Every time you touch something in that space, you think about the person who gave it to you.

A high-quality pizza cutter. An ice cream scoop that actually works. A wine bottle opener engraved with their name. These aren’t expensive gifts. But they create impressions every single day.

Steve used to give clients a massive cutting board. Not just any cutting board. One customized with their last name, monogram, the address of their new home, and the date they bought it.

People loved it so much they hung it on the wall instead of cutting on it. They’d see it 20 times a day. For less than $100, Steve got 20 daily impressions in his client’s mind.

That’s how you stay top of mind.

The Bad Gift List

Steve has a list of gifts you should never give. Let’s run through it.

The thank-you email. Not a gift. It’s just the end of a transaction.

Consumable items. Bottles of champagne, food baskets, edible arrangements. They get consumed and you’re forgotten.

Also, not everyone drinks. Maybe their family member has a drinking problem. Alcohol is never a good gift unless you’re 1,000% certain.

Flowers. They die in a week.

Events and experiences. Expensive single impressions. You spent $200 to be forgotten a week later.

Gift cards. Lazy. It feels like you’re saying “run along, little boy, treat yourself to something nice.”

Branded promotional items. Your logo on a gift makes it about you, not them. Promotions are fine for conferences. Terrible for client appreciation.

Here’s the thing. You should invest 5 to 10% of your net income from a client back into them over the next year. If you made $10,000 from a client, you should spend $500 to $1,000 on them over 12 months.

Not all at once. Spread it out. Stay top of mind with multiple impressions that actually stick.

The Ripple Effect of Paying Attention

I have a confession. I’m a brownie sender.

I send brownies all the time as thank-you gifts. They’re easy. They’re consumable. Most people love them.

But Steve’s right. They don’t stick around.

However, I usually send brownies with a card that has a meaningful photo on it. The card gets kept. The brownies get eaten. That’s one impression that sticks (the card) and one that doesn’t (the brownies).

Steve said that’s legit. The card does the heavy lifting.

That’s the lesson here. If you’re going to send something consumable, pair it with something permanent. The permanent thing is what keeps you top of mind.

Think about the gifts you remember. I have Cutco scissors that are at least 10 years old. I know exactly who gave them to me. I have high-end knives from my wedding 25 years ago. I can tell you who gave them.

Those gifts have staying power.

Showing Up in Uncommon Ways

Steve had great advice for new real estate agents with no clients yet.

Join organizations. Then show up in uncommon ways.

Sign up for a kickball league and bring something special for the whole team. Join the school board or volunteer at your kid’s school.

Show up with personalized gifts for all the teachers. Notepads with their names. Pens with their names. A personal note saying you appreciate what they do.

Nobody does that.

When you’re the only one doing it, you stand out. Teachers will remember you. They’ll tell their friends. When someone needs a real estate agent, your name comes up.

This works for any business. Find groups you care about. Show up with thoughtful gifts. Let people see you’re different.

That’s how you build a reputation before you even have clients.

The Presentation Matters

Sometimes the presentation is more important than the gift itself.

Steve shared a story I told him. My friend’s dad turned 80. He loved Dunkin’ Donuts. My friend asked if 80 people could send her dad a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card for his 80th birthday.

He ended up getting 300 or 400 gift cards.

That presentation made it special. The experience mattered more than the individual cards. And what did he do with them? He carried them everywhere and gave them away to people he met.

That’s the ripple effect. One act of appreciation created hundreds of moments of kindness.

That’s what gift-giving should do. It should create ripples.

Connect with Steve Buzogany

Want to learn more about strategic client appreciation?

Instagram: http://instagram.com/AppreciationAdvocate

Steve helps service-based businesses generate more referrals through thoughtful, strategic gift-giving. He’s also written a book about the impression scale and how to stay top of mind with clients.

The service I use for cards and gifts: http://sendoutcards.com/147356

Related Episodes You Might Love

• 186: Larry Wilson on How to Talk to Humans
• 195: Phebe Trotman on Business Lessons Learned from Playing Soccer
• 201: Curt Tueffert Teaches Sales

Want more on building authentic business relationships? Steve’s lesson on paying attention connects perfectly with these conversations about genuine connection.

Stay Groovy!

Heads up: Some of the links here are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you choose to buy. No extra cost to you.