To strengthen and promote its reputation as a green firm and make a strong outgoing impression on customers, Jackson Design/Build, in Seattle, gives clients a green-themed gift bag at the end of the job.
The bag includes green cleaning products, compact fluorescent bulbs, a carbon monoxide detector, a Kill A Watt meter, and items with the company logo including a pocket knife, a pen, a coffee mug, T-shirts, and caps. “The bag is a reusable organic cotton shopping bag, so our clients will drag our logo all around their neighborhoods,” says president Leif Jackson.
The Kill A Watt load meter lets you know what eats power in your house, Jackson says. “This will help our clients develop habits that minimize those ‘phantom loads.’”
The $150 bag is part of Jackson Design/Build’s project completion procedure, which includes finalizing the punch list, final payment, cleaning, etc. Clients receive the bag during the “project presentation” meeting that brings together the client and remodeling team members. The team goes over a checklist confirming that all aspects of the project are complete.
The clients also receive a care and warranty binder with product manuals and instructions for care and cleaning of products, a one-year subscription to National Geographic’s Green Guide, and a book about living green.
“The impact on clients is far greater than the cost [to us],” Jackson says. “There is enough interesting, thoughtful, and helpful stuff in the bag that our clients seem to feel a small obligation to us after ‘unwrapping’ this gift. Hopefully this will come back to us in the form of referrals and repeat projects.”
