---
title: "Environment Management: Using Gift-Giving to Build Relationships"
description: On today’s episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by Donald Kelly. Today’s topic? Using gift-giving to build relationships.
---

![EC Part 3 - Cover Art V1 _ FINAL](https://www.fitzmartin.com/hubfs/EC%20Part%203%20-%20Cover%20Art%20V1%20_%20FINAL.png)

Centricity Podcast Episode 46 September 20, 2022

# Environment Management: Gifts and Late-Stage Sales

When it comes to building relationships between a buyer and seller, gift-giving is a powerful and useful tactic that benefits both parties. But how can we successfully implement gift-giving without excess spending on prospects that don’t end up buying? In today’s episode of Aligned, Sean wraps up his three-part series with Donald Kelly by discussing proper gift-giving and how any seller can build and maintain relationships with their prospects.

**Gifts should not be for everyone:**

- Gifts should be mostly reserved for people later into the sales cycle, or at least in the middle.
- If a seller were to buy gifts for every early-stage prospect, they’ll face exorbitant costs while also giving gifts to people who will not place as high a value on it as a buyer with an existing relationship with the seller.
- Sales should not have control too soon when it comes to gift-giving; the buyer should be at a designated spot within the buying process to warrant gift-giving as an environmental control.
- Sellers should not have private control over their sales data - if they spend company money to build relationships with clients, that information should be available to the organization that paid for it.

**Bonus environment control: Use NDAs to help control late-stage deals:**

- In general, it’s best to work with an attorney to utilize NDAs properly.
- NDAs can be signed by both the selling and buying organizations to build comfort and reduce anxiety, especially in industries full of proprietary information (i.e. technology and software.)
-  It is an olive branch that psychology develops commitment and introduces the notion of finality within the deal that encourages the buyer to close.

**Aligned Episode Resources:**

- Check out the prior two episodes in this three-part series discussing environmental controls, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
- For more information and content from Donald, visit thesalesevangelist.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
- Visit fitzmartin.com for resources, articles, and other information that helps any business leader foster connections between their sales and marketing departments.

Listen here or on [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aligned-podcast/id1472052181?i=1000580048226) • [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5j3b5C5xWlVhq8FFntmqLs?si=678e3fc740f745d6)

[Download](https://www.fitzmartin.com/hubfs/ALI_046.mp3?hsLang=en)