As someone who as an admin was a gatekeeper to an individual with greater deciding power, I'll underscore the power of the small gift. A bit of candy, a plate of cookies, etc. did stick you in my mind.
Reciprocity is powerful. Be nice, generous, and act as grandma would've wanted mostly. Gratitude. Listening. And avoiding creating situations of patronizing flattery or bribery. Professional = being cool. Winternals (before being acquired by Microsoft) sent me a calendar pages / family photos flip holder. It was definitely more thoughtful than a coffee mug or generic swag.
That's another thing: swag. Make it awesome (hopefully not overpriced) and desirable because it's a statement about the venture. Like branded pens that use Mont Blanc refills.
Vendors typically send swag like coffee mugs, T-shirt, or cookies around the holidays to their valued customers. Nothing much but it's obviously an opportunity to gently ping the customer mid sales cycle. In the US, vendors typically take prospective customers (leads) out to above-average meals for business meetings. It's transparent but both the sales person and the prospect are getting a treat on the vendor's client entertainment budget. Would you say "no" out of rigid ethical purity or go along and still insist on more features, more due-diligence, more demos, and lower pricing?
