Wish your clients and employees a Happy New Year, with a twist

This year, instead of trying to figure out who celebrates which winter religious holiday, consider sending your customers and employees a Happy New Year card.

New Year greetings can be personalized to match your business. For instance, a medical practice could write:

Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy New Year

A car dealership could write:

A wish for many happy journeys in the New Year

The subtle connection to your product or service reminds the recipient what you do, without coming across as too pushy.

So what's the twist?

For customers:

Use the records you have of customer purchases and orders to create a customized "Wish List" for the New Year. Print them like a To-Do list and enclose them in each card. So the buyer of Mustang parts would receive a 2009 To-Do list including things like "Replace struts with Ford OEM high impact struts and shocks" or "Protect upholstery with aftermarket made-to-fit Mustang seat covers." Just a few custom suggestions with lines left at the bottom of the list to add their own "to'do's" could spark unexpected sales as the New Year unfolds.

For employees:

Make a "To-Do" list with events and sites from your company's city. Work/life balance is critical to employee (and company) success, so give your employees the gift of

• Recognizing that they have an off-work life
  
• recognizing the value of their "real" life

Consider enclosing some* free tickets or passes to one or two events in their card. This small but unexpected treat can do wonders for employee morale.

*Try to enclose the right number of passes for the employee's family size. There's nothing worse than getting 2 tickets when you have a three person family. Either the tickets go unused, another ticket must be purchased (often impossible), or someone is left out. Make sure single employees without children receive at least two tickets, four if possible.