Top 10 Reasons to Send a Business Holiday Card

10) It's cheaper than a catalog, discount offer or coupon

9) People hang up their holiday cards and others look at them, so the word spreads, making your cost per viewer is really lower than the already low cost of a card

8) The season is ready-made for getting your company's name out without seeming salesy or pushy

7) Making a holiday card list creates a good opportunity to update mailing lists and make sure all info is current

6) Businesses that send holiday card are perceived of as "friendlier" than those who do not

5) Employees who receive company holiday cards and other business greeting cards report higher levels of engagement and loyalty than those who do not

4) Sending a company holiday card can become a company tradition. And companies with observable traditions last longer then companies without them

3) Selecting a company Christmas card encourages management to think about the company image and message. According to Stephan Covey, companies with a clear picture of their image and message are far more successful overall.

2) Sending a card to employees that says "thank you" results in a more employee-focused company culture, which promotes productivity, lower absenteeism, and lower turnover.

And most importantly,

1) People genuinely like getting holiday cards, even from businesses, so sending them makes customers happy. And above all, you want happy customers.

Should your company send Thanksgiving cards this year?

The experts agree - sending business holiday cards improves customer perception of a company, increases the likelihood that a given customer will select your company over a non card-sending competitor and reduces the likelihood that your company will be seen as financially unstable, even in troubled economic times.

Okay, so we know that sending a business holiday card is good. Now the question is, what kind? A traditional company Christmas card with a wintery view? A modern Season's Greetings or Happy Holidays? Maybe a New Year's card with a calendar?

What about a Thanksgiving card?

A Thanksgiving card offers several advantages:

1) It gives your company a head start on competitors who send out their cards only in December

2) It allows you to sidestep the "which holiday" issue associated with the winter celebrations

3) The holiday naturally lends itself to expressing gratitude, which is a perfect message for customers and employees alike

4) You can still send company Christmas cards or other holiday cards in mid December, for a double-dose of contact and name recognition.

It's not too late to add a Thanksgiving card to your company's holiday marketing plan. And the results may leave you expressing thanks of your own.

And the countdown begins

Well, it's official now. I went into my neighborhood Target and there were Christmas decorations on the shelves. Yup, there amid the Halloween costumes and Thanksgiving table cloths were the first of this year's Christmas decorations.

The holiday season has arrived! So now it's time to decide...Thanksgiving cards for your employees and customers? A good way to jump-start seasonal sales, and remind people of what you have to offer before their shopping is done. A good way to get your name in front of potential customers before your competitors send out their business holiday cards...

Hmmmmm... Not a bad idea, right? And a pretty card with a colorful autumn scene...I can tell you I would welcome it, especially since Florida for all its charms, lacks autumn colors. Ditto for much of California, the southwest, and Hawaii. And by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, the north will have left autumn colors in the past...you could give them one last look at nature's finest display -- and get your name out there!! Clearly a win-win!

Other reasons for sending a Thanksgiving card?

It avoids the whole Christmas versus Hanukkah versus Winter Solstice versus Diwali etc. dilemma...it's a national holiday!

How about this...Thanksgiving cards first, to remind customers how much you have to offer them, and to say thanks to overstressed and overtired employees who really need acknowledgment. And then a Christmas or holiday company card in December to follow up. That double dose of holiday greetings will go far towards reminding customers exactly who you are and what you represent.

Good marketing, cheap marketing, effective marketing!

The Halloween stuff is in the stores...time to buy Thanksgiving holiday cards!

I always know when it's time to pick out our company Thanksgiving cards.

The day I see the Halloween stuff on the shelves at my local Target (pronounced Tar je', of course!) is the day I need to get my act together and pick out some Thanksgiving cards to send to clients, customers, vendors and employees.

Why do I start so soon? After all, Thanksgiving is still a couple of months away. I start now, because between now and early November when I mail the cards out, I have to:

• Pick out a card
  
• Double check our address lists
  
• Come up with a total for the number of cards to order (and the extras to order for all those last minute changes and additions to the list!)
  
• Deal with employee schedule changes because of kids going back to school
  
• Decide on the signature for the cards
  
• Decide on the changed signature for the cards (no, these things never get done in one step...you know it's true!)
  
• Continue to do my regular job here at work
  
• Order the cards
  
• Pick out Halloween costumes for the kids (work/life balance, remember?)
  
• Address all the cards
  
• Make sure everyone's annual performance evaluations are on schedule (life at work goes on!)
  
• Add personal signatures to most of the cards (remember, signing by hand makes a big difference, especially to customers!)
  
• Mail the cards
  
• Deal with any card returns, including looking up new addresses and send out a fresh card (no re-sends, people!)
  
• Plan a Thanksgiving feast for 20 picky relatives (back to that work/life balance issue -- one brain, lots of tasks!)
  
• Send out the three or four dozen last minute Thanksgiving cards managers, salespeople and others forgot to request.

And all of this has to be done by a week before Thanksgiving AT THE LATEST!! Doesn't seem too early to start now, does it?

Gobble, gobble! Off to get started!

Don't let Employee Appreciation Day pass without employee appreciation!

March 6th is comin' up fast, people...do your employees feel appreciated?

Let's be honest. Are they feeling like essential members of the team, critical factors in your company's success?

Or are they living under the constant threat of layoffs, wondering when their name will come up on the pink slip list? Or worse yet, under constant scrutiny lest they make a mistake and the discipline notices begin?

Countless studies have proven that employees who feel under appreciated and under the gun perform more poorly, have more accidents and provide lower quality customer service. And yet some companies never learn.

How is your company doing on employee appreciation? Could your company culture stand some improvement? Here are some tips for making real and lasting changes in the way your employees feel at work...and Employee Appreciation Day is the perfect day to start!

Here are some ideas for Employee Appreciation Day, and then some more for the rest of the year:

For March 6th, if you haven't already planned something, it's not too late to put together a little celebration:

Celebrate together. Order a cake, decorate the lunch rooms or break rooms and say thank you to everyone with an impromptu party.

Give everyone a thank you card with a small gift card inside. Do not give a gift card to your company's business -- go for a local grocery store, gas station or fast food restaurant. Make sure the card tells employees that they are most important asset your company has. And mean it.

Use March 6th to announce a new employee appreciation policy. Make each employee's birthday a paid holiday for them. Or make some days a "Bring-Your-Dog-To-Work-Day. Whatever your new policy is, the cost will be small compared to the value you'll gain from committed employees.

And from March 6th onward, make some real changes to show your staff that employee appreciation isn't just a day, it's a policy.

Send each employee a personally signed birthday card. And an employment anniversary card. Let them know that they are recognized and appreciated as individuals

Share information instead of letting them drown in rumors. Coming to work every day afraid of being RIF'd is no way to work. Let employees know exactly what's going on, and provide on-going feedback about their job security. If they're in line to be let go, let them know a month in advance so they can start a job search.

Provide training and job enrichment. One way to let employees know you appreciate them is to provide them with training and new ways to use their skills, talents and interests. Training is a powerful way to keep your employees motivated and add to the quality of your company at the same time.

Make saying thank you a company policy. A sincere thank you for a job well done, a heroic effort or just a helping hand goes a long way towards building employee satisfaction. make it a company policy to reward employees with a genuine thank you, in writing if possible. And let encourage supervisors and managers to file a copy in the employee's file, too. Knowing that those thank you's will be remembered at review time is an employee appreciation tool everyone will love.