Catching up with your customers

One of the great uses for a business holiday card, whether it's a Thanksgiving, season's greetings, Christmas or New Year's card, is as a tool to catch up with your customers and find out where they are and what's new.

This might sound counter-intuitive. After all, YOU are the one sending the card, so how does that help you find out what's new with them? The answer is in a call to action.

A company holiday card does more than just say "Happy (fill-in-the-blank)" It says that as a customer, this person/family/business matters and has not been forgotten. Just THAT alone can inspire some people to stop by your store or check out your website, particularly if it's been awhile. Consider it a little poke, designed to remind them you exist.

But you can take it further, too. What about:

• Adding a message offering them a subscription to your newsletters
  
• Creating a special spot on your home page for card recipients to visit for special promotions
  
• Actively inviting them into your store or onto you site as part of your card's holiday message
  
• Inviting recipients to complete a pre-paid postcard with a few basic questions about their needs or status as related to your products or services
  
• Having a brief quiz/questionnaire right on the card, and offering a discount/prize/contest entry for bringing in the completed quiz

Get creative. Sending a holiday card from your company doesn't have to be a one way street. Change it from a monologue to a conversation and you'll be able to catch up with your precious 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.

Business holiday cards are critical this year!

A few organizations are claiming that the recession is over and recovery is right around the corner.

I would love to believe them. But the fact is, none of us really knows when the day will come when we can all take a collect sigh of relief and go on with our businesses and lives without worrying about the rising foreclosure rates or the latest round of layoffs.

So until we know for sure that all is well, companies cannot afford to neglect the little things that keep their name in front of customers.

Business holiday cards, company Christmas cards or whatever you want to call them, are one of those things companies cannot afford to let slide. For very little cost (around $1-2 each), business holiday cards make a major impact on customer perceptions about your business.

Studies have shown that the majority of customers feel more positively about businesses which send holiday cards. They are perceived as more stable, more reliable and more accessible.

Always sent company Christmas cards in the past, but thinking of cutting back this year? Thank again! Another researcher found that companies who stopped sending cards were perceived as less financially successful and less of a safe place to shop, because they may not be around down the road.

Is that really the message you want to send?

Time to pull out that holiday card list! Winter is almost here!

Who should get a business holiday card, the second tier

My last post was about who MUST get a holiday card from your company this year.

Now it's time for the SHOULDS.

1) Prospective customers who really fit your target demographic, whether that is lifestyle, income, age or ideally, all of the above. The more closely they resemble your target group, the higher they should be on your priority list. Remember, these are not the current or recent customers -- those folks were on the "Must Send" list. This is prospecting.

2) The geographical matches. These are the people who live so close to your business, that they might choose you if they needed your products/services simply because you're close (and the gas prices are still over $2.50 a gallon)

3) The broader demographics. This might be groups of people who hit only one target, but just might become a customer. If you're lucky. REALLY lucky! Save this group for last. This is the target if and only if you still have cards left over after sending them to everyone in the last post AND the first two groups above.

Make sure your must-have are well cared for with a quality holiday card and a personal signature. Then step into these groups, with nice business holiday cards and imprinted signatures. Different groups, different rules. Learn the right order, and your holiday cards could be just what your business ordered.

Maintaining contacts with cards

The economy is tanking, and with it, your business contacts and prospects are getting thinner than ice on a springtime pond (forgive me..I'm a Southerner...phrases like that just sneak out when I least expect it.)

Colorful images aside, it's rough out there. And you're looking for any way you can to catch customers' attention. You've tried Facebook and Twitter and blogs and networking and still....

It's time to give an oldie but goodie. A card.

Yup. A paper with words and a picture all stuffed into an envelope card.

Why a card? Because people are tired of electronic messages. They're bored with wading through 200 updates about what someone had for breakfast.

Because an old-fashioned card is new again.

Send them a card for their birthday. For an anniversary. As a thank you for business or a follow up to a chance encounter or a meeting at a conference.

There are as many reasons to send a card as there are potential customers. Look around. Look for a reason. Keep some card assortments and a supply of stamps on hand for moments when inspiration strikes.

Ready, set, surprise them with a card!

Last minute ideas for your company Christmas card

If you waited until the last minute to send your company Christmas cards, here are some tips to get them in the mail and to the right people on time:

1) Have a card writing dinner at work. Enlist the help of a few people with good hand-writing, and a few others to get those cards written, addressed, stamped and out the door. Let those with elegant writing sign and address, while the rest insert the cards into envelopes, seal and stamp them. Treat all participants to dinner before or after the process...not during unless you want spaghetti sauce spots next to your signature!

2) Make sure the right cards go into the right envelopes! This may seem obvious, but it happens, and it does not reflect well on your company. Have everyone double check as they insert the card!

3) Consider offering a last minute savings opportunity. A discount, special offer or other incentive could boost your year end bottom line by inspiring those who are on the fence to shop/buy. This time of year, many consumers are willing to spend more than originally planned for holiday gifts, and business buyers may be in a "use it or lose it" budget situation. Either way, your company could be the big winner.

4) Go with a known quantity. This late in the game is NOT the time to save a few bucks by going with a cheap new printer or the one you got in your spam box. Choose a professional business holiday card supplier like G.Neil or HR Direct. It may cost a few extra dollars, but if the cards arrive late or with mistakes, your so-called savings will evaporate instantly!

Following up on your company Christmas cards

Handwritten holiday card image courtesy of Write On Results 

By now, you've probably ordered, signed and addressed your company Christmas cards. Good job! (What? You haven't? Do it today, people!)

So once those cards arrive from the printer and the envelopes are addressed (remember, no labels! Hand address them,) you're done, right? You can just stuff those cards into the envelopes and let the postage machine do it's thing.

NO!!!

Now is the time to review....

1)Hand address those cards. Yes, it's a pain. And yes, it matters. So get out those nice gel writers and get everyone with really nice handwriting addressing those company Christmas cards!

2)Write a personal note in every card addressed to someone who matters. What? Everyone you're sending a card to matters? Then stock up on the hot chocolate and get busy. A personal note, especially one that references some business the customer or client had with the company scores big in the "Standing out from Crowd" department. And that is WHY you're sending cards in the first place. Just make sure that if you farm this task out to others in the company, you assign them by gender. Women and men write differently, so a note supposedly penned by Sarah Goodman should not look like it was written by Josh or Dave.

3)Sign 'em. While you're writing, sign it. First name, first and last, first-last-and-title...your choice. Just add your John Hancock there, even if you've had a signature printed. Again, a pain, but one that pays off.

4) Watch for returns. If a card comes back with an address correction, pull out another envelope and resend to the new address. If it just says something like "Forwarding Order Expired", do some research and try and find a new address. A note that I should NOT have to write but do because I have SEEN this...if the card has been damaged, bent, torn or mangled in the first round, WRITE A NEW CARD! No one will believe it's the Post Office's fault when the envelope arrives in perfect shape and the card inside looks chewed.

And one more thing, update your address database as you resend these cards.

5) If you sent a coupon or special offer, track the results. There is no use sending offers in your company Christmas card if you don't know what works and what doesn't. Hopefully, unless you have a tried and true offer, you did some testing with different coupons to different people. Keep track and use that info to improve future mailings.

Don't discount affordable business cards as a powerful marketing tool

It's almost Thanksgiving and the business forecasts are abysmal. Sales are down, defaults and foreclosures are up, credit is non-existent. The New Year is looking grim.

So what can you do? If you're in a business that has competition in the same area -- like a dry cleaner, restaurant, insurance agency or computer repair shop -- one powerful and inexpensive tool is the company Christmas card. That small token of seasonal good cheer can mean the difference between being just another store in the strip mall and becoming a destination.

Best of all, affordable business holiday cards are still available, even this late in November. A smaller format company holiday card can carry all the punch of a larger card, but at a much lower price per card.

Creating your business holiday message

Before you select your company's holiday greeting cards, and certainly before you begin to pen a message inside, take some time to think about what your business holiday message should be. What do you want to convey, besides Happy Holidays, to those who will read your card? Here are some things to think about:

What is the core value of your company? Is it service? Reliable tradition? Something to make life more fun? Offering cutting-edge technology and gadgets?

Who are your customers? Can you identify a key demographic? Are they older, well-educated professionals? Young, liberal people just starting out in their lives or professions? Families? Sports and/or outdoors enthusiasts? Corporate employees?

Just brainstorm the answers to those two keep questions. Ask others in your organization for their first thoughts. Use the information to create a picture of who you are and who your customers are, painting both with broad strokes rather than specifics like age or annual income.

Now use this information to select a card that will convey a holiday message that reflects your company and your customers.

Start with the picture on the front of the card. For example, if your company stands for environmentally friendly or nature oriented values, an image if pristine snow in a wooded setting would be a better choice than one of a city street crowded with shoppers and decorations. Companies who want to convey a message of friendly, non-traditional service to a younger or more active audience might want to select an image with playful penguins or polar bears instead of a Thomas Kincaid-like scene of a cottage in the countryside.

There is important psychology in action here. By matching the image on the card to the image you see for your customers and your company, you are saying "Hey this is who and what we are, and we connect with who and what you are." Without shouting it, the message will get across.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about what the holiday message inside says about your company. Believe it or not, even the font counts!

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.

Is a corporate holiday gift a good idea? You bet!

As businesses compete for fewer and fewer consumer and even B2B dollars, the race is on to make your company stand out from the crowd.

Sending a company Christmas card or business Thanksgiving card is certainly one way to reach out to customers. But what about those really special customers? Or that market segment your business is trying to break into? Is a corporate holiday gift a good way to stand out from the crowd?

If you choose the right gifts, the answer could be yes!
Here's a case study...

Sue and Stan's custom construction company had always been number one in their area. Then a combination of decreased home owner spending and some new, lower cost competition combined to put a real dent in their business. And the holidays were just around the corner.

Of course they would send out company Christmas cards to past clients and people who had expressed an
interest at the local home show over the summer. But there were a handful of really wonderful clients who had not only used Sue and Stan's services in their own homes, but had also referred quite a few clients to them over the years.

For these special customers, they decided to add a corporate holiday gift to the usual card to let these special clients know how much they appreciated their on-going business and referrals.

After looking around, they decided on a small but elegant desk clock and calculator combination. They took advantage of the free engraving to add a message of thanks that related to the gift..

"When it's time for home renovations, count on S & S Custom Builders"

They sent these holiday gifts to 30 of their best clients, along with a gift certificate good for $100 off a new project with each referral who scheduled their own home renovation or custom building project.

The result of their investment of about $600? In the following 4 months -- 18 new projects for just over $92,000 in net profit.

A side note...the company Christmas cards sent to 150 people contacted at the summer home show yielded another $80,000 plus in projects booked for the months following the holidays.

In this season of silver and gold, are you using holidays cards and gifts to keep your business in the black?