You’re probably already feeling swooped up in the rush of planning for all that the last two months of the year will bring. Well, let’s add one or two more things to your Things to Do List, and take them off just as quickly. We’ll use the Who, What, When, Where and Why process.
Who: Think about who deserves to hear from you this time of year. It’s probably a combination of clients/customers and vendors, those with whom you’ve done business and with whom you share a mutual appreciation.
What: Will you send holiday cards? Will you send holiday gifts? Both? Perhaps you’ll break your list of recipients into multiple lists. For cards, you may send the same card to all. You might also consider sending a professionally produced digital or e-card via e-mail, allowing the recipient to click and watch/listen to your holiday greeting. For gifts, you may divide your recipients into several manageable categories—maybe it’s an A, B and C list, with the most personalized gifts going to the A’s, a less customized gift to the B’s and a simple, but nice gift to the C’s. Some companies only send cards that include a message that the company has made a donation to XYZ organization in the name of all its clients/vendors; that’s an option, too.
When: The logical timing is in November or December, but we’ve found that beating the rush by sending cards/gifts in mid-November has a distinct benefit. With that timing, your recipients won’t already be inundated with other cards/gifts, so yours will stand out and be appreciated. Plus, they’ll likely be there, as opposed to already being out for two weeks had your gift been delivered later in December.
Where: This one’s pretty obvious—deliver cards/gifts to the client or customer’s office. Do, though, consider more lead-time for out-of-town deliveries.
Why: To express your genuine concern and thanks for the relationships you have. To make sure they know you value working with them. To stay top of mind. And…to stand out and be relevant, as more and more companies do away with any sort of holiday greetings.
Now what? Talk with your marketing agency to help you brainstorm card/gift options, as well as help orchestrate the process. If you have this discussion in the next week or so, and start compiling your recipient list for cards/gifts, you’ll be able to pull off a nice client touch point that will yield goodwill and potential additional business in 2015 and beyond.