Marcie Wiehagen — December 14, 2016 Giving holiday business greetings and sending gifts is a rite of passage at this time of year. And if we move back on the calendar a few weeks, you can count more than thirty worldwide religious holidays between October and December…plus there’s the non-denominational January 1 to kick off 2017! These events provide many opportunities to connect with clients and others who are important to your company.
The Holiday Business Greetings Project
If you are like most marketers, you understand how much time and effort goes into sending holiday business greetings. Sales and marketing groups are often jointly assigned the task ―getting pictures and samples of possible gifts, creating electronic cards (With or without music? And what genre of music?!), as well as choosing paper designs, and creating list of recipients (and checking it twice for spelling and addresses!). When you add in tracking the budget, this becomes a project. It may be like any other project, but it comes with a really, really tight deadline. I remember working as a junior staffer at a fairly young company where no one gave a thought to holiday greetings until the second week in December. Somehow, we crunched through all the tasks and sent a little over 300 gifts and 200 cards before December 20th―talk about holiday stress!
For many of us, just going through the process of choosing holiday greetings can be anxiety inducing as we sweat the details. Will the message offend anyone? Does it look cheap? Too expensive? What does it say about the company? Who is on the recipient list? What goes to the client or vendor who didn’t do much business during the year?
Three Reasons to Help Spread Business Holiday Cheer
Relax because there is no right way or wrong way to send holiday business greetings and rest assured there are as many ways as there are lights on the tree at Rockefeller Center. I know you will figure it out. Instead of giving you a how-to list, I want you to take a few minutes and consider three important reasons to spread cheer at this time of year.
- The Whole World Is Celebrating!
Some would say that you either get on board or be left out. But seriously? Your company needs to be part of the celebration!
- Advertising?
Okay, so no one mentions this directly but there is a real benefit to having your company name and brand on something. It’s even better if you send a non-food gift, and that branded item can remain on the recipient’s desk for months. What a great way to remind them of your company.
- Saying Thanks.
Regardless of the holiday or the type of greeting you send, this is an excellent time of year to thank clients, staff, vendors, and others who are part of your business life. According to the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, gratitude reduces anxiety, lowers blood pressure, is good for communities, makes us more resilient, and strengthens relationships. Strengthening relationships is something that everyone understands. And it seems especially important as we wrap up the year.
So, what are you waiting for? Get started on your holiday business greetings! Choose paper or electronic or send a gift. Do whatever works for you. Most importantly take this opportunity to connect with people and say thanks.
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