TOP 20 TACTICS TO MAKE CHRISTMAS CARDS WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Timing is essential: 1. Have the design ready well in advance – before everybody starts thinking “Christmas” and herd thinking affects the purpose and creativity. 2. Have your Christmas lists ready as early as possible. Circulate a spreadsheet form to each individual. This will help you determine the print quantities, organise mailing labels for everyone and allow writing the cards without rushing. Give your staff and executives plenty of time to come up with the lists and then to write the cards but implement some „fun‟ accountability exercise. 3. Do not allocate quantities based on staff position. Let them have as many as they want – as long as they come up with the lists prior to the print date. Every employee should be your ambassador in the external world. If they are not dealing with any external parties – even the courier or the mail person or even the cleaner – it‟s time they started. 4. Send the cards out between 1st and 15th November. Be the 1st card on your client‟s desk. It shows that you are organised, thoughtful and, as most people display their cards, it will remind the Clients about you for 2 months. 5. You want your card to be the only one on your client‟s desk, so, you should be there early to „reserve‟ the best spot. Send your cards as early as possible. Help your client display your card: make it easy for them, so it can stand vertically, doesn‟t fly off the desk or shelf every time the door opens, attracts attention with colour or texture. 6. Do not send Christmas cards after 10 December. It reflects badly on your organisational skills. If you feel you may be running late, make it a New Year card and the wishes can be more business, success, achievement and well-being focused. This can be a point of difference – but not the strongest point. Customer Relationship Management – how to: 7. Consider carefully what you want to achieve from this communication with your Customers, Suppliers, Associates, your Networking circle? At Christmas people want to be remembered and treated more personally than during the rest of the year. They also appreciate when it happens. So make it happen. 8. Wish your customers something you know they wish for themselves. Remember cultural and religious sensitivities when crafting the Christmas card message and design. That‟s where knowing your customers comes in handy. Have you asked them questions and allowed for small talk while keeping focus on delivering your product and service during the year? It‟s pay out time. 9. Eat your humble pie. Tell a long neglected customer that it has been a long time since you spoke but you hope they are well and you plan to catch up with them either before Christmas or definitely in the New Year.
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Do not expect that your card is a promotional coupon and that 1-4% of recipients will make a purchase. A well considered greeting is a sensitive process that should create a positive feeling about you, your company and result in increased loyalty and re-purchase: aim for 100% customer pleasure. Impart on your entire team the importance of a „small gesture‟. Each card sent needs to be personalised from the person that matters to your customers. The „less important‟ the recipient is that more they will appreciate the personal message. Printed signatures of the top managers are not important to most customers. However, if you know that a particular customer would feel really special by a signature from the CEO, ask the CEO to sign it. Avoid the abbreviation “Xmas” – it is a pet hate of many grammar conscious people. In the Age of Political Correctness have double checking mechanisms so that you don‟t offend any gender, age, minority or animal discrimination sensitivities, unless it is your strategy to attract free publicity Janet Jackson style.
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Branding considerations: 14. Christmas cards offer an excellent opportunity to stop for a moment and consider two critical issues for your business: what is the image your business / brand wants to project and, who are your customers and what makes them tick. Don‟t think “Christmas card” first. Think: my customers‟ expectations. Be consistent and deliver the promise but also aim to delight. If your communication is usually funky and upbeat, that will be the expectation of your card design and message. If your brand normally projects a certain image, stay with it, but consider how you can enhance it on this occasion. 15. Middle of the road is rarely a good position to be noticed. You have a choice between a minimalist exposure of the brand or the perspective of „abundance‟ going creative for the occasion all the way and having fun with it. Whatever you do, remember to say who it is from. Go back to basics; ensure that your brand hasn‟t disappeared among the reindeer and all other imagery of the occasion. Memorable means that your business and your brand is recognised and remembered through the execution. Broadening Sales Pipeline: 16. Writing a personal message on Christmas cards is a great „catch up‟ excuse. You may be forgiven for a long silence and resume an almost lost contact. Just like in a quick personal note, but in a more festive style, promise your contact that you hope to catch up with them „still before Christmas holidays‟ or „early in the New Year‟, and deliver your promise. 17. Reward your best customers – if you don‟t already have a plan for gifts – by including a nicely produced gift voucher for an appropriate product or service. For instance, if you are a locally operating accounting firm, you may consider a deal with a local restaurant or beauty salon. Make sure it is clearly communicated that the gift is from you, so if it is passed on to someone else, they still know your name and the business you are allied with will give you further referrals. 18. A personal message relating to a good mutual experience and the satisfaction achieved on both sides can be a positive memory jogger and, if supported by clever creative that reinforces your
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business message, can become a good conversation topic between your client and many referrals. 19. OK. Writing 50 personalised messages can be a bastard of a task, but be reassured that a warm personal message can make a lot of difference and can just tip the balance in keeping that account. 20. If writing and sending Christmas cards seems like a shallow routine, consider the implications of not doing it and not doing it well. Your card is your business representative and it has just missed out on a party on your client‟s desk. It didn‟t go places, it hasn‟t been seen, and it missed out on touching hands with your client. It missed the best opportunity of any promotional tool – that of sitting prominently in your client‟s sight for at least four weeks. Is your business missing out?
Margaret Manson Global Trendz Marketing Ph: (03) 9857 9215 Email: mmanson@globaltrendz.com.au Website: www.globaltrendz.com.au Global Trendz Marketing is a marketing consultancy, specialising in business development strategies for businesses in B2B sector. We help businesses reach sales and profitability goals through planning, effective market communication programs and, importantly, we assist them in implementing marketing plans and campaigns to ensure the results.
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