who is sending them out? does any one have one i could see to get some ideas flowing…
I don’t send out christmas cards since it may offend some people. (Jewish, Muslim, Atheist) Instead, what I do is send out Thank You cards at years end, and also 2 other times during the year. I print them out, and add a personal message based on my notes about the client and add a gift card for what my notes say they like.
You can go to a paper specialty store, or even pick up some nice ones from Staples or Office Depot.
do these cards just thank them for their business or what. is this for all clients or just certain ones?
You could always have the card say happy holidays. i figure since x mas is such a big holiday most non Christians are used to it and dont get too offended
Like Tory, I don’t send out “Christmas” cards. I do send all my customers some kind of “seasons greetings” cards and I write a personal note inside of every card sent to a “regular” customer. This year I will spend some hours doing it…and for that I am very thankful
Kind of, but its more personal. Not just thanking them for their business, but something with a personal touch and a monetary gift. No, not all clients get them. I am still weeding out the lower paying ones. Almost all of them though. That is true, many people probably would not be actually offended, but if they don’t celebrate it, it might seem noteworthy to them that you care enough to notice? Just my 2 cents bro…
I’m an atheist, I like getting Christmas cards and who cares about others problems with it. Anyone that doesn’t like Christmas should go back where they came from.
The whole “Happy Holidays” stuff is so weak and I find it embarrassing. I’ve had customers wish me Happy Chinese New Year I didn’t get offended. (I’m not Chinese, they were.)
I just remembered a time I did get offended a little bit. I had a customer, a wife of an American diplomat… not an ambassador but something like that. They rented a big house, this was just after 911 and they had come from Israel. So the wife was arguing with the land lord (A Canadian woman) I was hired to clean the windows for a July the 4th party and the Land lady decided to have the drive way repaved on that day :p. I don’t know what happened with that but the American wife wished me, along the lines of Have a nice July the 4th. I was thinking what the hell are you talking about, LOL.
I understand what you are saying Mike. If I were to get a card from my plumber, a christmas card (just saying here…) and I don’t celebrate christmas…and I really don’t get offended or really care either, but say I get a christmas card. Well hey, that was nice.
Now, what if my plumber sent me a cool thank you card, and inside it said “hey Tory, just wanted to thank you so much for letting me take care of those couple problems you had with the toilet backing up. I know you are having a baby soon, so here is a gift card for a years’ supply of free diapers on us. We wish the best for your family”.
To ME, that makes a whole world of difference than the christmas card that I am gonna throw away. I would throw away the other card too, but I would like it a whole lot better-even if I do celebrate christmas.
Maybe I should not have written “offended” I just could not think of another word to describe it…
Aha! You’re marketing and I was thinking of just giving someone a warm fuzzy, LOL. That’s cause you’re smarter then me:D
Yeah, not really. I rarely have an original thought.
I have sent them out every year with a coupon. We only wish a happy holidays. The coupon does help us with them rescheduling. This year I have not sent out the cards being I don’t have time. My mom has her own issues and could not send them this year. But well worth the effort. I am thinking of bringing in my helper for a day and have her do them.
I send out around 200 “happy holidays” or “season greetings” cards every year. I don’t send Christmas cards specifically, not because I’m worried about offending people, I just don’t think it makes sense in a city like Toronto, probably the most culturally diverse city in Canada. I have a lot of Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu clients along side the many variations of christian practices… I wouldn’t be offended by a card celebrating their faith though I wouldn’t think it would make sense either.
last year i sent them to everybody but not this time.Over this year my round has almost changed by 50% gone forever ,so 50% are new customers and the majority seem very ungrateful at the moment too. Most dont even acknowledge my arrival /departure . plus yesterday one customer told me not to send him a card as its such a waste of trees
i will be very suprised if many Xmas tips are forthcoming this year !
Well that does make sense.
I send Christmas cards to some but not all customers. My top few customers will get a gift, nothing extravagent but just a little something that they wouldnt expect from their window cleaner. I get cards with “Merry Christmas” no “happy holidays” I dont worry about offending, i think the thought is whats appreciated. After all, it’s [B]Christ[/B]mas , I think people forget that sometimes.
Yep, Santa’s Birthday!
I do not like the Christmas card idea and not just because it may be offensive.
People get bombarded with cards at Christmas, most from people they love and
care about. It is hard for a business to fit that mold. Most will go right to the
trash cans (I toss 100% of them immediately)
If you send one, send it from your family to their family. One human being to
another, not an entity to a family. Make sense?
