Christmas Cards

[Brad 14]

Does anybody send their customers christmas cards? I'm sure some do,but is it just to say merry christmas and thank you? Or could you send them a gift of 25 dollars off there next house wash and maybe an additional coupon for their friend or neighbor.How about some ideas,it seems to me this could benefit us all !!! And it's not a bad idea to help them remember what a good job you did for them last May.

[RyanH 14]

There was some discussion on this the same time last year.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1009&highlight=christmas+cards

As for what to put (christmas, "happy holidays" or whatever), go with what you feel. I know as a customer I *HATE* to receive those safe cards with trite messages like "happy holidays." It tells me that the sender thinks I will get offended if my beliefs to not align with theirs, and I know that I am not that weak as to be offended by such a thing. If someone sent me a card titled "Happy Jazmakwan," it wouldn't bother me one bit, even though I personally celebrate Christmas. It says to me that they celebrate it, and they are wishing positive spirit to me in the name of it.

And if you are indifferent and don't celebrate anything, then what "holiday" can be happy???

Probably not a very smart marketing idea, but personally I would appreciate a sender with some balls (or nerve to be more PC) over someone looking for the safe answer.

Oh, and I don't send anything, although I do send "thank you" cards the next year for customers I think will have repeat business.

[Brad 14]

I was'nt looking at it like that at all.It did'nt even cross my mind but since you brought it up,Like you I live in the south and as you know the south is very religion oriented.I can honestly say that more than half of my customers have invited my family to their church,and I appreciate it because it may be a reflection of how they perceive me as a person.Or on the other hand maybe they think I really need help! LOL All that I'm asking is is it cool to send a card around the holidays with a coupon as a gift thanking them for your services they requested? Would they use the coupon, would freinds or neighbors?

There was some discussion on this the same time last year.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1009&highlight=christmas+cards

As for what to put (christmas, "happy holidays" or whatever), go with what you feel. I know as a customer I *HATE* to receive those safe cards with trite messages like "happy holidays." It tells me that the sender thinks I will get offended if my beliefs to not align with theirs, and I know that I am not that weak as to be offended by such a thing. If someone sent me a card titled "Happy Jazmakwan," it wouldn't bother me one bit, even though I personally celebrate Christmas. It says to me that they celebrate it, and they are wishing positive spirit to me in the name of it.

And if you are indifferent and don't celebrate anything, then what "holiday" can be happy???

Probably not a very smart marketing idea, but personally I would appreciate a sender with some balls (or nerve to be more PC) over someone looking for the safe answer.

Oh, and I don't send anything, although I do send "thank you" cards the next year for customers I think will have repeat business.

[RyanH 14]

Absolutely it is a good idea if you believe that the need exists for annual cleaning, which in the south it almost always does. The card itself acts as a reminder of your service and says "Hey, I appreciate the opportunity you gave me to make your home more beautiful and enjoyable." It shows caring and respect on your part for your customers and that you aren't the typical one-night-stand contractor. The offer for a reduced follow-up cleaning price gives them incentive to call on you again and puts into their mind that perhaps a fresh wash is a good idea.

Sorry about the rant...I've just been getting buggered out about all the Happy Holidays floating around in ads and television lately. Dammit, if you are going to have traditional icons of Christmas like Santa and reindeer, then call it what it is (and yes, I know about the origin of such things, but humor me). Advertisers have hijaaked the "holiday" for financial gain and have whored out the meaning of giving. And this isn't in direct response to your question, just a rant explaining my first rant :topic: :soapbox: . I have a habit of ranting sometimes. Perhaps I should establish a New Year's resolution......

Happy Chrismuhanukwanzakah to you....

[squirtgun 122]

Ryan,

I always call it Chriskwanhanzikamas.I agree step up and send the cards that say Merry Christmas if that is the holiday you celebrate.Our society is sooooo PC over every little thing.

We send cards to everyone that has done business with us over the year.This year we will be adding 2- 10% off coupons for the homeowner and a friend or neighbor.We send cards to our commercial accounts but do not offer them a discount.We have been tossing around the idea of sending a fruit basket for the office staff to share.

[RyanH 14]

Scott,

The baskets are a great idea for some businesses, especially if they are relatively small and intimate and you personally know some of the people there (as opposed to responding to a whimsical call from the yellow pages). Larger businesses tend to expect the gifts this time of year as an a** kissing guesture and don't *really* pay attention to the sender. Now, that's just the experience from what I've seen and learned from talking with the people at my contract accounts. I'm constantly in their faces regarding my quality and their needs, so they are open to talk about the perceptions. They get cookies, baskets, coupons, etc. from almost every vendor (shipping, office supplies, copy machine technicians, coffee services, etc.) and almost every gift goes to the commons area for all to share...the purchasing people rarely are concerned with anything but the bottom line price. If you want to make a HUGE impact, show up personally with some stuff and stay a short while to shoot the bull and maybe feel them up for future needs and suggest additional services. That kind of personal attention goes a LONG way towards making a positive impression, atleast it has worked for me.

[Henry B. 4]

I'm going to be sending out a happy holidays to all my clients.. I'm going to do it using email with a special program I've run accrossed. I had thought about adding a discount or coupon on services but decided against it. I don't want it to appear to be a marketing ploy. I'd rather it be just a plain old happy holidays thing from the staff of Henry's Housework and leave it at that. I can market people 364 days a year. Everyone's entitled to a day off.

[Aplus 525]

I send out "happy holiday" cards. No mention of religion is used. It should not be pertinant in a typical business relationship.No coupons, no business cards, just a personally signed Thank You card.

It is surprising how few companies take the time to even send a card. Regardless what type of card you send, you're ahead of most other contractors, and keeping your name in their memory banks a little longer.

Cards fall under marketing expenses, and are in their simplest sense, designed to keep your name in front of the customer in a tactful way. That's why we do it.

I don't mean to sound cold about it, but it's true.

[Celeste 341]

We're sending cards to our favorite clients over the past year - some of our bigger contracts will receive small gift $25.00 certificates to Applebee's (we do monthly sidewalks for them in exchange for these - it works very well, no taxable income for us, no dollars out of their budget, only takes one hour per month) We're doing the DIY cards this year as well - putting a pic of the whole family next to our trucks with a little Happy SOMETHING from the family of Carolina ProWash on the front. We appreciate your business on the inside.

Celeste

[Henry B. 4]

Hey A-plus, Don't get me wrong, I send these cards out to keep me in their minds also. Of course marketing is involved to an extent. I just don't want to push the marketing aspect of them by offering a discount on our services. Now if I had discounts to something completly unrelated to my company that would be another matter altogether!

[Ron Musgraves 240]

I send about 4000 cards, I don't use the words christmas. We say happy new year or happy holidays.

I never have put any promotion or business with these cards. we just thank them and say have a great holiday.

I think trying to ad advertisement would take the luster away from this.

[Aplus 525]

Don't sweat it Henry, my reply wasn't directed towards you. Just a general statement about how I handle cards during the holidays...:)

[Aplus 525]

We're sending cards to our favorite clients over the past year - some of our bigger contracts will receive small gift $25.00 certificates to Applebee's (we do monthly sidewalks for them in exchange for these - it works very well, no taxable income for us, no dollars out of their budget, only takes one hour per month) We're doing the DIY cards this year as well - putting a pic of the whole family next to our trucks with a little Happy SOMETHING from the family of Carolina ProWash on the front. We appreciate your business on the inside.

Celeste

That's a good idea! I have bartered work in the past as well, and it can work very well as long as you have enough other work to keep bread on the table.

I was working on a deal to clean a local carwash's large canopy, in exchange for carwashes, when a huge storm blew in and ripped their canopy to shreds. They decided to not replace it. I was bummed because I was looking forward to extra carwashes.

[Celeste 341]

Let me add something to my post on sending gift certificates to our contractors - The clientele I am referring to are builders, resi clients and such......it is a BAAAAAAAD idea to send any type of "gratuity" to certain customers/managers, ie, Lowe's, Walmart, large restaurant chain types. I am sure that the veterans of the business know that this can cause you to lose your contract (Thanks Ron) but with so many new guys starting up and this being their first Christmas, I thought it would be worth mentioning. Be very very careful who you send gifts to! And if you're not sure, not sending is probably the erring on the better side of caution.

Celeste

[charlie 14]

We just send out christmas cards just to say thank you for being our customer, nothing else. We buy our cards through www.CardsDirect.com.

Charlie

[Aplus 525]

Property managers are usually ok. A nice poinsetta plant or basket of fruit is always nice for their office.