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If you have female clients and want to keep them, you should be aware that women notice little things. Everything that you do (or don’t do for that matter) says a lot about you and how much you care about them.
Holiday season is a particularly good opportunity to cement your relationship by showing your appreciation for them. But beware, if you don’t get it right – it will backfire on you. A hasty generic card in the mail could do more harm than good.
Here are the 5 biggest mistakes you can make when sending a Christmas/Holiday card.
1. Sending a holiday card signed by everyone in the office
This practice fails on two fronts: In most cases the client won’t be able to identify who the card is coming from without looking at the return address on the envelope. In addition, even when they figure out who the card is from they are not likely to be able to decipher a bunch of illegibly scrawled first names.
2. Sending a mass email holiday card
Don’t fool yourself. By now everyone knows when a mass email has been sent (the email is addressed “to the sender”). No one is impressed, in fact it says, “I can’t be bothered to take the time to send you something personal,” so why send it. If you must send an electronic greeting – make sure it is personal and specific to each client.
3. Sending a holiday card without acknowledging the holiday the client is celebrating (if any)
Don’t try to be politically correct by simply buying “generic” holiday cards. They don’t cover everyone anyway and you risk offending those who do celebrate a traditional Christmas. A card sent at this time of the year should be personal whether the client celebrates Divali, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa or Christmas. You clients deserve the extra effort it takes to treat them with respect as individuals. Knowing enough about them to know what holiday they celebrate is one way of showing that you care.
4. “A gift has been given on your behalf to…. ”(if the client doesn’t also support that charity)
Who are you trying to impress? Good for you for being philanthropic, but it is rather presumptuous to assume that everyone wants to support the charity you chose. If you really know your clients (and you should) and want to show them you care – you should make a donation to their favourite charity.
5. Sending a card with an address label on the envelope or a ‘stamped’ corporate signature inside
Both of these practices scream, “addressing or signing each one would be too much trouble for me”. Remember, these are your clients, the people who pay for your lifestyle. The least you can do is show them that you care about them enough to send a personalized, hand written note and envelope.
It’s not too late to make a really great impression this Holiday Season.
Do it right, be the one to stand out and start off the new year right.
Learn how to Retain Female Clients through this online course and earn CE credits. Or visit us at here and learn everything there is to know about what women want and how to serve them well.