Holiday Greetings

This is the holiday season. I know that there are other holidays and special occasions that we all celebrate. Many of my readers know and understand my feelings towards the celebration of all holidays, not just at the end of a year. It is time again to address the holiday greetings that we all give to others at this time of the year, and also at other special times.

As business people we should send holiday greetings to our prospects, customers, clients, and networking partners. We also should include those who are former customers, unless we have agreed to never contact them for some reason.

Those holiday greetings should be ones offering our warm feelings towards the recipient, thanks for their friendship, appreciation for their business, gratitude for their referrals, and/or wishes for their health and success in the New Year. This is Gratitude Marketing at its finest.

Your greetings should not include an offer to buy something, or anything, at a discount. It should never state that for the holidays you will provide a reduced price for a gift. A required purchase is not a gift. A gift is something that is given to another person without any strings attached. It does not require anything from the recipient but for them to accept it.

If you want to offer a holiday discount, offer it. Offer it in a marketing piece that is a marketing piece of communication, not a holiday greeting. If you want to add a short holiday wish for the recipient’s good health, do so, but only as a closure. A marketing piece of communication should never be disguised as a holiday greeting, no matter what the occasion.

We should recognize the special occasions of our partners, no matter the level of partnership. They may be close relationships or not. They may be friends or not. We may have actually met face to face, or not. We must stay in communications with them; we must express our gratitude for their association with us. We do not have to constantly have to try to sell to them.

Gratitude Marketing means that we express our appreciation and gratitude for the people and what they mean to us. It does not mean that we have to try to sell whatever we have to them at every occasion. The holidays are not the occasion to greet others with one hand and try to gain their money with the other.

Let me know what you believe and if you agree or disagree. Please email me at Jim@SOC4Now.com, or call me at 360-314-8691. Have a great holiday season and be safe and well. We can always chat about whatever you want or need at our mutual convenience.