Business and Corporate Christmas Cards

I am a great advocate of businesses sending out Holiday Christmas cards.

They’re a great way to thank your clients and customers for their business during the year, to remind them that you are still very interested in them, and to encourage them to think of you next year for their product or service needs.

However, as simple as the concept might sound, yoiu can get yourself and your company in trouble by sending the wrong card or greeting.

1. Watch the content of the card. You might think a naked Santa is the funniest thing ever, but I can guarantee that you’ll offend someone – if not everyone with this example. Save that card for Uncle Joe and his sense of humor.

2. Remember that most societies are becoming more diverse in their makeup, and that certainly includes religions and belief systems. You cannot assume that sending a card celebrating the birth of Jesus will please all your recipients. Better to find an attractive Holiday Greeting or Happy Holidays card to send.

3. If you find sending a generic greeting offensive, or feel the Christmas Season is a time only for a religious Christian card, you are better off sending only Happy New Year cards. A customer who does not share your belief system may well decide that you are insensitive to their beliefs and that they do not want to do business with you.

4. Don’t think that the only card to send must be glitzy and expensive. With just a little shopping around, especially on the internet, you can find something quite nice. Another advantage to doing your shopping online is that you’re likely to find an affordable design your recipients haven’t already seen from a bunch of other firms.

5. Don’t just get cards with pre-printed greetings with your company name and think that’s good enough. Unless your corporation is so big that you don’t have personal relationships with your customers, it is well worth the effort to personalize a greeting and signature, whether the boss does the actual sigining or an employee does it. Personalization goes a very long way.

6. Don’t use printed labels to address the cards. The return address can certainly be a label, but it’s much better to hand write the envelope, again whether it be the company management or a temp worker hired for just that chore.

7. Don’t wait until the middle of December to mail your business Christmas card. Not only do you run the risk of the card getting delivered after the holidays (what kind of attention to detail does that convey to your customer?), but you also will probably have your card delivered with a number of other cards. It’s better to mail early, while the receipt of a card is still somewhat special. There is the possible added benefit of having your card on display for a longer time.

So there are just a few suggestions of things to watch out for as you plan your business Christmas card chores.