🎁 [BONUS] How to Address a Holiday Card 🎄

Hey there. Welcome to this special bonus edition of the Confident Communications Podcast. If this episode has landed in your podcast on your phone or on your laptop, think of it as an Easter egg holiday gift from me for subscribing to the podcast. So only the listeners who subscribe are getting this episode. So thank you for listening and thank you for subscribing. It's that time of the year, the time when you're debating debating whether or not to send a holiday card. Holiday cards can be time consuming and it's often very difficult to navigate what to include and what to leave out, especially if your holiday list spans both business and professional recipients, as well as friends. So today we're going to focus on the business side. Who to send the card to, what to say, and whether or not a photo is a good idea. First, should you send a holiday card? Well, the holiday season is a time to show gratitude and of course many businesses send holiday cards to colleagues, customers and employees. Some might look at it as just one more thing that needs to be done, but I do think it is a nice gesture that can also help you to stay top of mind. See Savvy business Move. So sending a holiday card is important, but you need to keep your audience in. It might serve you best to send a separate card with different messaging for each type of person who will receive it. You'll want a different message for employees, different message for team members than you would, for example, your customers. Next, who should you include on the list? Of course your customers, your constituents, your colleagues. They're all equally important, so make sure they're all on the list. Use any customer management system, that's the CMS system to help you create your holiday list and add anyone who may be left off it. So definitely check the list that you have because there's going to be a lot of attrition, a lot of turnover. Make a list of your key employees in management, staff members that will get more personalized cards. And talk to your HR department about ensuring that your entire staff gets something from you. You don't want anyone to be left out, especially if you have a smaller business. Keep in mind your full time staffers, your part time staffers. Everyone's going to know, so make sure that everyone is involved. Next, some tips that you want to remember when it comes to writing a holiday card. Handwrite the cards if possible and sign them yourself. This is vital if you have a very hands on or high touch business. No one wants a card from a robot now. However, there are websites out there that I have used where it looks like you're you're writing it so it looks like a handwritten card so you can check those out. Next, you want to use a holiday card, not a Christmas card or another holiday. Unless yours is a secular organization. We live in a time of political correctness and it is important to take into account others beliefs and values. Of course, I'm not saying you have to do it, but you just have to be mindful that other people may not share the same holiday belief system as you. Next, prepare and send cards early. If you miss the boat, make them New Year's cards. Holiday cards after the holidays. You don't want to do that. It just makes you look unprepared and unreliable. It's okay to send a New Year's card if necessary, but try to get those holiday cards out now. When this episode is being released the first week of December, that's when you need to start thinking about it. That's where I was just today doing Christmas cards. Remember others at your customers offices. So you know who I'm talking about. That assistant who is so helpful and the business partner who is part of the decision making process, but who you may not talk to that often. You'll gain big bonus points if you remember some of the often forgotten people and remember other holidays. Don't just show gratitude once a year. Celebrate year round with other holidays that are important to your customers and of course your own organization. Some of the problems with holiday cards again, you don't want to send them late. You don't want to forget them altogether, especially if you're someone who sends them yearly. Next, don't just focus on one holiday. A lot of people, a lot of the Christians celebrate Christmas of course, but not everyone in your office or anyone you work with is going to necessarily celebrate the same religious holiday as you, so as calling it just a holiday card is appropriate. You don't want to use a bot or a service to sign all the cards unless it's really really good. And then of course, for getting key people on the list. In closing, I want to help you with some holiday closings. So when you're writing that card or your letter to your colleagues or your clients or other businesses, opt for a nice cheery holiday closing such as season's greetings, Glad tidings for the holiday and Happy New Year. Happy Holidays. Their Sincerely Regards Best Regards Best from your friends at thanks for another great year. Here's to 2020. Thank you for another great year of your partnership. Happy holidays from everyone at so and so. Wishing you the best this holiday season, all the dedicated staff at Name of youf Business, and we look forward to working with you in the year to come. So that's all I have for this week on this special bonus edition of the Confident Communications Podcast. Again, thank you so much for listening. This is my little holiday card to you. I hope you all have a Happy Holidays. Guess what? There's another Easter egg within the Easter egg episode. I'm including a special download for how to sign a holiday card. So if you just go to mollymcpherson.com holidaycard you will get a free downloadable worksheet to give you examples on how to write or craft a signature for your holiday card. And you can use this for family, for personal, or for professional. So go to molly mcpherson.com backslash holiday card.