After a week spent with family and enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday, it is time to get those running shoes on and make the next three weeks really count for your business. These weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are critical not just for retailers, but for all businesses.
Here is how you can connect with your customers, employees and community to make the year-end a positive one.
Holiday greetings, parties and giving back are all ways to connect with your customers, employees and community. Take advantage of this time of giving to say thank you, show your appreciation and give back.
Here is how you can connect with your customers, employees and community to make the year-end a positive one.
Holiday greetings, parties and giving back are all ways to connect with your customers, employees and community. Take advantage of this time of giving to say thank you, show your appreciation and give back.
Customers
As a marketer I am always looking for ways to make another connection. Holiday greetings are a great way to say hello and make an additional client 'touch.' A small gift is always a nice gesture and is a great way to stay top-of-mind. Think about items that will be displayed, used or appreciated. Stay away from preprinted business holiday cards left blank with only the business name. A personal note, if only a sentence, will make a much greater impact.
Employees
Employers often give their employees gifts. It works if it is fitting of the business and if it is done in a personal way. Just sending a turkey from an unknown source to your vegan employee is not going to do the trick.
A personal message from the owner or a company gift that is useful to your employees business are more likely to be remembered than a generic gift. For example, one year I gave all my employees a branded tote bag. It was fitting of my business since my employees carry around a lot of supplies, but it was a gift they could use daily, even outside of the job.
Community
I have a client who is doing an excellent job at giving back to his community. CESG is supporting the Little Gifts of Hope charity and wants to encourage all those who have the means to donate, to also help support this charity. This organization is conducting a Gift Card drive this holiday season for needy families with children undergoing treatment at Children’s Hospital in Dallas. The CESG president's son is undergoing treatment for a form of Leukemia at this hospital and he has seen the struggle the underprivileged families with sick children have first-hand. By bringing light to this organization he is not only helping families who are in need of support, but brining attention to an organization with personal meaning to the company and owner.
Recently I was talking with two business managers who were planning what to do for their employees this time of year. They both expressed what was most difficult was in doing something that will be remembered. It is easy during this busy time of year for your efforts to go unnoticed or at least unremembered. The best way to be remembered is to be genuine and consistent.
If your greeting, gifts and efforts are meaningful, genuine, and relate to your business and the receiver, they are more likely to be remembered. One of the managers I was speaking with knew the family was getting ready to put up their Christmas tree, so on that day she had Tiff's Treats deliver cookies and milk. This was a thank-you for all the long hours her employee had put in this fall.
Consistency will help you be remembered throughout the year, spread the good-will out during the year. Giving to a charity in November and December is great, but how about doing a day of service in the spring as well.
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