| To do well in business, a business owner must show | | | | I recently received a greeting card from my dentist |
| his customers that he cares. And just like in the | | | | which ultimately reminded me of my need to visit her. I |
| personal world outside of business, we show that we | | | | ended up calling her to make the appointment which I |
| care with gestures as simple as greeting cards. We | | | | had forgotten about, and in the end, her greeting card |
| especially need to consider the advantages of taking | | | | led to more business for her office. |
| the time to write a note by hand because of the | | | | If you are going to send out greeting cards, follow the |
| informal and cold methods of communication that we | | | | number one rule of card etiquette: use personal |
| use today on a regular basis like emailing and faxing. | | | | handwriting. Try to write the note yourself, but if you |
| Sure, these methods work well for the sake of | | | | cannot, at least sign the card yourself. Doing so |
| convenience, but they lack the warmth that will make | | | | demonstrates your genuine care for your customer, |
| a customer keep coming back to your business. So | | | | based on the time it took you to write that note out by |
| consider these guidelines when preparing to send out a | | | | hand. |
| business greeting card. | | | | Also make sure that you have your customer's |
| Consider the usefulness of greeting cards during the | | | | correct address and correct name spelling. I personally |
| holiday season. Nothing says that you care more than | | | | hate when I receive a personal card from someone |
| if you send out a greeting to your favorite customer or | | | | who claims to know me well but cannot spell my |
| even all of your customers at this special time of year. | | | | name correctly. It just hurts. So double check the |
| However, because of the recent bouts of political | | | | spelling and the address. |
| correctness and the growing diversity in our nation, we | | | | In the not too far gone past I had an employee who |
| must consider the particular cards that we send | | | | neglected to check my name's spelling on a greeting |
| carefully. If you want to use a card with a nativity | | | | card, and by now you know how I feel about that. To |
| scene, for example, consider the effect it might have | | | | add insult to injury, the employee never signed the card |
| on your business based on those customers who | | | | with his own handwriting and he used a company |
| might not believe the same as you. Be ready to pay | | | | printed label for the envelope. Nothing says, "You're |
| the price of lost customers if you insult them with such | | | | just a number", like a company printed envelope. |
| a greeting card. | | | | Remember your purpose for writing a greeting card in |
| Do not be afraid to send out holiday greeting cards | | | | the end: make the recipient feel warm and cared for. |
| just because you fear insulting your customers though. | | | | |