With the holiday season right around the corner, the next few months provide a fantastic opportunity to make contact with your customers in a positive, personal way. Don’t let the busy lead up to Christmas stop you from making sure your customers know you are a valued customer.

1. Don’t Use Christmas as a Marketing Opportunity

A holiday greeting is not an opportunity to be “selling” to your customers. If you have an offer or marketing message for your customers, include it in a separate piece of correspondence. Nothing says “insincere” like a sales pitch in a Christmas Card. No, this is the time to remind your existing customers how valuable they are to you, and to thank them for their custom over the year.

Christmas Cards are a traditional method of spreading the holiday cheer, but only send them to customers who will know who they’re from. A holiday greeting will leave your existing customers with a warm fuzzy feeling, but is wasted on a prospective client.

2. Stand Out from the Crowd with your Holiday Greeting

Keep in mind that you aren’t the only one who will be making contact with your customer at this time of year. Be original in your message, use your imagination and make sure your’s is the holiday greeting they will remember long after the Christmas holidays have come and gone.

Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- Make sure the message in their card is a personal one, not just a collection of staff signatures.
- Give your key clients something they can take home. Promotional companies have thousands of ideas: BBQ sets, sports equipment or homewares.
- A present that will make your customer look good? What about a voucher for chocolates and flowers, or a day spa – they can use it themselves, or give it to someone special – they won’t forget that quickly.

3. Don’t miss out on the Spending Frenzy

The lead up to Christmas is the single biggest spending event in the calendar year, and this extends to many business-to-business products as well as the traditional retail. With Christmas deadlines looming, everyone is anxious to get their spending done before the holidays set in. Make sure you don’t get forgotten by offering your customers a Christmas incentive. Give your customers double points on their reward campaign, offer incentives to new customers to sign on to your customer loyalty program, offer good old fashioned bulk discounts.

At this busy time of year, try to make things as easy as possible for your customers: speedy delivery or free gift wrapping will go a long way with ensuring that they remember you as a hassle free supplier in the New Year.

4. Post Christmas Hang-over?

After Christmas, your customers will return to work. The holiday frenzy over, it will almost seem like it never happened. Make sure your customers don’t forget about you in this crucial time and send them a reminder. In January, send them a New Year offer, a reminder of how they can redeem the Customer Reward points they collected in December or even a customer newsletter. They will start the New Year with your business at the front of their minds… and what could make for a better new year than that?