Holiday greetings to clients December 18, 2008
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices, Marketing ideas.trackback
I’m updating my Christmas card database in Access and thought it would be interesting to share how I thank my clients with whom I have worked in the last year. I made a list of all the clients I have worked with this year. There were 32 of them, many of them returning or long-term clients. I think it is important to send out a Christmas card thanking your clients, even if you only worked for them once or twice or decided to part ways during the year for one reason or another. They still played a role in your success and should be thanked. I then do a mail merge and print out address labels, sign the cards and seal up the envelopes. I always make sure to thank them for playing a role in my business and wish them a happy and prosperous new year.
I also had my favorite Cleveland chocolatier mail-order a big holiday gift of chocolate and peppermint-covered Oreos and assorted chocolates to my favorite client. I know it arrived today, because I got a lot of fun thank you messages from the company owner and several employees via e-mail and Skype. I earned $35,000.00 from that client alone this year, so a little Christmas basket is the least I can do to show my gratitude for their continued business.
If you don’t want to send out Christmas cards, you should pick a holiday to send out cards to your client. One of my clients sends a Thanksgiving card every year. I think that is a great idea, because that way the cards don’t get lost in the Christmas rush of holiday letters and cards. In my case, I am already sending out cards to friends and family, so an extra 30 cards isn’t that big a deal. They just don’t get my holiday letter 🙂
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have address labels to print and cards to stuff. I chose a multi-holiday card this year with a Christmas tree, menorah, etc. to cover all my bases. Happy Holidays!
Musings from an overworked translator 
The Japanese don’t generally send out Christmas cards, but New Year’s cards (nengajo) are huge here. My wife (whose Japanese handwriting blows mine away) handles our New Year’s cards, and between friends, family, and clients, she probably writes about 50 or more. Handwritten cards have a lot of cachet here.
Back in the day, all of Japan would shut down for New Year’s, and all you’d have to do was sit around the kotatsu reading your nengajo, going around and visiting people, and eating the food you’d prepared ahead of time. Now, we’ve got 24-hour convenience stores, and you can go out for ramen on January 1, so it’s not such a big deal. But it’s still a vital business practice in Japan.
Thanksgiving isn’t a bad holiday to pick as an alternative. Nor is Valentine’s Day. If you *really* want to emphasize your status as a freelancer and what it means, you could always send out cards on Independence Day….
Jill, they were *delicious*. Thank you!!!