Building Customer Loyalty with Holiday Greeting Cards

Each year a few weeks before Christmas I receive a decent amount of holiday greeting cards from my vendors and other companies as to which I am a customer.  Believe it or not, I am like many business professionals and consumers in that holiday greetings cards are one piece of marketing literature that I actually read and tends to make an impact on my buying decision.  For example last year I had a contract with an IT company that did a good job with the services they provided for our company, however they had made a few large mistakes that cost our business both time and money.  By the end of the year I had basically made my decision to terminate the contract and move forward with a different option.  In the second week of December I received a holiday greeting card and cookies from this specific IT company.  Within the card they noted the mistakes they had made along with apology hoping we could work together in the future, they even followed up with a nice phone call.  Amazingly, the personal card, cookies and courtesy phone call was enough to change my mind, even though they dropped the ball.  I now had the confidence they put their customers first and would fix any problem as a priority.  This was enough reassurance that they were the right company for the job and starting fresh with a new IT was not the best option.I shared that story because it is very similar to countless others when companies capitalize on an opportunity to present a personal touch and a thank you.  If you are smart you will send one to every past customer and every possible account you have in the pipeline.  But please, if you go through the effort of sending out a holiday greeting card make sure it is personal.  I know in the hustle of the last quarter time is rare and there are a million things to accomplish, yet a simple card with a personal touch will go a long way.  It is just a simple way to show your customers that you appreciate their business.  With a high chance they will read the card and remember you, this should be a no brainer.  It is also a good idea if the funds are available to provide a small gift to your top customers.  Do remember however, that government customers cannot accept gifts.  So as this holiday season approaches don't miss out on an excellent marketing opportunity to build customer loyalty.