Send employees and customers greeting for the New Year

The holidays are a great time for keeping in touch with family and friends.  But it’s also a wonderful time to reach out to employees, customers, clients and business associates.  A holiday card can be an inexpensive but effective way to let the people who keep your business strong know just how much they mean to you. 

But before you select custom or bulk greeting cards and start addressing the envelopes, here are some things savvy business owners and managers should consider:

Will it be Merry Christmas or Happy New Years greetings?

It’s almost impossible to know exactly which holiday each business connection celebrates.  And while many people in America accept the Christmas holiday as a secular celebration, others might be offended by a greeting that offers them best wishes for a holiday they don’t recognize.  And some religious Christians may be bothered by a generic Happy Holidays on what is arguably one of the most sacred days of their calendar.

A thoughtful Happy New Years greeting can sidestep the religious battleground and still provide the business benefits of a holiday card.  Even those faiths which observe their own religious New Year, like Judaism and Islam, recognize the secular New Year as well. 

New Year’s messages are perfect for business contacts

A Happy New Year can easily be paired with a wish for greater prosperity, better health or new career success without sounding contrived or sales-focused.  That gives businesses an opportunity to tailor a message that works for their product or service line and still sound appropriate.  For instance, a veterinarian can include a wish for healthy year for the pet owner and the pet.  An investment firm can lean toward prosperity messages or an insurance company can include a wish for safety and peace of mind. These subtle reminders of the services each provides can effectively spark new and on-going business without being perceived as a sales pitch. ~

New Years greeting stand out from the rest

From December 1st to the 24th, odds are your customers and potential customers will be busy with holiday preparations, shopping, parties and of course, sending out their own cards. And during those same weeks, their mailboxes will overflow with cards and catalogs and ads.

Once the holiday crunch has passed, the pace slows a bit.  A New Year’s greeting delivered on the 30th or 31st of December will likely be one of the few. That means your card is more likely to be opened, read and noticed — a distinct advantage for the business person hoping to capture a customer’s eye.

New Years cards are great for employees, too

What better time for a manager or company owner to reflect on the past year and offer wishes for the upcoming one than in a New Year’s card? The natural shift from the old to the new allows for messages of gratitude for hard work provided, as well as for wishes for an even better year to come.

And the secular nature of the New Year holiday avoids hurt feelings from employees who might feel that their holiday is being overlooked in favor of another religion’s celebration.

What to say on your New Years greetings?

Be sincere.  If the year has been a challenge for most people, as 2008 has been, don’t offer an overly optimistic review of the “great” year we’ve all come through.  And unless you’ve opted for a humorous card, make your wishes for the upcoming year realistic as well.  Your customers, clients, associates and employees will appreciate your thoughtfulness.