The Blatant Truth Weblog

Holiday Cards: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Please don’t call me a grinch but I am really starting to have negative thoughts about the holiday cards that I have received that are nicely engraved with the company name, and sometimes even the sender’s name, but have absolutely no personalization at all.

I mean not even a signature and, of course, the card comes in an envelope that has a computer-generated address label affixed to it.

The sentiments included in the cards are always lovely. Peace and happiness, health and joy but sad to say, they leave me cold.

It’s pretty apparent to me that my name has appeared on some impersonal mass database and hence I have received the card.

Do I know the people that have sent me these cards? Sometimes I do (and that feels even worse) and, of course, sometimes I have absolutely no idea with the sender is.

But in all cases the printed message in the card runs counter to its impersonal presentation.

My suggestion: send fewer cards and take the time to sign them and perhaps, in some special cases. include a brief personal message. (And I do mean sign them by hand, not a computer generate signature!)

No time for that you say. Start the process earlier in the season; heck, start now for next year. Perhaps you should whittle down your list altogether. Maybe the folks that get the
“generic” card shouldn’t get a card at all, especially if it looks as if there was no thought behind it.

I preach the importance of “touch points” and staying on the grid of your clients, prospects, networking connections and referral sources but you must make certain that you are staying on the grid in a way that supports your brand and what you stand for.

And really, do you stand for something that is cold and impersonal? If so, bring it on. There are boxes of unsigned cards waiting for their address labels.