being anti-holidays increases sales

Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

Consider NOT sending gifts to clients for the holidays.

Don’t get me wrong: Christmas is my favorite holiday. But not because I get cards and gift baskets. In fact, I throw them away. 

I hate clutter, most messages are generic and don’t show any effort, and it’s what everyone else does. Your stuff is buried in a sea of “me too”. 

I believe that when the majority does something, it’s time to pause and think for yourself. 

Try the inverse. Send a hand-written, long-form card or gift that’s actually useful or thoughtful. Send them only to your top 20% of clients that generate 80% of your revenue. Send them on a regular basis.

Not sure what to get? Stalking them on social media, notes in your CRM, and frequent conversations should give you enough ammo for what to write or get (you HAVE been talking with them regularly and not just when you want commissions, right?).

When you’re consistent, you communicate top-of-mind. You are investing in the long game. You stand out. You set yourself up for an upsell, cross sell, and referral. You make it more natural to check-in, find out if you can serve and add more value to their lives and business. 

I know this takes time. I hope you’re using our VSAs to do it; my business partner Dean has engineered it so that gift-researching and gift-sending are automated. It’s beautiful. But even without it, it’s time well-spent. 

I know this takes money. Make a business case to your finance manager to divert advertising dollars to internal marketing. It’s cheaper and has a higher-ROI than new customer acquisition anyway. 

Some of the best-yielding gifts include your client’s favorite food, delivered; a book of interest;’ or simply an article that helps them with something they’re stuck on. 

So breathe easy, cross off more names from the Christmas list, and don’t get sucked into the holiday trap.

There’s a better way.