It is nice to send holiday cards to your clients, and many of them appreciate it. However, have you considered doing your holiday card mailing a little differently? This year, you should consider a different approach.

Living in such a diversified society, we often take our own holiday beliefs for granted. The traditions we celebrate are tried-and-true, but remember that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Even if your holiday cards say, “Seasons Greetings”, these days there are people who do not celebrate any type of “season” in its traditional sense.

Take a look at your marketing strategy. As a shop owner, you need to step out of the box and find ways to make your approach more noticeable. This year, why not send “Thanksgiving Cards” instead of Christmas cards? Most people do celebrate Thanksgiving. You can use it as an opportunity to say “Thanks” and this will differentiate your auto shop from the mailbox full of Christmas cards that people receive between the dates of December 1^st to January 1^st. Even Happy New Year cards may get lost amid the gobs of cards, and while your customers may appreciate your efforts, it is simply less noticeable.

Another way to make your Thanksgiving cards have greater impact is through personalization. Rather than just stuffing the envelopes with a card that is printed with a generic logo, why not make the card about you, your family, or even better – the customer’s family. If you have a list of 400 customers, this may sound like an impossible task, but thanks to modern technology, this is feasible.

You should also pay a student or a staff member to handwrite the addresses and the signatures. It will be worthwhile and will increase open ratios by as much as 70% over the cards with computer labels. People are always intrigued by seeing an envelope that is handwritten, and this is actually one of those “oldest tricks in the book” that still works!

People also love to see personalization, so by sharing a family photo, they will see you as a real person, rather than just as a company who wants their hard-earned money. You are working on relationships, rather than just making sales. 

Smart service shop owners that understand the power in relationship building, rather than just getting more customers, are those who will truly become the best in their communities.