How to Show Your Clients Some Love this Holiday Season

There is nothing like shopping for gifts to make the holiday stresses pile up!

Even though Black Friday is behind us, the malls are still packed with folks trying to find the right gifts for their family and friends. You’re probably one of them (if you can find the time…). Gifts are more than just objects; they show someone how much we care about them. And who does a small business care about more than their clients?

Small client holiday gifts or gestures can be a great way to reinforce current client relationships while also reviving old ones. These don’t need to be big gestures, we all know that it’s the thought that counts. Just little, thoughtful things can say plenty to your clients about what they mean to you!

Holiday Cards
Sending out holiday cards is a fantastic way to show all of your clients that they are in your thoughts this holiday season. It’s very cost-effective, as you simply need to pay for a few packages of holiday cards with envelopes and some stamps. Sending out lovely holiday cards is a great way to reconnect with old clients, you might pop back into their mind when they are looking for services in the new year.

The problem with holiday cards is that they can be remarkably time-consuming. You need to personally write a note and sign everyone, put them in their envelopes, slap on a stamp, and then get them to the post office. As a virtual assistant, I have taken care of many clients holiday cards. If you need help unloading your holiday social media into a scheduling system, a virtual assistant could literally free up hours of your week.

If you REALLY want to go all out for your clients, you could hire a virtual assistant to design a branded, personalized holiday card that you could then have printed and mailed out. The design could be whatever you want, you only need to ask! This is one of my favorite holiday tasks!

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Client Gifts
Buying your clients gifts can be tricky because, if you aren’t careful, you could break the bank. Small businesses usually don’t have the resources to shower their clients with gifts. That said, adding a small present to your holiday cards can be a cost-effective and worthwhile way to provide your customers with some value for the holidays.

Great gifts for clients could include gift cards for your services, a percentage off your services, or even an invite to drop into the office for a free “whatever you feeling like giving”! Speaking of dropping into the office…

Holiday Parties
If you work out of a reasonably sized office, you could invite your clients over for a night of holiday snacks, conversation, and fun. Holiday parties can help you build rapport with your clients, giving them the opportunity to get more comfortable with you on a personal level.

The problem is that holiday parties can take quite a bit of planning, maybe too much to do at this late stage. Holiday schedules also fill up fast, so it might be too late to ask clients to clear a night to drop into the office. So, how about having an open house instead? In your monthly newsletter, tell all of your clients that you’re going to be having a holiday open house and they are invited to drop into the office at their convenience for some snacks, a drink, and maybe some kind of a door prize.

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Holiday Sales
Holiday sales are incredibly popular ways to get customers to flock to your business. Wallets tend to be a little more open pre-holidays than they are otherwise, and offering some kind of a discount on your services can make for a very tantalizing sales opportunity.

If you are going to create a holiday sale, one of the best ways to get the word out is through an email. A well-designed email campaign can really draw a crowd, especially at this time of year. If you don’t have the time to create one, a virtual assistant can certainly craft a perfectly enticing holiday sales pitch for your business!

If you need to clear up some time in your calendar for the holidays, and to make sure you get through all of your holiday gift related tasks, why not try hiring a virtual assistant? They can take on the small, time-consuming tasks that you usually do and give you some space in your schedule to breathe. Or they can take over a large project or launch, freeing you up to focus on more important things. To learn more about how you can use a virtual team, I invite you to check out my free How to Use a Virtual Team to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back: Workbook!

By reducing your holiday stresses, you can finally start to enjoy your winter vacation! If you’d like to talk about how I can help you manage the holiday rush, please contact me today!