Sending a greeting card can be an easy, effective way to extend goodwill towards a personal or professional contact. Wishing an employee a Happy Birthday with a personalized birthday card is a simple way to show your appreciation for their work. Some companies (such as Expolink) may not allow their staff to give or receive gifts, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an instance where a traditional greeting card would not be appropriate. Sending a thank you card to clients around Christmas time is not only very good business etiquette, it helps you address the problem of religious denomination.
Paper vs E-card
Though it is generally considered better greeting card etiquette to send a traditional paper greeting card, there are other options for those on a tighter budget or with concerns about the considerable environmental impact a little Christmas cheer can have. Electronic greeting cards are available in a wide array of colours and themes. Some are simple, others animated or even musical. E-Cards are indeed a viable alternative to paper greeting cards, BUT careful consideration should be given to the pros and cons of each before making a decision on HOW to send out your seasonal communique.
A question of taste
Paper greeting cards are tangible. They show that you took the time to choose a card, personalize it, address it and send it to a person you value for a reason – it tells the recipient they’re important to you. E-Cards tend to be more casual and their place in the professional world is questionable. Furthermore a tasteful, good quality card says, “We provide quality goods and services”. Ill-chosen cards on the other hand, and unfortunately sometimes e-Cards, can send the opposite message. Subliminally, “We can’t afford the postage so we’re sending you an e-Card” isn’t really going to have the desired effect, whereas “You’re really important to us so we spent the time, money and effort in choosing this lovely card for you” certainly will.
The conscious vs the unconscious message
That said if your company is one that prides itself on its environmental credentials, there’s a very strong argument for sending an e-Card. Apart from the conscious “Thank-you for your custom” message included in the text of your e-Card, there would also be a subconscious “we care very much about the environment and our impact upon it” message.
Subliminal this and that aside, there is absolutely no denying the fact that e-Cards are way more cost effective than their printed counterparts. So maybe the answer is to make sure that your clients receive something worthwhile in their e-Card – something they REALLY want for Christmas.
Which charity?
There’s no question that charity is a big thing at Christmas and it’s something that more and more people are increasingly passionate about. No charity should be considered unworthy but, if the purpose of your Christmas communique is to connect with your clients (in addition to spreading seasonal good cheer and making a selfless donation to charity), you should really consider which charity your clients are most likely to want to donate to. Some companies even go as far as asking their clients who they’d like the Christmas donation to go to every year – very easy to do with a little bit of forward planning.
World events and news coverage sway people’s opinions on which cause is most deserving of their charitable donations – for example in recent years, Help for Heroes has taken more in charitable donations than any other UK charity – largely because they have been at the forefront of the public’s collective mind thanks to news coverage of various conflicts the armed forces are involved with.
And on that note
In line with our environmental undertakings to minimise the impact we make on the environment, Expolink will be shortly be distributing its annual seasonal message of mirth and merriment. The money saved by sending an e-Card rather than a printed one will go towards an elected charity.
Watch this space!
