Thank You Cards and Smiles

One of the things that I remember most about Christmas during my childhood is the writing of thank you cards. Every year, while on my Christmas break from school, I was expected to spend an afternoon thanking people for the gifts they had given to me during the holiday season.

Writing thank you cards seems to have become a lost art, but when I receive corporate thank you cards from stores or businesses that I frequent, it puts a smile on my face. It helps me to understand how the people to whom I had written my thank you cards long ago must have felt – that the time and effort they had put into buying me a Christmas present was well spent.

I am glad to know that my time (because it is about more than just my business) is appreciated! It makes me want to continue to shop in those stores and patronize those businesses. And it makes me want to smile while I am doing so. I think if more companies put just a tiny amount of effort into thanking their customers for their support, they would experience a huge upturn in their business and in the smiles they receive. And would you guess what I was doing when I came to this realization? I was writing thank you cards.

Remember your Clients with Business Birthday Cards

Does your company send out birthday cards to your customers? Does your company give you an employee birthday card each year? If they don’t, I think it would be a good suggestion! The tradition of sending birthday cards started in England about 100 years ago. Originally, greeting cards were often sent as an apology when you could not visit someone in person. Today we regularly send birthday cards, whether you can make the visit or not.

Business birthday cards are a nice gesture from a business to their employees and/or their clients and customers. It is a nice way for companies to show their appreciation and let you know that you are remembered on your birthday. Sending birthday cards is a good way for businesses to gain respect from their customers and to show them that they are more than just a number or a dollar sign. A lot of companies make the mistake of forgetting about their clients once a deal is sealed and they become a customer. But sending a business birthday card is a simple way to be sure your important customers know you haven’t forgotten about them, and it’s an easy way to make a lasting impression.

So if the company you work for does not do this already, make the suggestion of sending out birthday cards to your employees and clients. By showing them that you’re thinking of them on their special day with a birthday card, they will continue their business with you, turning this common ritual into an inexpensive, yet extremely prosperous investment.

Birthday Wishes

Wouldn’t it be nice if all your birthday wishes could come true? To me, a perfect birthday would go as follows:

• Waking up in the morning without the use of an alarm clock. What a drag it can be getting up to the same buzzing sound every morning.
• A nice hot breakfast in bed. Nothing starts the day off better than some bacon and eggs.
• A commute to work without any traffic!
• Business birthday cards filled with birthday wishes from my co-workers. While we’re at it, maybe the cards will include a big bonus.
• Dinner at a restaurant of my choice. That’s right…no cooking for the birthday boy.
• A nice big chocolate cake with about 10 less candles on top of it. I don’t want anyone to know my true age.

Finally, what’s a birthday without the gifts? Chances are that I will be getting the same old standard presents: New socks, a gift card and maybe even a book or two. It would be great if I could replace those gifts with the following:

• Two tickets to the next big baseball game.
• Birthday cards filled with thousand of dollars.
• A big screen television with a matching recliner chair.
• A surprise vacation to some place warm.

Okay, so maybe I’m not being realistic. But it sure would be nice if I could just get one of my birthday wishes.