You’ve no doubt walked into a business of almost any type around the time of the year-end holidays, and you’ve seen a number of Christmas, Channukkah, or non-religious cards taped on the receptionist’s desk or on the wall of the lobby or waiting room.

These cards are not found in the employee lunchroom, or in the personnel office. No, these cards are always placed where customers and other visitors can see them.

Why is this? There’s a simple reason: social reinforcement is good for business. And smart businesspeople should understand this point as well as anybody.

A slew of cards – the more the merrier – which covers the wall sends a very strong message to the effect that the sender of the card feels that she has a personal relationship with the recipient of the card and that the recipient must therefore be open to personal messages of greetings and good wishes. In other words, the sender of the card wishes to assert a personal bond with the receiver, and this reinforces the business relationship.

The recipient then places this flock of cards in a place where others – vendors, distributors, customers, potential customers – could not possibly miss it.

The recipient will note which vendors or suppliers do this and which don’t. It may not make a very large difference, but the idea is that it certainly can’t hurt.

If you are a supplier or vendor who is dependent upon the business decisions of others, then you are dependent upon good will. The presence or absence of good will has consequences. The presence of good will means that a decision maker may award a job to you instead of to a competitor. Good will is good business.

You as a vendor or supplier should take advantage of this social reinforcement phenomenon and make sure that you have a great holiday card program. It doesn’t have to be an overtly Christmas-y card, but it can be.

If it’s a Jewish-owned business, and you are sending the card to the owner, a Christmas card may not make sense and you may hesitate to send that; but there’s no reason you can’t get a card which reflects the sentiments of the Jewish religion, even if you are Christian. No one could possibly find that offensive in any way. It would, in fact, be considered a compliment.

Another key point here is to make sure that there is no mistaking who sent the card. If you have a hard time writing your name legibly, make sure it’s printed on the card. A personal handwritten message from a key person in your business to a key decision maker in the business you are sending it to is also a great thing to do.

Or, if there are several people in your firm who deal with people in the recipient firm on a regular basis, messages from each of your employees to their counterparts might be a great way to complete the card.

The point is that a great holiday card program should be designed to enhance the business relationship by showing some degree of personal regard for those with whom you do business.

Visit ConquestGraphics.com for more information about holiday and greeting card printing. They have been in the printing industry for 85 years.

Visit http://www.ConquestGraphics.com for more information about holiday and greeting card printing. They have been in the printing industry for 85 years.

Author Bio: Visit ConquestGraphics.com for more information about holiday and greeting card printing. They have been in the printing industry for 85 years.

Category: Business
Keywords: printing, budget printing, corporate holiday cards, customized holiday cards