Christmas cards and gifts — an annual dilemma. As business owners, we have to address this issue every year. But many years ago, my company established some strategies that have worked for us, and I would like to share them with you.
We’ll start with Christmas cards. Personally, I love Christmas cards. And with all due respect for political correctness, I like a Christmas card that says “Merry Christmas.” Unfortunately, very few cards we receive at our office say Merry Christmas. In our family, we have a very long-standing tradition regarding Christmas cards. My wife, Carol, has personally designed and made our Christmas card every year since the Christmas of 1963 — the first Christmas after we were married. Her cards are always unique and include appropriate pictures. First it was us, then the kids, and now the grandkids. Her cards always attract a great deal of attention, with us receiving many, many compliments each year. In addition to all of our friends, relatives, and employees, we also send those cards to the home’s of the owners of the companies that are our company’s best customers. But we still send those cards from Butch and Carol, not from Welsch Heating and Cooling Co.