Technology for the holidays

It’s holiday time again and we are faced with the annual question: What should we do for clients? There are really only a few options:
• Send cards
• Send gifts
• Make donations
• A combination of the above
Sending cards by “snail mail” seems to be less and less popular — both for firms and their clients. After all, it’s a lot of manual labor to get cards printed, create labels, assemble the cards in envelopes and add postage. This labor can be farmed out, but then the cost increases. Clients who are environmentally conscious and not thrilled with paper cards nor are they impressed with a generic card.
Sending gifts is fine — sometimes. Advisers struggle with questions such as:
• Should we send a gift to every client?
• Should we limit gifts to top clients?
• Should we give different gifts depending on the client?
• Should the gifts be branded with our company name?
The problem with gifts is that they too are very labor intensive. Even if they are delivered directly to the clients from online ordering, the adviser still has to figure out the answers to the above questions. And then, are the gifts even worth the cost? Giving a $25 gift card to 200 clients costs $5,000. Will clients be truly grateful for this gesture?
(More: ‘Tis the season to spend money)

CHARITABLE DONATIONS
As clients become more community-minded, charitable donations for the holidays are more common. Often contributing to local non-denominational organizations can be very well received. In my practice, I have several clients who are involved with the symphony and many others who support a particular local foundation. By making donations to specific causes that are close to clients’ hearts, holiday gifts will be appreciated and meaningful.
What is the best way to “deliver” holiday cards and donations? I personally prefer e-cards. No wasted paper or effort and they can be sent instantly. I’ve tried the fancy e-cards where the clients can “vote” for a particular charity out of a limited list. For the most part, clients were not responsive to choosing. They were all happy enough to have me make the choice. So, for the last several years, I’ve sent e-cards listing the charities I’ve donated to in my clients’ names and expressing my gratitude for their business. I estimate that I get enthusiastic thank you emails from at least 50% of my clients.
The service I use is eCO2 Greetings. Not only does this e-card avoid killing trees by using the internet rather than paper cards, the company plants 10 trees with each order (more can be ordered as well). Ten trees offset about 10 tons of CO2 over their lifetime. What a great way to combine philanthropy, ecological mindfulness and client appreciation!
No matter what you decide to do, I want to personally wish all of my readers a happy holiday season.