This year, the holiday celebration for Carolyn Izzo-Feldman’s employees will be at her house – they’ll get a home-cooked meal prepared by the boss and her husband.
“I thought it would make it more sincere,” said Izzo-Feldman, president of a Nyack, N.Y.-based public relations firm that bears her name. “We’ve done the big parties, rented the space, had live bands, invited everyone to come.”
This year, “it definitely will have more of a warm feel to it.”
For a small-business owner, marking the holidays with employees, clients and customers can be a great business opportunity – it can inspire workers to do better, and it can create goodwill and cement relationships with staffers and with customers. And, as the saying goes, it’s the thought that counts; a celebration or a gift doesn’t have to be expensive to evoke positive, upbeat feelings, but it should reflect some care and effort.
To that end, many small businesses like Izzo-Feldman’s try to do something different, and not go to the same restaurant or offer the same grab bag year after year.
Rawle Murdy, a Charleston, S.C.-based public relations firm, turns to its new employees every year and asks them for ideas for the annual party. One year, everyone was given a costume from the Old South to wear. Another year, there was a murder mystery party.
“We’re a marketing firm – our challenge is to always do something different, something out of the ordinary,” company President Bruce Murdy said. He said the company also has a tree trimming party to include employees’ children, and workers also collect toys or gifts for charities.
Some owners are marking the holidays by giving their workers time off. JohnstonWells Public Relations in Denver will be closed between Christmas and New Year’s because the company met its financial targets last year.
CEO Guinavere Johnston does hold a holiday lunch for the staff, too, but a week’s paid vacation is a great motivator – given a choice between getting a gift or time with their families, most employees will opt for the latter and do what they can to help make that happen.
“It really makes people be more productive,” she said.
Marking the holidays with clients and customers can also be a business-building opportunity. Many companies go the traditional route and send cards or mugs, but it’s questionable how much that will help a small business and its relationships.
Cohn Marketing, a Denver-based public relations company, sends gift packages to clients, but with a twist. Cohn sends packages of products from Green Beans Coffee Co., one of its clients, and includes a message that it has sent a coffee card in the client’s name to a U.S. soldier overseas. Green Beans operates coffeehouses at U.S. military locations in countries including Iraq and Afghanistan.
“If we’re going to buy something, I’d rather buy it from one of our existing clients,” owner Jeff Cohn said, noting that the gifts help promote the client. And, since Cohn Marketing designed the labels on the products, they also help showcase what his business can do.
Rawle Murdy doesn’t send greeting cards or gifts to clients. Murdy said the company prefers to thank its clients throughout the year by doing great work. He noted that some companies might give tickets to sporting or entertainment events to clients or customers, but “our relationship is not dependent on that.”
JohnstonWells does send greetings to clients, but it waits until Valentine’s Day because they’re more likely to be noticed and appreciated then. In December, “you get so many holiday cards, you don’t even pay much attention to them,” CEO Johnston said.
Companies whose customers are the general public, such as retailers, realize that giving value and service is the best way to mark the holidays.
Edressme.com, an online retailer that also has a store in Manhattan, is running a sale for four days this month, selling dresses at 50 percent off, and it plans other holiday promotions. In the past, the company would offer free gift wrap, but that’s not very unique and, in the end, not what customers are looking for.
“We have dialogued with customers about what they would want from us, and nothing beats a deep-discount promotion,” CEO Joanne Stoner said. So, “we’re going to take that hit up front and let a great dress go at a good price.”
Joyce Rosenberg writes about small business for the Associated Press.
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