It is the season for apple puddings, Christmas tree, secret Santa gifts, and holiday cards. If you are just like most people, then you got to have a stack somewhere which showcases the happy faces of family members and friends, and undoubtedly a load of pictures of smiling children. And with the holiday season fast approaching, it is also a season of law firm holiday cards.
While legal Christmas cards can also be a lovely way of spreading some goodwill, they can benefit your law firm as well. But then do not ever think that it would be enough if you would just scrawl and stamp a “Merry Christmas” at the back of your business cards. For you to express to your customers that you genuinely care about them, putting some thought into your legal Christmas cards is worth the time and effort.
There are quite a few etiquette issues when it comes to making legal Christmas cards so below is a guide about the do’s and don’ts when sending your holiday cards. Make sure you follow the following advices:
Do’s in Sending Legal Christmas Cards
Do know who you are sending the card to
When purchasing your cards, you will most likely just grab those cards which look cute or those which are colourful, but it very important to take a look more closely. For instance, when you have just represented somebody in a daunting divorce, you certainly would not want the card to depict a happy family opening gifts. You may want to consider purchasing a variation of customized cards or simply go with something that has a basic design or message.
Do send a personalized message
You can definitely have even a bit of knowledge of some little details about your clients if you are doing your job pretty well. Even if you just make mention of the name of the dog of your client, it goes to show that you are paying attention to even the littlest detail and that you have a good sense of humour.
One thing that can definitely put your law firm marketing on the top would be personalization. A message which is handwritten gives more positive impact than those messages which are generic or are mass produced. Former clients who receive a legal Christmas card with a personalized message seem to be more likely to refer their family and friends to your law firm and are therefore more likely to leave you with a positive review online.
Personalizing each card is really effective, but it is such a tedious task. Writing a personalized message to each and every card that you will be sending will guarantee to take you hours and hours of work which is hand-cramping. You can, however, just add a simple message to many greeting cards and just make sure to make a positive impression on your former and current clients.
A personalized message which is handwritten makes a major impact. You are establishing trust, rapport and care without quoting your services or competencies.
Do let everyone sign the legal Christmas cards
This probably would not work if you work for a big law firm, but nonetheless everyone should sign your legal Christmas cards. Not only the attorneys either; be sure that the cards are also signed by the paralegals and receptionists in your office. And if you would not want to be labelled as someone who is as cold as a Scrooge, do not even think of using pre-printed stamps of your name.
Don’ts in Sending Legal Christmas Cards
Do not be too specific
As what our custom dictates, when sending out legal Christmas cards, your law firm should be sending to your clients (former and current), colleagues and referral sources a conservative and non-offensive holiday card to thank them for engaging with your business for the past year.
Unless you are entirely sure that all of your clients are celebrating the Christmas season featuring the white bearded big guy, you should therefore take the safe path and refrain from buying legal Christmas cards that mention Christmas. The far better option is by getting a card that says “Happy Holidays”, “Season’s Greetings”, or a card that displays a photo of a snowy cottage instead of Santa Claus.
Do not talk about the business
It would be very tempting to push your law firm (or maybe bring up an exemplary proposal), but a legal Christmas card is not the appropriate place to do it. Make sure that your message is in line with the good old traditional scheme: address the receiver, wish them the merriest or a merry Christmas, and wrap it up with warm wishes going into the New Year.
Do not send e-cards unless you have to
Even though most of the correspondence you have with your clients is most likely to involve electronic messages, this is something you need to bypass when it comes to sending out legal Christmas cards. Just like that of a name stamp, an email blast is rather impersonal and can even come off as you being lazy. As much as possible (if you have the time and capacity to do it) make use of a paper card which contains a personalized message which is deemed to be much more effective.
Nevertheless, do not stress it out if paper cards are out of the question and all you can do is send an e-card. That will still suffice. It would be much better, however, if you will be able to customize the subject line, greeting, or email content to the recipient to whom it is going to be sent to.
Why Send Out Legal Christmas Cards?
It is really a personal decision point and this is a valuable business tool if you do it wisely and appropriately. Law firms should make use of legal Christmas cards as a chance to reach out to their respective customers, provide value, or even just say thank you.
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