Here’s a followup to my post on What to send clients and colleagues for the holidays. This is a question that recently came up in the online course I teach, and I’d like to put it out to a wider audience. Is it appropriate to use holiday cards as cold contacts to potential clients? If not, why not? If so, what is the best method of doing this? Specifically, is it appropriate (always? sometimes? never?) to enclose one’s business card in a holiday card to a potential client? Is it appropriate to softly promote one’s own translation services, or should the card just express admiration for the potential client’s work and best wishes for the holidays and new year?
Over to the readers: I gave my students a brief opinion but I’ll refrain from commenting more fully until some readers weigh in.
Hi Corinne,
That’s an interesting question and it’s good you’ve opened up the debate.
I’ve gotten my lot of “surprise” holiday cards, especially when I was still with my last company. So I tend to react to the question through the prism of how I’ve felt about them.
If the card comes from someone I’ve never met or been in contact with *at all*, it doesn’t quite sit. The holidays are important to me, they are a time of giving and sharing, and wishes should be sincere. Cards from strangers feel like marketing calls asking me if I want to save money on taxes or change my windows.
Yet if the card comes from a contact with whom I’ve had an exchange previously by email, phone or better yet in person, it’s a nice reminder that maybe there is a dialog to pursue in the New Year. I don’t mind if the person includes their business card to make their contact info easily available, but an outright business pitch would strike me as overkill in a Happy Holidays card, which should serve as an opportunity to make a personal connection.
Corinne, Merry Christmas | Joyeux Noël | Mele Kalikimaka to you and your family
Thanks Patricia and all the best to you for a happy, healthy and lucrative 2011! I agree with you that it can be off-putting to get a card from someone you’ve never met, or an “unexplained” card from someone you know only peripherally. I really like your and Judy’s idea of following up on previous exchanges, like “Your presentation at X conference was one of the most valuable professional development sessions I attended this year” is the way to go. Thanks for your perspective!
Good point. We traditionally only send cards to colleagues, clients and potential clients we have met several times. A holiday card is always a good reminder that you and your services exist, and if you’ve met the person at least a few times, there’s no need to do a pitch in your letter — they will know who you are and what your services are. I do think that it is appropriate to say “nice to meet you at XYZ event” — and hopefully you will have made an impression so people remember you. If not, they can look at the address label with your company name on it. I traditionally don’t include a business card, as I was always annoyed with them falling out when I was on the receiving end of vendor holiday cards.
The most important thing — agreed with Patricia — is that you do know the person. The second most important thing is adding a personal note, even if you need to think long and hard about it. I don’t think generic notes are meaningful, and translators are also writers, so now is the time to show off your skills without having to pitch them!
Judy, thanks for those great reminders. Especially the importance of jogging the recipient’s memory with “nice to meet you at….” in case they don’t remember! That is a brilliant point about showcasing our writing skills rather than just writing “happy holidays”! I love it!
This is from a European perspective, but I completely agree with Patricia and Judy. Getting a Christmas greeting from somebody you don’t know will only be awkward. On the other hand getting a card from a business acquaintance even if it is somebody you have not had direct business with may be a nice reminder. However, if the Christmas card is impersonal it will be just as awkward.
Thanks very much for that perspective! I agree that especially in relationship-based cultures, it’s a bad idea to use cards as a cold contact. Thanks for the reminder about sending cards to business acquaintances, great idea!
I only happened to read your question today. It is funny because on CNN the other day, they had an interview of Tim Ferriss (author of the “Four-Hour Work Week”) who was talking about a similar topic.
From our perspective, we received many email cards this year from translators or agencies in India we had never met or heard of. We got quite tired of it. After a while, our immediate reaction was “Delete”.
However we thoroughly enjoyed receiving cards from people we worked with, just as much as we enjoyed writing cards this year. True greetings, good thoughts and good karma can make you smile. We think that is what a holiday card should be about
Thanks for the agency perspective Marie, very helpful! I think you’re right that e-cards are especially unwelcome from someone you don’t know! I won’t give away what BeatBabel’s holiday gift was but I loved it
Hi Corinne,
This is an interesting point that I had not thought of. Instead of cold contacting potential clients during the holidays, I just decided to wait until after the holiday festivities, because I assumed that people would be out of the office. Did you have any luck with your cold contacts during the holiday season?
I have your book and am particularly interested in learning more about using translation agencies as clients. Although you talk a lot about these types of clients in your book, I was wondering if you would be able to offer me more insight on these types of clients, as I’ve found them quite impossible to get in touch with. I’ve been working mainly with other types of clients, such as law firms and local businesses, but I now would like to focus on connecting with translation agencies. I’ve sent dozens and dozens of resumes and cover letters to agencies, and have had few responses. Is this normal? How does one successfully go about receiving translation projects from translation agencies (or being included in their database for that matter, if they never respond?!)
Thank you for your help and your time, and Happy New Year!
-Rachel
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