'Tis the season for holiday cheer.  We are all abundantly aware of this.  Retail traffic skyrockets, holiday music invades our world, twinkling lights appear in the most unexpected places, and wannabe Santa's are on every street corner.  Many businesses take advantage of the season's spirit by inundating us with 'sincerest wishes' that we do business with them, or 'invite' us to participate in their 'holiday sales', thinly veiled attempts to tug at our heartstrings and our pocketbooks at the same time.
Unfortunately, so many retailers have jumped on this bandwagon that it's about to capsize.  Savvy shoppers are all too familiar with these tactics and many [myself included] simply ignore the deluge of flyers, coupons and special offers designed to lure us into a spending frenzy.  But most businesses cannot afford to just ignore the busiest shopping season of the year.  So what's can you do?


My suggestion:  Give thanks.  Send out a sincere message expressing your gratitude to all of your contacts and customers.  Show your gratitude for their patronage and support.  Consider including a no-strings-attached FREE GIFT or an invitation to a holiday open house.  And do it BEFORE Thanksgiving.  Your message will be received in advance of the flood of sales flyers, and just in time for friends and family to see it at the annual turkey banquet.  If it is thoughtful and genuine, your customers will remember it. And your business.  All in time for Black Friday.  You'll be thankful for the results.

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