If the thought of Christmas cards makes you cringe, think again. They are worth more than the best advertising campaign, says Tony Baker....
I am a great believer in Christmas cards and "bah humbug" to all of you who don't send any. It's just about possible to accept the policy "we do not send Christmas cards but we make a donation to charity instead". But really how much do some companies spend on not sending cards but instead telling people how righteous they are?
Someone must lead the pro-cards lobby, otherwise a great tradition could be lost forever. Sending cards gives very real benefits and it could be foolish to ignore them.
Christmas cards are not expensive, but the image of your company will be tarnished if you send a cheap card. It will probably cost 40p for a decent "off the peg" card. Design your own and costs can rocket.
Add perhaps 20p per card to personalise the card for your company. Second class post (many go first class but this is over the top) is another 19p. So a grand total of just 79p per card or £395 for 500.
A small price to pay for a personalised advertisement for your company, sent to someone you know well and care about. Think of their joy as they open your card, smile in recognition at your name and fondly remember when they last saw you.
The card will be carefully displayed in their office for all to see and admire. It will not take too long to put up the cards and pick them up in the morning after the whirlwind effect of the office cleaners. Eventually the cards will be taken home and the senders explained to the family, so once more reinforcing your unique friendship and business links. And all for the meagre expenditure of 79p. Compare the cost with any advertising expenditure you may have or a good meal out on the corporate plastic.
The real clincher is to make sure you send a charity card – everyone benefits, even if it is only 10p a card. This would take the total cost of 500 cards up to £445, which is not a big expense.
However, to be fair, the cost may be just a little higher. Some staff time needs to be added, even if it is not significant.
Perhaps it takes two hours secretarial/admin time to get the card catalogues and come up with three or four designs "for management approval". Add just one hour for management deliberations.
Now the list for the lucky recipients. Does everyone in the office need to have the option of adding people? If six people are signing cards, add 30 minutes each for assembly of the list.
Personally it would take me rather longer. For the last three years on average 25% of people on my Christmas card list have no longer been in the same job the following year. Careful checking is essential, otherwise you can look stupid when you meet people next time. It is also a waste of money and effort to send cards to people you won't see and work with again.
You also need to take care not to overlook anyone, especially people you have met recently. You do not want to cause offence and they may send you a card.
You should allow another ten hours of secretarial/admin time for addresses and names to be checked and labels to be prepared and stuck on cards.
All that remains is an hour each for the six people to go through the cards and sign the applicable ones in an appropriate way. Finally, a couple of hours "processing" (putting cards in envelopes, sticking envelope down, taking cards to the post office) need to be added.
So in total ten hours of management time at, say, £40 per hour on average (salary and overheads). To this we add around 14 hours of secretarial/admin time at £15 per hour. That would add up to £610, plus £445 for the cards.
Really, we should add a little time for opening received cards, displaying them and sending cards to people not on the original list. There is also the time thanking people for their card… Let's now call it £1,500 which is £3 a card. It worries me that Christmas cards are so expensive.
