Is it offensive to say happy holidays?

Holidays offer a great time to connect with clients, prospects, and business partners, but they can also be very complicated. It goes beyond not wanting to offend people. The holidays offer perhaps the best time to align with your client so they see how you can help.

Thanksgiving is not universal and Hanukkah arrives earlier this year. So if you send a holiday card on December 15, it will still look like a “Christmas” card just because of WHEN you send it. Of course, it can wait until New Years, but then people may feel like it’s an afterthought.

Sending a specific card for a certain holiday can be off-putting for some. And even referring to a feeling of gratitude indicates a specific belief. So what is the solution?

Good business is about deepening our relationships with those with whom we work. And the way we do it is by showing how our values ​​align with the values ​​of those with whom we work. Letting people really know who we are can help build strong bonds.

My client Rachel asked me about this the other day. She reflected, “If I deeply value my faith and want people to know that I celebrate Hanukkah at this time of year, should I send a card that is a clear representation of my faith?”

I suggested that while some people see this as a simple expression of what she believes in, others may feel that she is aggressive, assuming they celebrate the same holiday as her.

Instead, I suggested to Rachel that she send a generic card and include a story.

Stories provide a connection and even if someone has a different belief, they can relate to you through those feelings evoked in your story. It links them to a time when they felt the same way.

It’s even better if your story relates to your job. As a marketing strategist, I help people overcome the challenges of getting the word out about their business. So, could you share a story about a mentor who sent me a Christmas poem that helped me overcome a challenge.

Rachel is a healer and she told me her story. Her Jewish grandmother was in Poland during World War II and, as a nurse, she cared for people during a time when medical help was almost impossible to find.

Rachel told me that one day when she was a teenager, she was looking in the attic and found her grandmother’s notes on healing. He sat down with his mother, who explained that his grandmother had disappeared in Poland towards the end of the war. Nobody knows what happened to him.

That is what inspired Rachel to be a healer and when she uses her grandmother’s notes she feels that her grandmother is still alive.

THAT is a powerful story and I said a resounding “YES!” when she asked if he was okay.

Even if people don’t celebrate the same holiday, this story will bring people closer to Rachel by allowing them to get to know her more deeply. It also tells them how seriously you take their work and that you can help them using healing modalities that have stood the test of time.

Regardless of how you celebrate this season, I would like to wish you the happiest and most prosperous December.