The team at God’s Garden Treasures in Tempe, Arizona, said sending personalized greeting cards has been “a game changer” in building and nurturing important relationships during COVID.
As the holiday season officially kicks off next week, it’s an apt time to show appreciation to the people — loyal customers, vendors and employees — who have helped you weather a most unusual and challenging year. For Karin Crawford, owner of God’s Garden Treasures in Tempe, Arizona, sending personalized greeting cards has been “a game changer” in building and nurturing these important relationships.
An affiliate for SendOutCards, Crawford has long used the online service to design customized thank you notes to both new and long standing connections. She’s also used it to advertise shop events, to remind customers of upcoming anniversaries and birthdays, and to show customers photos of arrangements they ordered for somebody else. With a $97 unlimited plan, “the price per card is pretty negligible,” she said. “And a positive piece of mail really stands out, especially if it’s personalized.’
Crawford’s experience with SendOutCards has conditioned her to always look for opportunities to show appreciation.
“I’ve been paying more attention to the email blasts I get from clients, referral partners and other local businesses,” she said. “I’ve started replying to these messages, saying, ‘That is so cool!’ or ‘Thank you for your support of X charity! Your community involvement means a lot to all of us.’”
This summer, she saw an email from a client who regularly buys flowers for his girlfriend announcing that the university he founded was celebrating its 37th year in business. She emailed her congratulations; he responded to say thanks and let her know that his girlfriend was in Cabo during the pandemic and he’d been commuting between there and Arizona. This prompted her to design a card, pulling photos of the couple from Facebook (an option SendOutCards allows you to do with people you’ve connected with on social media) that read, “Thanks for the connections recently. Congratulations on the success and especially for building your life the way you want to live it! What an inspiration!” His response? “Cool card! What company did you use?” Even better, he sent an email introducing her to his administrative assistant, whom he directed to use God’s Garden Treasures for all the school’s future floral purchases. (So far, this interaction has netted her a couple extra orders a month.)
The pandemic has made greeting cards all the more impactful and popular, as so many people can’t get together with family and friends to celebrate holidays and major life events or to offer a literal shoulder to cry on during tough times. Card Isle, another online service, which integrates into retailers’ e-commerce websites, has seen a 125 percent year over year increase in sales at flower shops, said co-founder and chief marketing officer Stephan Sabo. (Florists and other retail clients can also print out cards with standard messages to offer as grab-and-go sale items or set up a “design station” on a tablet or computer in their showroom for customers to create their own.)
Sabo attributes this sales spike to two factors. One reason is that more people are shopping through their florist’s website rather than visiting their brick and mortar store or ordering by phone. “This change in behavior funnels many more customers past our greeting card add on,” he explained. Additionally, people may be more open to upgrading their orders to compensate for missing out on in-person socializing. “In the past, a consumer may have sent flowers and then attended a birthday party, but now are just opting for flowers,” he explained. “These customers still want to let their recipient know how much they care for them, so they opt for a personalized photo or greeting card to help share their sentiment.”
Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.
