This can be a tough time of year for many professional organizers. Although some clients will ask for your help decluttering before hosting holiday get-togethers, others may be preoccupied with other activities. As my guest today, William Reynolds describes the actions you can take right now to ensure that you stay in their minds until they’re ready to think about getting organized.

Does getting your clients’ attention during the holiday season feel like herding cats? No matter how brilliant a job you’ve done at helping them stay organized all year long, the holidays invariably prove the exception to the rule as numerous stresses and distractions send people running in all directions at once. But don’t write the season off as a loss just yet — here are some tactics you can employ to remind your clients of your existence and even boost their warm and fuzzy feelings about you:

Personal interaction

As a professional organizer you spend a fair amount of time on site — not to hob-nob, but to evaluate hardcopy storage, paper flow, filing techniques and other issues. Imagine your clients’ surprise, then, when you come to their door just to say hello and extend holidays wishes!  At the very least, make some phone calls to convey your holiday wishes. It will help create the feeling of a genuine personal bond, and the mere sound of your voice might jog some clients into some last-minute requests before they become engulfed in seasonal activities.

Don’t forget about your social and professional networks, either. ‘Tis the season for holiday parties, industry mixers and other public events that can help you snag new relationships while reinforcing old ones.

Letters

In this age of junk mail and form letters, a personalized message says a lot about your appreciation of each individual client. Don’t you feel flattered to receive a handwritten note thanking you for your loyalty as a customer over the past year and wishing you the best for the New Year? Take the time and effort to pick up a pen and craft these notes to your V.I.P. customers, partners and vendors. If you simply can’t subject your carpal tunnel to that kind of work, Send Out Cards and other services provide the next best thing — thank-you notes printed in a convincing “handwritten” font and sent out automatically to your list.

Gifts

Everybody loves to receive a thoughtful gift at this time of year, including your organizing clients. Make gifts as personalized as possible, taking into consideration your client’s interests, line of work, cultural heritage and personal history with your company. If you can’t think of a clever item, go with tried-and-true foods and beverages. Remember to include handsome gift wrapping and a personal note for maximum impact.

Newsletters

If your clients pay more attention to their mailboxes than the Internet during the holidays, make sure they find your newsletter in there among the other goodies. A mix of pertinent information, helpful tips for holiday organizing, and of course, a “Note from the Owner” conveying your heartfelt thanks for a great year can all make an impression that helps you stay at the top of their minds. You can craft your own newsletter from scratch, or you can outsource most of the job by sending a customizable industry-standard newsletter to your online and/or offline mailing lists.

Press releases, blog articles, etc.

Just because offline outreach works particularly well at holiday time, that doesn’t mean you should neglect your online marketing activities. For example, you can make an effort to involve or mention your clients in press releases, online interviews or blog articles, thus ensuring your clients’ attention and appreciation when these items hit cyberspace. This approach can work all year round; Cecilia Ibru, for example, mentions many notable individuals and organizations by name in her blog, which focuses on the financial services sector.

Which of these methods will yield the best results for your professional organizing enterprise? Don’t pick just one; try them all! Your clients will love you — and remember you — for it.

Image courtesy of Grant Cochrane at FreeDigitalPhotos.net