Do you have a Me-To-You relationship strong enough with your business contacts? "Me-To-You" describes a relationship that only the two of you have. The stronger the relationship, the stronger the Me-To-You message can be.

What is the most common means of expressing a "Me-To-You" message? Greeting cards! People on average send 30 greeting cards a year. If you do not receive any, that should be telling you something.

I've always been known for finding the perfect greeting card for someone. Actually, when I couldn't find a good one, I made one.

Finding the right card means that you understand and have a relationship with the person. The goal is to find that card for the right occasion (actually, the occasion called "Thinking of You" can be sent any time you want to send a greeting).

I'm not suggesting that you go out and purchase a card for each of your coworkers or business contacts. I am suggesting that you look at greeting cards in a local store with a particular person in mind. If you were going to send this person a card, what saying would it have that would express your individual relationship?

• What would it say that would meet their (not yours) interests.
• Would it compliment even if it was in a teasing tone?
• Would the verse have something that you can both relate to?
• Would it set the right religious tone?
• Would it discuss their favorite pastime?

The first step towards finding the right card is by knowing the person on a personal level. The second step is having a relationship with that person.

There are over 3,000 different greeting card manufacturers in the United States alone. A greeting card line usually has more than 25 cards. With that statistic, you have at minimum 750,000 greeting cards to choose from. If you can not find the right card for that specific person, I suspect that you do not know the person well.

Here is your test. I challenge you to go to a greeting card store (food stores and car wash vendors and copy centers even carry greeting cards now). Start reading the general occasion cards. Pick up one card and see if it has that Me-To-You message that fits one of your business contacts. Can you determine if the card would fit more than just you as a sender? If so, then you do not have a unique enough relationship with the business contact.

Reading greeting cards helps you think about the receiver, your business contact. It is a quick exercise to see if you need to improve your relationship. It identifies your unique relationship that will be appreciated. Keep in mind that negative tones do not work. Your goal is to make the other person smile...not just yourself.

I have actually sent cards to business contacts that are:

• Having surgery
• Under so much pressure from work
• Son graduated from college
• Parent passed away
• Moved into a new house
• Thanking them for their help on a project (something not done nearly enough by IT)
• Birthday, promotion, holiday
• Apologize (for not getting something done in time or said the wrong thing at the wrong time)

I read greeting cards anytime I'm in a store that carries them. I'll spend about 10 minutes. If the card makes me think of someone, I buy it. When and if the time is right, I send it.

Let me tell you something:

• Greeting cards are opened before bills, magazines, and the like.
• If they make the person laugh, you just adjusted their attitude towards the positive.
• If they make them think of you positively, you strengthened your bond.
• If the card was really good and you have a good bond ... you'll get a phone call back.

To prepare, you should have a virtual folder on each contact. You should know:

• their birthday (not year)
• How many kids
• What college they attended
• What projects they worked on and in what role
• Their work style
• Hobbies
• Any inside joke the two of you may have.
• What he thinks or knows about you.
• What do you have in common
• What are they currently working on.
• What are his career aspirations
• Religion

Knowing the above will help you find a card that expresses the Me-To-You connection. The card is only a test to see if you could find a card for the business person. The real goal is to actually have a Me-To-You connection with each business contact. That includes contacts on current and past projects.

Over 50% of greeting cards are sent for a holiday. The end of the year holiday is the hottest market. If you send cards, what type of cards do you send? How generic are they? Do you send the right religious tone to the receiver?

Holiday cards are an opportunity to be unique. Business executives receive many. Most of them are from vendors with a generic "Happy Holidays." This is your opportunity to be unique. If you sent your business contact a generic card, it will be tossed into the wastepaper basket before it is actually read. Now, if you selected a card that has that Me-To-You connection, it will be read and probably kept!

I send out about 350 holiday cards each year. This includes different business- and personal contacts. They may have the same design, but I put a different comment for the people that receive them.

• For IT contacts, I thank them for their relationship and provide a laugh (this isn't the time to sell anything).
• For personal contacts, I talk about my family
• For parrot product purchasers, I thank them for their business and tell them a parrot story…something to which they relate.

Before any of you say, "Pat, you have a greeting card company so I can see why you are pushing them." Think again. I was sending holiday cards way before I started a separate greeting card company. I started the greeting card company because I couldn't find the right Me-To-You cards to send. I care about relationships and use the end of year as an opportunity to let them know I'm thinking about them and care.

I'm not telling you to go out and buy cards. I'm challenging you to see if you do have that Me-To-You connection. It is a quick and easy test, "How good of a Me-To-You relationship do I have with my business contacts?"

What's your Me-To-You message with the business community?

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator