With Only 37% Answering ‘Yes,’ Sending Holiday Notes Seems to be a Dying Tradition

Yes: 37%

• Secular. — Charlene Gordon, Family Eye Care, Monroe, LA
• Both secular and non-religious. — Richard Frankel, Atlantic Cape Eyecare, Wildwood, NJ
• I sent cards that fit my relationship with my custfriends (customer/friend). — Julie Uram, Optical Oasis, Jupiter, FL
• Secular. — Cassandra Brackmann, Danville Family Eye Care, Danville, IN
• Secular. We want to share our celebration and good wishes of the season and the New Year but we do not want to offend anyone who may not share in similar traditions. — Deborah Bosner, Northwest EyeCare Professionals, Columbus, OH
• Secular by email. — Jeff Grosekemper, Casa De Oro Eyecare, Spring Valley, CA
• We send Thanksgiving cards. — Bethany Cassar, Complete Eye Health, Holland, MI
• Just a standard well wished holiday email for those with emails on file. — William Chancellor, Eye Can See Eyewear, McDonough, GA
• Text from weave. People love it and often text back. — Kristina Swartz, The Eye Site, Mishawaka, IN
• Secular. Only because I don’t think the company we use for the postcards has a religious option. — Angel Miller, Cynthiana Vision Center, Cynthiana, KY
• Secular, we focus how grateful we are for the relationships we build with our patients. — Selina McGee, OD, Precision Vision, Edmond, OK
• Some religious cards to new customers and people we have not seen in a while. — BJ Chambers, Carrera Optical, McQueeney, TX
• Secular with a hint of religious. I feel our office keeps with a flair of both without being over the top on either. — Susan Frein, Ames Eye Care, Ankeny, IA
• Non-religious. Usually some type of cute or funny card. — Texas L. Smith, OD, Dr. Texas L. Smith & Associates, Citrus Heights, CA
• Non-religious. — Adam Ramsey, OD, Iconic Eye Care, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
• Religious but not overtly. — Zachary Dirks, OD, St. Peter and Belle Plaine Eyecare Centers, Saint Peter, MN
• We have a notecard designed specifically for our clinic to send to patients for any reason/occasion. It features custom artwork and metal sculpture featured in our clinic. We also give gift packages of those notecards to our patients to use. — Deb Jaeger, Eye Center of the Dakotas, Bismarck, ND
• Not sure, whatever my practice management software sends! I guess I need to pay more attention to that aspect although my staff may know. — Marc Ullman, OD, Academy Vision, Pine Beach, NJ
• Secular. Typically we use it to send out a “customer appreciation coupon” and advertise upcoming trunk shows. — Jenna Gilbertson, McCulley Optix Gallery, Fargo, ND
• We send both. — Deanna Phillips, Clemmons Family Eye Care, Clemmons, NC
• Secular. — Caitlin Bruno, Binyon Vision Center, Bellingham, WA
• Non-religious. — Tabitha Fuller, Thomas Eye, Palmetto, GA
• Secular. — Robert Hillman, Hillman9, Waltham, MA
• Cards are “Happy Holidays and Happy New Year” so it covers every religion and those that might not celebrate are not offended. — Anja Jakupovic, OPTIK! European Eyewear, Saint Petersburg, FL
• Secular. — Leisa Shack, Westcliff Optometry, Newport Beach, CA
• Religious. — Renee Berry, Nappanee Family Eyecare, Nappanee, IN
• We have done both. — Selena Jachens, Urban Eyecare & Eyewear, West Des Moines, IA
• I just tend to send out little “thank you for supporting the shop” notes if anything; something that could honestly be sent at any time of year but might mention how gift certificates are a great gift for any occasion! — Siobhan Burns, The Eyeglass Lass, New London, CT
• We do for one office but not the other. The ones we do are to a small group of local businesses and are religious but not over the top. The main limit to not doing more and at both offices is the cost. Not sure what the ROI really is on it. — Zachary Dirks, OD, St. Peter and Belle Plaine Eyecare Centers, Saint Peter, MN

No: 63%

• We really only do postcards for exam reminders and sometimes cards for patient that have spent a large amount of cash or thank you for being a patient if there was a circumstance that was unusual. — Caitlin Wicka, San Juan Eye Center, Montrose, CO
• Too much contact can be just as bad as too little, people get burnt out. — Steve Geis, Metro Eye, Milwaukee, WI
• Not religious but we do decorate for the holidays. We celebrate all. — Cindy Harmon, Sonoma Eyeworks, Santa Rosa, CA
• Lazy. — Alexander Saper, Great Glasses, Houston, TX
• People hate that stuff. It’s spam. — Jen Heller, Pend Oreille Vision Care, Sandpoint, ID
• I always make super creative Christmas ads for the local paper and social media. I decorate and LOVE Christmas time but I am not religious and don’t want to offend anyone. I just want to keep it easy too. I honestly don’t have the time or energy to send cards. I can barely get it together to send cards to my family. — Nancy Revis, Uber Optics, Petaluma, CA
• It is sadly a tradition that has gone by the wayside. Very few send personal cards anymore. We think communication should be pertinent to a message. — Steve Nelson, Eye Candy Optical, Westlake, OH
• I got to be honest, laziness. — Ted A. McElroy, OD, Vision Source Tifton, Tifton, GA
• No, just not enough time in the day. — Scott Keating, OD, Vision Trends, Dover, OH
• It would be lovely if we could. There’s just not enough time or manpower to do it. — Frances Ann Layton, Eye Associates of South Georgia, Valdosta, GA
• It’s me and a part-time secretary…no time for that. Although, we do send hand written thank-yous to every first time buyer, ones that have returned after a few years absence, and condolence cards when there’s a death in the family. — Jennifer Leuzzi, Mill Creek Optical, Dansville, NY
• I never saw any benefit to it. — Kimberly Riggs, OD, Ligonier, PA
• Time and staffing. — Chris Lopez, OD, Roberts Eyecare Associates, Vestal, NY