How OIT saved Christmas

Long story that rambles all over, i make no apologies. I enjoy the tech side of what we do but i REALLY get into image projects. Decorating our new office and signs and letterhead and proposals, great business cards. Emergency secret redemption programs i just really dig theming and engaging with customers, designing programs and executing them. It just happens that running a business, being a dad, pets, hobbies, projects and life just keep me from really digging into that side of the business because it doesn't HAVE to be done, unlike tickets, taxes, and the day to day. I see some things here and there other business owners do and i think it's just really genuine (which is important) and i note it and try to incorporate it. I'm a guy's guy, i work on cars, i drink, i drive motorcycles so this sounds odd but i want to say, I just nailed those baskets. Ribbon and clear cellophane that matched our colors, nice handwritten notes, the above locally sourced merch. The baskets themselves were primitive but trendy looking, it all just hit. They were well received and I felt GOOD about the job we'd done conveying how we felt. It ended the year on a positive note and i really felt we were unstoppable. We were killing it, our customers saw and appreciated it, everything came together and good holiday gifts were just the confirmation that we weren't one of THOSE msps, dropping the ball left and right. I had personal life changes. We moved offices. I just couldn't get back to what i really enjoy, which is basically BSing with customers and working on the parts of the business that they SEE. They see proposals, agreements, us for meetings, compliance docs. They don't see intune setups, HIPAA process workflows, bookkeeping, huntress, EDR, a sweet scripted solution, or other things i enjoy but that i know they don't value and just aren't as fun. This year i just sat there staring at the item on my to do list that was "holiday gifts for clients?" that changed to "send clients xmas cards?" that changed to "send clients xmax email". I follow a gifting coach's emails so i've always been well aware that gifting during this season is kind of wasted and insincere but you have to do SOMETHING and abandoning a todo list item leaves me feeling like a failure. OIT sent their partners sugarwish which in itself wasn't anything so original (letting clients pick their gift) but the templates, their personal message, and the gifts available, it just really came off sincere. I forgot about it until they arrived the other day and decided to look into them despite being down to the christmas wire, about to fail on a to do list item, knowing i was dropping the ball but seemingly unable to prevent it AGAIN. Sign up tomorrow, upload the email/message template, and finish the year strong.