Christmas Cards for the Schedulers

Is it a good gesture to send some of your schedulers a Christmas card or do you think that they will view it as "sucking up" to get more work?

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I have sent e-cards to those schedulers where the "sucking up" is mutual :-) I certainly don't/won't do it to all of them, but there are some that over time I have built a relationship. That relationship is primarily professional but also has a personal aspect. I am not just a phone number to be called or an email address to be spammed and they are not just a $15 shop.

*blank stare* Ya'll must be really nice. I have never met a scheduler that was worth my time. Blah. Maybe because I don't do the back and forth thing with emails. Who knows, but hindsight is 20/20...maybe I do need to acquaint myself with some schedulers.

shhhitzasecret Wrote:
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> *blank stare* Ya'll must be really nice. I have
> never met a scheduler that was worth my time.
> Blah. Maybe because I don't do the back and forth
> thing with emails. Who knows, but hindsight is
> 20/20...maybe I do need to acquaint myself with
> some schedulers.
.......................................................
I've found it depends on the MSC...there are some nice,considerate and helpful Schedulers out there. In my short experience...those who have actually performed Mystery shops,audits & merchandising assignments themselves are the most considerate and respectful to me...I guess I'm nieve...I thought we are suppose to be a TEAM for the benefit of the Client...
There are some schedulers I'd send a Xmas card to...Establishing a re-pore is a good thing...and different than "sucking-up" in my opinion.

I've been MSing heavily for around 2 years now. I don't have a relationship with any scheduler where this would be appropriate. The closest relationships are with a local MSC, and if anything, they ought to be sending *me* a card. =)

I do admit that there have been several schedulers of mine that really went above and beyond in not just distributing good, quality assignments over time but also in other areas such as critique plus recommendations on reports, equipment, etc. I truly think that in any business, personal interaction is very critical in building and fostering long-term relationships. I mentioned Christmas cards as a good gesture in order to maintain/improve relationships. I do the same with relatives and friends. Why not schedulers?

What Eric said just above. I have particularly good relationships with video and audio shop schedulers and like to send e-cards. In addition, I want them to hear from me whan things are going well; not just when disaster strikes, as it often does on such long shops and long routes. I try not to waste schedulers' time, but I do actively market to schedulers who like to build routes.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I thought about it but in the end decided to send emails. Some of which led to some nice conversations. I have a feeling a lot of schedulers work from home and wouldn't be comfortable asking for home addresses.

I'm going to send Christmas cards to 2 companies, not to "suck up," but because I truly appreciate the opportunities they have given me.

I have many friends/schedulers I really like. I have one who calls me their 'Go to Gal' and one calls me 'Getter Done'. You can never go wrong treating people with respect. I've received one card from one of my schedulers and I'm sending out cards next week to all my favs.
Good relationships with people are never considered 'sucking up' in my book. The golden rule applies here. I'm interested in sharing the holiday spirit with a few Christmas cards. We report on what good customer service looks like, so let's practice what we preach and spread a little cheer! (humming a little to my Christmas music in back ground...fa la la la la)

I hope you slow down and enjoy the season! Merry Christmas!

Flash wrote; I have sent e-cards to those schedulers where the "sucking up" is mutual :-)
..............................................................................

This is the way to go, if you're so inclined...no need for securing addresses...and if you just insist on being a traditionalist...send it to the Scheduler@ of the particular MSP...

lsamson Wrote:
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> You can never go wrong treating people with respect.

Amen to that! There are some schedulers who've been very accommodating when I've encountered life's unscheduled moments, and some who've just plain been friendly to deal with. If I've had such dealings, I like to show appreciation.

Sorry, but I disagree. To me, there is nothing more impersonal then an e-card.I cherish a hand written card sent to me and all my e-cards received are simply deleted. But.... I'd be happy to even get an e-card from any of the male population, as they tend to not send any form of greeting cards. Now don't get into a huff guys... I know there are some men who send cards but I think in all my years I have only received business greeting cards with a simple signature from the male population. (Be nice it's Christmas!)

Certainly different strokes for different folks! I would much rather receive a personalized e-card than a more formal holiday card just signed. So I send a paper card primarily when it will include a check or a gift card. All of my childhood we sent out lots of Christmas cards and received lots of them. Even as a young adult a whole lot of time was spent between Thanksgiving and Christmas writing the notes about what the family had been up to since last Christmas that were an inevitable part of the whole card exchange thing. These days we communicate all year long by email so the card has been reduced to an acknowledgment of the season and good wishes for it rather than a catching up with each others' lives.

Ecards certainly have their place, for instance your relationship with the MSC and schedulers are done by email, so an email holiday card seems appropriate. I'd be happy to receive them as well. A Closer Look is on my list, along with a few more, great way to thank them for thinking of me. I don't look at this as sucking up but merely being civil over the holidays, and a good time to say thank you, I appreciate your help, happy holidays....

Live consciously....

I have thought about this as well. I do have schedulers who have come to me to get jobs done when they were screwed by other mystery shoppers. I also have several that call my cellphone and talk to me from time to time. I don't know if it would be appropriate. I am on the fence on this one as well.

My threshhold is if about now I would finish an email to them saying "In case I don't talk to you before then, have a wonderful holiday and a fantastic New Year!", then I am comfortable sending them an e-card I think they would like. Some are obviously religious, some I suspect are not, so my e-cards are not 'one size fits all'.

Flash Wrote:
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> My threshhold is if about now I would finish an
> email to them saying "In case I don't talk to you
> before then, have a wonderful holiday and a
> fantastic New Year!", then I am comfortable
> sending them an e-card I think they would like.
> Some are obviously religious, some I suspect are
> not, so my e-cards are not 'one size fits all'.

I am 100% in agreement with the above concept.

As far as sending a physical card, like Irene said, it falls outside of the relationship most of us have with the MSCs and schedulers.

I once received a card to my non-published address from a shopper when I was scheduling. It not only seemed like "Sucking up", but creeped me out that they had cyber stalked my address.

The best holiday gift you could give your scheduler is to take and finish all of the available shops they have, so they can enjoy they holiday too. December is notorious for people flaking out or not scheduling shops when the holiday rush gets going (I personally won't step foot in a mall for 2 weeks before Xmas). As a scheduler, I was routinely on my computer handling work emails on Xmas and I don't miss dealing with that at all!

Eric in Tampa Wrote:
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> Is it a good gesture to send some of your
> schedulers a Christmas card or do you think that
> they will view it as "sucking up" to get more
> work?

A good idea that may not be done in the best manner if an e-card is involved because this can mean spam! In the past, I have found e-card sites where you submit your friend's email addy and the website sends them a message saying you have an e-card! Just click on this link to see it. Then, they sell the email addy to spammers. For that reason, I long ago gave up on E-cards that involve clicking on a link or going to a website ago, both giving and receiving. I stick with the Christmas message without sharing email addresses with third parties.

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

I wouldn't send cards to MSPs, but several of them send e-cards or e-mails to the shoppers for birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc.....and I think that is very nice.

No e-cards or well wishes from me to them. If there's a shop-related communique, maybe one of us will sign off with a happy holiday sentence.

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