2012 will be an exciting year at Sharper Cards!  We’ve recently updated our logo and slogan to reflect our commitment to helping you build strong patient or client relationships to grow your practice or business.  For over 27 years, Sharper Cards has provided they very best selection in personalized healthcare and business -themed card designs.  Don’t forget we also offer practice or business essentials including magnets, tote bags, promotional giveaways and more.

Our mandate to our customers is to help build loyalty and acquire new patients or clients.  Our cost-affordable products take the leg work out of designing effective communication and promotional materials.  If you want to customize any design you see, no problem!

Another new and exciting feature that we care excited to offer to our customers is the ability to fully customize your postcards, front and back! Our NEW Customizable Postcards enables you to choose a design and customize it to your liking.

At Sharper Cards, we understand that prospecting is crucial for success.  Whether you’re looking to grow your practice or business, or simply maintain a constant base, you must bring in new patients or clients to compensate for the natural process of patient  or client attrition.  Not sure where to start?  We will make the whole process easy!

Customizable postcards are powerful marketing tools professionally designed to give you the flexibility to change as little or as many elements as you need.  With no additional fees, it is an easy and affordable way to grow your practice or business.  Here is an example of what you can do with our Customizable Postcards:

For easy ordering, please visit our website at sharpercards.com to shop and personalize all of your favorite products online.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are currently overstocked on many of our customer favorites! For a limited time,
get 50% off these popular laser card, standard postcard and standard folding card designs.

Visit sharpercards.com to view the complete selection.

Shop now while quantities last!

*Special offer cannot be combined with any other promotions.  50% off is only applicable on specific designs while quantities last.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sending postcards is one of direct marketing’s best kept secrets! It’s a simple and economical way to promote your services, stimulate referrals and reach out to patients or clients to keep your appointment book full.

Make sure to maximize your efforts by including some of these great ideas in your message:

• Differentiate your practice or business. Incorporate your logo or a free Sharper™ logo for visual impact.  Include a mission statement or an inspirational quote.
• Engage prospects. Spotlight your message with an exciting offer or coupon.  Include a listing of your unique services, a map of your location, and don’t forget to add your website address if your have one.
• Motivate existing patients or clients. Emphasize the importance of oral health by including an interesting statistic or fact.  Encourage patients or clients to come back in for their regular preventative appointments with an effective recall program.
• Appeal to new and former patients or clients with relevant imagery and message. Sharper’s selection of postcards offers a wide variety of designs to target different groups of patients or clients.
• Generate patient loyalty and keep your practice or business name top of mind. Send birthday greetings, wishes for the holiday season or simple reminders.

Send a postcard today and watch your practice or business grow!  Click here to shop our complete selection of postcards.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I love this idea!

It makes sense…thank your patients, clients and colleagues and include the gift of a calendar that they can use throughout the year.  It’s a holiday card and 2012 calendar all rolled into one beautiful package.  Perforated down the center, these cards can be personalized on the inside.  The calendar can be separated and your practice or business name will be visible all year round.   Ask us how you can easily customize designs!  Free envelopes are included with your order and personalization is free as well.

Check out Sharper’s Seasonal Collection Store for other great ideas to grow your practice or business.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At Sharper™, we believe that practice success begins with great products.  That is why our new Fall 2011 Dental Catalog is packed with hundreds of  great ideas to successful market your practice.  In this season’s book, we are featuring our new Seasonal Collection line of Thanksgiving and Holiday Cards, 2012 Calendars and much more.  In addition, we’ve got great seasonal savings that you can take advantage of to showcase your practice while saving you money.

Building patient loyalty  and encouraging referrals are the two most important cornerstones for your dental practice success.  At Sharper™, we understand every dental practice is unique.  Which is why we offer a wide selection o f personalized patient communication and promotional products.  You choose what’s right for you and your patients or colleagues from hundreds of popular character and dental-themed designs.  The quality of your dental practice will be reflected in these exceptional and unique products.

Here is a preview at what’s new in our Fall 2011 Dental Catalog:

NEW Holiday Card Designs

NEW Thanksgiving Card Designs

NEW Character Seasonal Card Designs

NEW 2012 Magnet Calendar Designs

To request a copy of our Fall 2011 Dental catalog, click here to order or call 1-800-561-6677 and one of our Product Consultants will be happy to assist you.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Summer is just around the corner and what a better way to celebrate the warmth and beautiful weather than with bright and colorful personalized products.  To help get your practice busy for the summer season, Sharper™ has just released our new Summer 2011 Dental Catalog!

In this book, we’ve got everything from personalized recall postcards/laser cards to tote bags and peel and stick appointment cards.  Click here to view our new Dental catalog online.  If you prefer to have a catalog mailed to you, click here to order or call 1-800-561-6677 to request a copy.

Sending personalized recall products to remind patients of upcoming scheduled appointments or return visits is an easy and affordable way to promote good oral health and motivate patients to maintain a healthy smile.

Here are some of my favorite recall postcard designs that also comes in a peel and stick, business card and tote bag formats:

Portray a professional image by coordinating designs for all your patient communications. This will help build your brand and also save you money.

Purchase 3 products – 15% OFF – Promo Code MATCH3
Purchase 4 products – 25% OFF – Promo Code MATCH4
Purchase 5 products – 30% OFF – Promo Code MATCH5

Ordering is easy!  Visit e-sharper.com or call 1-800-561-6677.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A fantastic way to connect with your new or current patients or clients is by using Welcome and Thank You cards.  They definitely make a memorable impression!

Once you take a look at the many beautiful designs, I can ensure you will see an instant success from these products!

Welcome cards show new patients or referral patients that they are in fact an important part of your practice or business!

Thank You cards are a fantastic way to show appreciation to your current patients or clients and that your practice or business continues to grow by thoughtful referrals and recommendations!

Another great thing about these products is that most of the designs come in matching welcome and thank you layouts help you coordinate your image for greater marketing impact and exposure!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

At Sharper™, we greatly value the feedback we receive from our customers when they complete our “Would You Recommend Us” survey.  Our customers tell us the things they love about our business, but most importantly they tell us the things that create customer service issues for them.  We also receive a ton of recommendations on how we can improve our business processes to better support our customers and their goals of growing their practice or business successfully.

An important trend with our customers has been the migration of ordering products online at our website www.e-sharper.com.  Since the majority of our products are personalized with contact information and branding like custom logos, we have heard a lot of feedback about how our site did not allow customers to quickly see how their products would look when printed.  They would have to request a proof, which would be sent by email or fax.  Way too labor intensive in this day and age of technology.

So we challenged our IT team to find an easy to use application for our website where customers could enter in the information they wanted to have printed on their product, change fonts, ink colors, logos, etc.  And boy, what they found for us was great!  If you have not been to the Sharper™ site recently, please visit www.e-sharper.com.  Boasting some exciting new features including a revamped look, our website will now allow you to easily search for your products and personalize it with our online personalization tool.

Furthermore, if you create a web account, your name and address information will auto-populate…saving time from manually keying it in.  All of this information is then stored in your account for easy retrieval when you reorder.  You will also see a digital proof which represents how your products will look when printed.  Don’t like the look – then quickly change it.

Needless to say, we love technology and I know our customers will too!  Happy shopping…

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you’ve ever had a chance to look through our catalogs, you’ll notice that in every book we have chosen a few special card designs to help you achieve success in your marketing strategies.

Here is a quick glance at a few of our Top Pick to help contemporary health professionals grow their practice or business:

Perfect for patient or client referrals:

Ideal for patient acquisition:

Ideal for increasing patient or client loyalty:

Great for patient or client retention:

Perfect for patient or client reminders:

Looking for more ideas to build your practice or business? Request a copy of our latest Contemporary Health catalog today.  Simply click here or give our customer service center a call at 1-800-561-6677 and one of our product consultants will be happy to assist you.

The year is quickly coming to an end and what a better way to show your patients or clients your appreciation for their loyalty throughout the year than by sending them a Thank You card.  Personalized Thank You cards are great for building patient or client relations and create a great lasting impression for your business.

I always enjoy receiving fun Thank You cards from my dentist, veterinarian and massage therapist.  It shows me that they do value my business – and that to me is what customer service should be all about.  Sending a Thank You card will demonstrate to your patients or clients that your practice or business takes great pride in providing excellent customer service and that it shouldn’t just take place in the office or clinic.  A great practice or business should maintain contact with it’s patients or clients throughout the year to help build loyalty and to demonstrate great customer service.

For a limited time only, Sharper™ is offering 100 Thank You postcards/laser cards or 50 Thank You folding cards for FREE!  Click here to find out how you can save and build loyalty and generate referrals at the same time.

Here’s a look at some of our Top Pick Thank You cards:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s get social with Sharper™!

Follow us on Twitter or become a Facebook fan to receive great promotions, news, marketing tips and industry updates that only social media subscribers will receive.

It has been a busy past few weeks in the Creative Services Department at Sharper™.  Orders for 2011 calendars, holiday cards, business cards and stationery and appointment cards have been flowing in as everyone prepares for a hopeful and positive year ahead.  But there was one job that went across my desk the other day that I thought was a really nice spin on the  holiday gift certificate idea.

Sharper™ has a great selection of existing gift certificates to choose from, but perhaps you have a special holiday card from our Holiday and Calendar Store in mind that you would like to combine with a gift giving message? This was what one of our customers decided to do and it worked beautifully!  With Sharper™’s Custom Creations process, you can take any design that we offer and simply change the copy on the front for a minimal cost.  Next, you can add copy to the inside of the greeting card, offering a discount in the new year or a special gift to claim the next time they come in.  Here are a few copy change ideas to show you just how easy it can be:

A Holiday Gift for you from your Veterinarian team. Season’s Greetings.

A Bright and Shiny gift to you and your family from your Dentist.

A Sweet Gift of Health and Happiness from your Chiropractor.

A gift for you this holiday season from your Audiologist.

ABC Clinic would like to take the time to say Thank You.

These are just a few possibilities.
Make your holiday greeting special this year.  The Sharper™ Creative Services team will customize a gift giving design, just for you.  By putting that extra special touch into your Holiday messages this year, you can show your colleagues, patients or clients how important they are to you and the success of your business.  Happy gift giving! We will be watching for your special request.  I always love to see a creative touch

When my daughter was little, she loved the Tooth Fairy.  Every time she lost a tooth she would carefully tuck it in an envelope and decorate it with hearts and flowers drawn in brightly colored crayons.  She would include a note each time, explaining that this was her second tooth or her third tooth, and that she wanted the Tooth Fairy to take good care of it.  Sometimes she would ask questions: “How tall are you?  Where do you keep my teeth? What color is your dress?  I wish I could meet you some day. xoxo (and more hearts and flowers).”

I couldn’t let these notes and questions go unacknowledged, so from then on, I became the Tooth Fairy.  I created a special hand writing that my daughter soon came to identify.  I would carefully answers her questions, usually in the form of a poem or rhyme and leave a dollar in the envelope for her to find under her pillow the next morning.  She would say, “Mommy, this must be the Tooth Fairy!  I can tell by her hand writing.”

To this day (and my daughter is now 20), I still think of those times and how special it was to be the Tooth Fairy if only for a moment.  Then, this past Thursday evening some 15 years later, I finally met the person that embodies the heart and soul of all Tooth Fairies around the world, Toothena.  Moreover, I saw first hand just how powerful her magic really is!

I attended the  Tooth Fairy Children’s Foundation Fundraising Gala with a few of my fellow colleagues from Sharper™, as an event sponsor.  It was so inspiring to see the support, hard work and dedication that went into planning the evening.  The Gala was in support of the foundation’s vision “ to provide every child worldwide with a toothbrush and access to dental care.” And finally…yes finally, I really got to meet the Tooth Fairy herself! (My daughter smiled as I showed her the program from the evening event and the photo that you see here.)

“The Tooth Fairy Children’s Foundation is a charitable organization with the mission to provide every child worldwide with a toothbrush, oral hygiene education and access to dental care.  The Foundation will educate and build awareness of the dental needs of children globally.  Funds raised will be allocated to individuals and groups with the intention of providing dental care for children in need.” – http://www.toothfairykids.org/index.html

The Tooth Fairy Children Foundation’s Project Toothbrush can give your patients a choice to make a difference in this world – by donating their toothbrush (or money) for a child in need.  Thank you Toothena (aka CoraMarie Clark) for bringing smiles to little faces all over the world.  You truly are an inspiration!

And at Sharper™ we are very pleased to offer the Toothena the Tooth Fairy line of dental communication products, perfect for promoting dental care in your community.

Send a Toothena recall card to remind patients of their appointments.  Welcome them to your practice with a Toothena welcome card or have your little patients take home a Toothena Tooth Chart and a wonderful Toothena tote bag filled with patient giveaways.

T’is the Fall Season!  What a beautiful time of year, and with this comes a great opportunity to use some of our beautiful seasonal postcards, appointment cards and Thank you cards.

Our postcards come in the standard 5 3/4″ x 4″ size or our new large 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.  Just imagine, your recall cards will definitely stand out in the mail being a larger size along with a beautiful seasonal design.  We also carry many of our designs in the 4-up laser postcards.

I have so many favorite seasonal designs, it’s hard to choose one to show you, but the nice thing is that you can mix and match designs in lots of 50, so you can order many different styles! And they all can be personalized to your liking.

We have a few designs in our standard or folding appointment cards also.  Please remember that the back or the inside of our appointment cards can be customized however you would like.  We can print a calendar, your office hours, an appointment layout, or anything else you can imagine!  Here are some of my favorites:

The last item I would like to mention is our beautiful seasonal Thank you cards!  We have four beautiful designs that will surely put a smile on your client’s face and help you generate more referrals to your business or practice at the same time:

For most people, the fall and winter seasons conveys the excitement of holiday festivities such as scrumptious turkey dinners, joyful gatherings with friends and family, and in some parts of the world, this time of year brings forth the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival.  However, for others, this time of year conveys a whole different story.

For many of us, the coming of winter means that we have to get our cars tuned-up and ready for the harsh cold weather, put away our summer shorts and t-shirts, and bring out those parkas, that only people in Nunavut should be wearing.  Nonetheless, we can all take advantage of this season by rejuvenating our bodies and uplift our moods with a visit to our massage therapist, chiropractic clinic, or holistic health practitioner.

Harry J. Johnson states it best, “the human body has been designed to resist and infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment.  The secret to good life lies in successful adjustments to changing stresses on the body.”

If you are running a contemporary health business or practice, this is definitely a good time for you to reach out to current or prospect customers to build your clientele.

Visit Sharper to learn about more ways to build new client acquisition and improve customer relations with your current patients.

Here are some of my favorite new client acquisition products:

In case you have ever wondered about the power of a “Thank you”, there are so many advantages and positive consequences of thinking about your patients personally enough to mail them a Thank you card.

Not only are the designs beautiful but you can personalize the inside of the Thank you cards with anything you like!  The messages (custom or standard) are included in the price so you can say anything that is in your heart, to your patients or clients.

Dental Thank you cards are an excellent tool to thank your patients for their referrals or just to thank them for their patronage.

Veterinary or other Pet Care offices and businesses can use Pet Care Thank you cards as a way to show how appreciative that their patients have chosen them as their primary Pet Care provider!  People may not realize how important they really are to your practice!

Eye Care, Hearing Care and all other Contemporary Health Thank you cards can be used in exactly the same way.

For information and other ideas for your Thank you cards please call our Call Centre at 1-800-561-6677 or reference our easy to use website – www.e-sharper.com.

The evolution of social networking has made it faster and easier than ever to get in touch with everyone you know with a click of a button. But are we too quick to dismiss the power of a simple thank you card? I mean an actual card, not an e-card.

Not that there’s anything wrong with an e-card – I think they’re fun – but there’s something about holding something in your hand that seems to give it greater meaning. I personally feel more inclined to spend the time to actually read the message and appreciate everything about the card – from the design to the paper stock.

Thank you cards can go along way to calming “buyers remorse” and help you encourage more referrals. It shows you are giving personal attention to this individual and have taken time out of your day to let this person know that you are thinking of them.

When should you send Business Thank You Cards?

When you didn’t get the customer. So you’ve put in all this time and effort to get this person’s business and they’ve decided to go elsewhere. Now I’m telling you to send them a thank you card?!? It couldn’t hurt, could it? Thank them for their time and consideration and it’s a bonus if they tell you why they went elsewhere. If it has to do with the types of services offered then at least you can write “We’re sorry we could not provide you with the services you currently require but we hope you consider us for any other future needs.” At least this card will make you stand out from the rest and maybe they will think of you in the future.

When you did get the customer. You’ve worked your magic and you have a new patient or client. That’s it you’re done, right? Have you ever felt a little apprehensive when you’re about to experience something new? Take this opportunity to reduce this feeling in your patient or client and they won’t second guess their decision. There’s always that small window where people still look even after they have “made their decision”. This simple thank you card could be just the thing to have them stop looking elsewhere and help build a foundation for a long-term relationship.

When you want to recognize a loyal customer. Maybe you’ve had a client or patient come to you for years and you share quite a history together. So much so that they might as well be family. Let them know that you appreciate their loyalty and hope to continue the relationship for many more years to come.

When you get a referral. This is the opportune time say “thanks”. Getting a referral means you’re doing something right and your patient or client has recognized that by bringing in their friend. Not only has this person just marketed your business, they’ve just saved you time and money from having to market yourself. Who knows? The referral could come from that customer you didn’t get in the first point – you may not have had the services for that individual but that doesn’t mean you don’t have them for their friend.

Make your patients or clients feel special by sending a personalized thank you card and your bottom line might just thank you in return.

Check out the selection of dental, contemporary health or general business thank you cards on Sharper’s website.

There is nothing like acknowledging your patients or clients with a greeting card. Many businesses tend to forget about small details that will help them grow as a company. A simple reminder to those who contribute to your business shows not only the appreciation for their valued business but also creates loyalty.

Here are Sharper™ there are many different  styles of cards available for you to show a little thanks or even a simple welcome. From our Dental Welcome Postcards to our Pet Welcome Folding Cards there is so much to choose from.

There is nothing like sending out a welcome card to a new patient or client to show you care. Sharper™ offers free personalization so it makes it easy to get the message across.  Be sure not to forget our Thank You Cards as well. These cards are great for patient referrals and let’s your customers know that you appreciate their valued business.

During the holiday season many offices partake in the spirit by sending warm wishes of health and happiness to their clients. Whether your cards are for appointment reminders or the holiday season it is a nice way to end off the year letting everyone know that you care and are thinking about them.

Check out some of our Holiday Designs!

A couple weeks ago I wrote about some of Sharper’s great looking vision recall postcards.   But what I didn’t mention is that we carry a range of eye care postcards for different occasions!

Reactivation postcards for lapsed patients…

Optometry themed birthday cards to help build relationships with patients…

Moving postcards to announce a new location…

And vision themed thank you and welcome cards…

No matter what type of eye care postcard you might need, we’ve got you covered!

The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway and as a hockey fan this is a very exciting time of year!  Hockey is a game of strategy and timing.  In order for a team to be successful in the NHL they need to bring these elements together.

A successful playoff run is much like a successful marketing campaign for your practice or business.  In hockey, the coach must decide which players to put on the ice during key points in the game and in your practice or business you must decide what messages to send your patients or clients at key points in the year.

If a coach plays his best players too often they may become ineffective in the later stages of a game.  On the other hand, if he doesn’t utilize his best players enough, the team may miss scoring chances and opportunities to win the game.  Your direct mail campaigns work in very much the same way.  Sending out annual appointment reminder postcards to your patients or clients one week after their last visit may not be the optimal time to do so.  Your campaign will be more effective if you send out the appointment reminder postcards closer to the appointment date.

Every business and practice goes through cycles of busy and slow times and it should be your goal to maximize profits during busy times and promote growth during slower times.  Take a look at your marketing and direct mail strategies and look for patterns in patient or client behavior to uncover opportunities.

Some proven techniques to try are:

1) Patient or client referral program
2) Welcome program for new patients or clients
3) Reminder, recall or recare for upcoming appointments
4) Thank you program that expresses your gratitude to loyal patients or clients

Like NHL coaches competing to win this year’s Stanley cup, you need to think about your strategy and timing.

It’s now time for you to implement your plan and for me to watch some hockey!

Business Thank you cards make a long lasting impression on patients and clients. Thank yous and your welcomes are taught at such an early age but it seems as the times change and the world moves at a faster pace we often forget to say these words as much as we should.

How can you get your patients to remember you and appreciate the business that you provide them with? How about sending any one of our business thank you cards.

Sharper™ has a variety of designs to choose from.

There are many languages in which you can say ‘Thank You’ in, however the meaning always comes across the same way. Tell your patients today that you appreciate them and thank them for choosing you as their health care provider.