Thoughts on Gift Cards-Pros & Cons

As a retailer we love gift cards/gift certificates.  They are a great way for someone else to pay for our advertising!  We have noticed over the years that many of the gift certificates have not been redeemed. It disappoints us since we would love for more people to find out about our great products and customer service however, personally as a purchaser of gift cards it makes me worry.  Do the recipients ever use the card?  It would be great if there was a follow up that the company sent the giver of the card an acknowledgment that the card was used.  The logistics should not be difficult yet, gift cards can be used years later. I think if recipients knew that the giver was going to be notified people would be more conscientious about using the gift card on a timely basis.  They would not just throw the card in a drawer to be used later.
Any thoughts???

Try Smiling!

A tennis friend told the story of how intense she was in matches.  Her face and body language indicated her killer instinct on the court.  It made her partner and her opponents uncomfortable.  Someonesuggested she try this technique-Smile.  No matter how intense she felt she put this huge smile on her face while waiting for a serve.  No matter if she was winning or losing she would turn up the corners of her mouth and smile. 

There were two consequences to this behavior; first she found the smile actually relaxed her. Secondly, the smile got in the opponent's head.  They did not know how to react.  Some got annoyed with her but other players started smiling more on the court themselves.
So as the lyrics to an old WWI song go: "Smile, Smile, Smile!"

Golfing in the Dark?!

Now that the sun is setting very early-like 4pm in New England the shortened days are cutting into time on the golf course. Someone told me about this fun "Glow in the Dark" golf game.  You need "glow in the dark" golf balls, 3 golf clubs, glow sticks, and flashlight or headlamp.  The person said they only set up 3 holes since you need to put glow sticks at the tee box, down the fairway, and a glow stick around the pin. They were put in groups of 6 and just carried their 3 golf clubs of choice.  It sounded like allot of work but she said it was so fun everyone was willing to help set up the next time.  Good idea to take the edge off those long winter nights.