An offhand comment in a colleague’s email today got me thinking. At what point do we stop saying “Happy New Year” now that we’re into the start of 2009? This isn’t as off-topic to CRM as it may seem; how you greet and interact with prospects will have an effect on your business dealings and ability to close sales. Also, I’m stretching for something to post about that isn’t completely dull.

I used to think it was OK to drop an HNY on people after January 1 as long as it was the first time we’d spoken since the ball dropped. I quickly realized the error of that approach once I considered how it would sound if that first contact of the year came in May.

Retailers inspired me to take a seasonal approach: Any given day must be part of a predefined shopping and/or holiday season, so the trick would be to always greet people with that in mind. After the first week of January (when the holiday sales had mostly died down) I could switch to “Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” then to “Happy Groundhog Day,” “Happy Valentine’s Day,” and so on throughout the year. Not every holiday carries a sales event with it, though, so this approach didn’t last either.

I’m still wishing people a joyous new year when they do so to me, but for the most part I’m trying to avoid any such sentiments. This is because I’m something of a pessimist, and I expect the wishes to fail. That might not be the best approach for business contacts, so I guess it’s for the best that I don’t have to sell anything.

What’s the solution for the business environment? Simple. Call your prospects when it’s timely and appropriate, and let any exchange of pleasantries happen as the result of conversation. If you feel it, say it. Don’t force a contact because there was a recent celebration and it gives you a foot in the door. If you’re paying attention to your customers, you know when to call.