1. Remind your sales staff to send holiday greetings to their database. Including a photo of the community or sales team helps to personalize the effort.
   
   
2. Make sure construction sites are clean of debris, especially over the long holiday weekends, when there will be visitors throughout the community.  
   
   
3. Invite guests to the Welcome Center. Home owners will be showing off their new home to friends and family during the holidays and it’s a perfect time for them visit the community’s Welcome Center. Put away signs that read “Sorry, we missed you” and provide holiday hours.
   
   
4. Merchandise the community in the clubhouse. This may be where home owners will first bring visitors to show off the community.  Be sure to have guest registration to obtain addresses for follow-up.  Also provide take-away cards with Welcome Center holiday hours.       
   
   
5. Consider opening on Christmas Day and New Years Day to capture visitors. On Christmas weekends, it’s amazing how many people drive around to communities to check out progress. 
   
   
6. Provide knowledgeable staff to answer phone inquires and email requests. Boomers home for the holidays may be surfing for information as they make their New Year’s resolutions.  Don’t be surprised if one of them is to move this year! 
   
   
7. Deliver a small gift to new homeowners. Sales people can use the holidays as a perfect time to introduce themselves especially if the homeowner’s sales associate is no longer with the community.  Re-establish the bond with homeowners.
   
   
8. Include homeowners on contract who have not yet closed on their home on holiday event guest lists. Be sure they receive the community’s newsletter too. These special touches of hospitality go a long way with Boomer customers.
   
   
9. Host caroling parties and “Decorate your door/yard contests.”  These are simple ways to bring the spirit of the holidays to your community.
   
   
10. Decorate model homes for the holidays. From door wreaths to more elaborate decorations, you have a showcase to attract return traffic. A special advertising/PR campaign can be built around this special time with open house weekends.    
    

Janis Ehlers is the founder and president of The Ehlers Group, Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based marketing and communications company that specializes in real estate development and active adult communities throughout the country. For more information, she can be reached via e-mail, at 954-726-9228 or 703-934-0165, or visit The Ehlers Group Web site.