12月渐至尾声，圣诞节也即将来临。对于大多数的国外客户而言，圣诞节在他们心中有着非常重要的意义。
那么问题来了，在这个西方的重要节日就要到来之际：你是不是真的了解圣诞节？是否已经做好了充分的准备？圣诞节祝福该发给哪些客户？除了老掉牙的中国结还能送什么合适的礼物？圣诞节的贺卡祝福语怎么写？
和客户聊的不仅仅只是生意，交流的对象都跟我们一样是人，是人就有生日，纪念日，生活的方方面面！
要知道，圣诞节可是一个“撩”客户的大好时机。让你有机会催促迟迟不下单的客户下单，激活一直不回复的客户回复，拉近与客户之间的关系，把握客户来年的采购计划... ...
01
从正确的认识圣诞节开始
圣诞节(Christmas)又称耶诞节，耶稣诞辰，译名为“基督弥撒”，西方传统节日，在每年12月25日。弥撒是教会的一种礼拜仪式，圣诞节是一个宗教节，因为把它当作耶稣的诞辰来庆祝，故名“耶诞节”。
大部分的天主教教堂都会先在24日的平安夜，亦即12月25日凌晨举行子夜弥撒，而一些基督教会则会举行报佳音，然后在12月25日庆祝圣诞节。基督教的另一大分支——东正教的圣诞节庆则在每年的1月7日，同时圣诞节也是西方世界以及其他很多地区的公共假日。
但是也要清晰的认识到，圣诞节是一个宗教节，并非所有国家都会过这个节日。
信仰世界另一大宗教伊斯兰的阿拉伯国家比如：沙特、阿联酋、叙利亚、约旦、伊拉克、也门、巴勒斯坦、埃及、利比亚、阿尔及利亚、阿曼、苏丹、索马里、摩洛哥、突尼斯、卡塔尔、吉布提、黎巴嫩、毛里塔尼亚、巴林...等二十多个国家是不过圣诞节的，所以在向你的客户发送圣诞节问候的时候，最好先了解对方是否过这个节日。
当然，随着全球化的发展，圣诞节的影响开始蔓延全球，并且产生了宗教以外的其他节日内涵。就像在中国一样，如今圣诞节也开始被越来越多的国人接纳。
这样看来，节日的庆祝又不绝对以国界来划分。
因此也就需要你对自己的客户有一个比较深入的了解，即使对方国家没有圣诞节，如果对方愿意去过这个节日，也有具体的放假安排。那么你的圣诞节祝福不仅不会多余，可能还会恰逢时宜。
02
不同国家的圣诞节放假安排
欧洲国家
英国：12月24日到1月5日
法国：12月23日到1月5日
德国：12月24日中午开始到26日及29日到2日，部分公司12月20日到29日，1日到4日是圣诞节和新年假期
西班牙：12月23日到1月6日，规定的是24日半天，25日全天，31日半天，1日全天，但也要放一个星期，从20日到27日，一部分公司放假从24日到28日，29日上班，然后从30日放到7日
意大利：12月18日到1月4日
葡萄牙：12月24日到1月5日，很多公司只放25、26和1日
瑞士：12月24日到1月4日
瑞典：12月23日到1月9日
荷兰：12月24日到1月6日
希腊：12月24日到12月25日
丹麦：12月22日到1月2日
芬兰：12月24日到1月6日
奥地利：12月22日到1月6日
爱尔兰：12月22日到1月5日
波兰：12月24日到1月4日
捷克：12月21日到1月5日
俄罗斯：信奉东正教，1月1日到1月10日（多数公司12月22日开始放假）
保加利亚：12月24到27日，31日到1月3日
斯洛文尼亚：12月21号到1月5号
匈牙利/斯洛伐克：12月22日到1月4日假期两周
美洲国家
美国：12月22日到1月5日
加拿大：12月24日半天到12月28日，事实上延续到1月4日
墨西哥：12月22日到1月5日
巴西：12月8日到1月4日作为假期的较多。24、25日和31、1日放假，部分公司12月21日到1月3日放假
智利：12月25日到1月4日
玻利维亚：12月21日到1月4号
亚非国家
印度：印度节日太多，国家规定圣诞当日休一天，不太隆重，大部分教育机构有圣诞假期，假期在圣诞节前几天开始在元旦几天后结束
马来西亚：12月25日到1月4日
印尼：12月24日到1月4日
尼日利亚：12月23日放假，假期半个月
澳大利亚：从12月18日到次年2月份，连着暑假一起放的，很多人去旅游，圣诞假期12月23日到1月7日
南非：12月18日到1月12号
菲律宾：拥有世界上最长的圣诞节假期，传统上，菲律宾的圣诞节从12月16日开始，假期持续到次年1月的第一个星期周末结束
韩国：12月25日（但圣诞不是法定假期）
日本：圣诞不是法定假期，但学生一般正在放冬休假期，而凑巧接近圣诞节的12月23日是天皇诞生日国定假日，民众也接受了西方庆祝圣诞节的传统，但是他们的新年是更重要的节日，元旦假期12月28日到1月4日
泰国：元旦12月30日到1月4日
孟加拉：基督徒12月25日
埃及：12月24日到1月10日
毛里求斯：元旦假期
新西兰：从12月18到1月底2月初，连着暑假一起放的，很多人去旅游。圣诞假期12月20日到1月7日
阿塞拜疆：12月31日到1月5日
乌兹别克斯坦：12月31日到1月10日
尼日利亚：12月23日放假假期半个月
03
不同国家的圣诞节习俗
在这里分享一个网站工具给大家，我们可以在这上面详细的了解圣诞节，并且可以具体的查询到每个国家是怎么过圣诞节的，有哪些习俗特色。这些都是能帮助你拉近与客户的距离的话题，换个角度说，也就拉近了与客户订单需求的距离。
打开网址：https://www.whychristmas.com/，根据各个国家进行以下类目查询了解。（界面如下图，非常简洁实用）
Christmas Traditions and Customs
Christmas Around the World
The Christmas Story
Christmas Fun and Activities
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25[a] as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.[2][3][4] A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night.[5] Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries,[6][7][8] is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians,[9] as well as culturally by many non-Christians,[1][10] and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.
The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.[11] When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then spread the word.[12]
There are different hypotheses regarding the date of Jesus' birth and in the early fourth century, the church fixed the date as December 25.[b][13][14][15] This corresponds to the traditional date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar.[16] It is exactly nine months after Annunciation on March 25, also the date of the spring equinox.[17] Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world. However, part of the Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. For Christians, believing that God came into the world in the form of man to atone for the sins of humanity, rather than knowing Jesus' exact birth date, is considered to be the primary purpose in celebrating Christmas.[18][19][20]
The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins.[21][22] Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving; completing an Advent calendar or Advent wreath; Christmas music and caroling; viewing a Nativity play; an exchange of Christmas cards; church services; a special meal; and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly. In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.[23] Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. Over the past few centuries, Christmas has had a steadily growing economic effect in many regions of the world.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
If you are anything like us here at Voice and Vision, you are eagerly anticipating the extra-long holiday weekend. As our gift to you, we want to send you off with some fun Christmas facts. Please feel free to use them for interesting conversation starters at your gatherings. (You’re welcome).
ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god. Both celebrations were raucous, drunken parties.
Also in December, in which the darkest day of the year falls, the pagan cultures lit bonfires and candles to keep the darkness at bay. The Romans also incorporated this tradition into their own celebrations.
As Christianity spread across Europe, the Christian clergy were not able to curb the pagan customs and celebrations. Since no one knew Jesus’s date of birth, they adapted the pagan ritual into a celebration of His birthday.
CHRISTMAS TREES
As part of the solstice celebrations, the pagan cultures decorated their homes with greens in anticipation of the spring to come. Evergreen trees remained green during the coldest and darkest days, so they were thought to hold special powers. The Romans also decorated their temples with fir trees during Saturnalia and decorated them with bits of metal. There are even records of the Greeks decorating trees in honor of their gods. Interestingly, the first trees brought into the pagan homes were hung from the ceiling, upside down.
The tree tradition we are accustomed to today hails from Northern Europe, where Germanic pagan tribes decorated evergreen trees in worship of the god Woden with candles and dried fruit. The tradition was incorporated into the Christian faith in Germany during the 1500’s. They decorated trees in their homes with sweets, lights, and toys.
SANTA CLAUS
Inspired by St. Nicholas, this Christmas tradition has Christian roots, rather than pagan ones. Born in southern Turkey around 280, he was a bishop in the early Christian church and suffered persecution and imprisonment for his faith. Coming from a wealthy family, he was renowned for his generosity towards the poor and disenfranchised. The legends surrounding him abound, but the most famous is how he saved three daughters from being sold into slavery. There was no dowry to entice a man to marry them, so it was their father’s last resort. St. Nicholas is said to have tossed gold through an open window into the home, thus saving them from their fate. Legend has it that the gold landed in a sock drying by the fire, so children started hanging stockings by their fires in hopes St. Nicholas would toss gifts into them.
In honor of his passing, December 6th was declared St. Nicholas day. As time went on, each European culture adapted versions of St. Nicholas. In Swiss and German cultures, Christkind or Kris Kringle (Christ child) accompanied St. Nicholas to deliver presents to well-behaved children. Jultomten was a happy elf delivering gifts via a sleigh drawn by goats in Sweden. Then there was Father Christmas in England and Pere Noel in France. In the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lorraine, France, and parts of Germany, he was known as Sinter Klaas. (Klaas, for the record, is a shortened version of the name Nicholas). This is where the Americanized Santa Claus comes from.
CHRISTMAS IN AMERICA
Christmas in early America was a mixed bag. Many with Puritan beliefs banned Christmas because of its pagan origins and the raucous nature of the celebrations. Other immigrants arriving from Europe continued with the customs of their homelands. The Dutch brought Sinter Klaas with them to New York in the 1600’s. The Germans brought their tree traditions in the 1700’s. Each celebrated their own way within their own communities.
It wasn’t until the early 1800’s that the American Christmas began to take shape. Washington Irving wrote a series of stories of a wealthy English landowner who invites his workers to have dinner with him. Irving liked the idea of people of all backgrounds and social status coming together for a festive holiday. So, he told a tale that reminisced about old Christmas traditions that had been lost but were restored by this wealthy landowner. Through Irving’s story, the idea began to take hold in the hearts of the American public.
In 1822, Clement Clark Moore wrote An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas for his daughters. It’s now famously known as The Night Before Christmas. In it, the modern idea of Santa Claus as a jolly man flying through the sky on a sleigh took hold. Later, in 1881, the artist Thomas Nast was hired to draw a depiction of Santa for a Coke-a-Cola advertisement. He created a rotund Santa with a wife named Mrs. Claus, surrounded by worker elves. After this, the image of Santa as a cheerful, fat, white-bearded man in a red suit became embedded in American culture.
A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
After the civil war, the country was looking for ways to look past difference and become united as a country. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared it a federal holiday. And while Christmas traditions have adapted with time, I think Washington Irving’s desire for unity in celebration lives on. It’s become a time of year where we wish others well, donate to our favorite charities, and give presents with a joyful spirit.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS
So, where ever you may be, and whatever traditions you follow, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays!
圣诞节除了满怀心意的礼物，祝福和问候也必不可少，比如：
Dear Andy, we are very lucky to meet you, I’ve learned a lot from you during our cooperation.
We’d like to send you a small gift to express our thanks, and send my best regards to you, your wife, and your cute son. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
We appreciate working with you and hope that the holidays and the coming years will bring you happiness and success.
During the holiday season, our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our success possible. It is in this spirit that we say thank you and best wishes for Christmas and New Year.
成交的客户可以这样写:
My dearest,
Happy Christmas and New Year!
Many thanks for your continuous supports in the past years, we wish both business snowballing in the coming years.
May your New Year be filled with special moment, warmth, peace and happiness, the joy of covered ones near,and wishing you all the joys of Christmas and a year of happiness.
Last but not least,once you have any inquiry about products in the following days, hope you could feel free to contact with us, which is much appreciated.
未成交的客户:
Dear XX,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The Christmas and New Year holiday is coming near once again. We would like to extend our warm wishes for the upcoming holiday season and would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
May your New Year be filled special moment, warmth, peace and happiness, the joy of covered ones near, and wishing you all the joys of Christmas and a year of happiness.
It’s my honor to contact with you before, and my duty is to give you our best products and excellent service. Hope the next year is a prosperous and harvest year for both of us! Last but not least, once you could feel free to contact with us, which is much appreciated.
Your sincerely,
对于质量一般的客户，或者说是手里积累的大量潜在客户资源，我们可以送上一份电子贺卡，但是我的建议是不要随便找个模版图片就给发过去了，贺卡里面的内容一定要是我们自己的，因为我们的目的不是为了祝福而祝福，而是通过祝福让客户记起你，记住你，这些点滴都是为了持续的客户开发跟进做铺垫。
电子贺卡在12月24日的平安夜就可以发给客户了，但是一定要注意与客户所在国家地区的时差问题。
切记，祝福也好，电子贺卡也好，以不要打扰到客户的方式为宜，
最好是电子邮件，如果是通过即时通讯发送，只要发一条就可以了。同样要注意时差问题，同时切忌不要闲聊，节日本来就是休息的，这个时候打扰客户他表面不说大部分心里都是很不喜欢的。
06
圣诞节就是催单的提醒
利用时间节点
话术：距离我们的春节假期只剩xx天了，我司的休假时间是从x月x日一直到x月x日，如果您的订单不能在x月x日之前出货，就要一直等到x月x日才可以处理了。（可适当延长假期的时间）
例句：As the Chinese New Year is coming, kindly take note that our factory and office will be on holiday from X to X. If your order can’t be shipped out before XX, there is a waiting period until XX.
话术：春节前是出货旺季，舱位很难订，很可能会爆舱，或者海运费暴涨。此外，船期如果安排在我司的春节假期期间，工人都放假了没法装货，一些问题也无法及时处理。请您尽早安排，留下充足的处理时间，以免发生本可避免的意外麻烦。
例句：As strong peak season demand uses up all available capacity, ocean freight rates may be driven up to a very high level. On the other hand, our factory and office will be closed from X to X for the Chinese New Year. I’m sorry your order would not be processed during the holidays. It would be highly appreciated if you could arrange the shipment and get us notified ASAP to avoid unwanted inconvenience.
动之以情
话术：大货做好都有xx（时间）了，您一直没安排发货，是不是有什么难处或考虑，不妨说出来我们商量解决？
例句：I’m wondering if you’ve got any difficulties or worries in arranging shipment, as your order is ready since XX.Please don’t hesitate to let me know.
“威胁论”『慎用』
话术：现在是生产旺季，仓库已满，再不出货的话我司要加收仓储费了。
例句：Because we have run out of warehouse space during the peak season, please ship your order promptly to avoid a long-term storage fee of (多少钱/天)
话术：由于仓库已满，如果因不及时出货导致包装挤压损坏，我司对此是不赔偿的。
例句：Please arrange your shipment in time because the warehouse is running out of space, or we will not cover the cost of the extrusions and damages of packaging.
话术：现在是生产旺季，仓库已满，老板说如果货已经做好xx（多长时间）客户还不安排发货的，那就把您不急需的产品先处理掉，卖给急需的客人了。等您要货的时候我们再给您生产，将会排期在x月x日（比较久）之后了。（注：这是下策中的下策，这一办法适合于非定制产品，并确实不难找到下家，否则真的一拍两散，双方都受损。或者如果最初的合同中有这样的限期约定是最好的了，理直气壮！）
例句：I’m sorry to tell you if your order can not be shipped out before XX, we have to sell it to those who are badly in need to alleviate our capital pressure. Of course we’ll reproduce your order in your need, but the production schedule will be after XX.
备注：如果比较着急出货，请直接打电话给客户，比发邮件要高效的多，外贸业务员怎么打电话开发跟进客户？