--- title: The Grinch Who Stole Value description: The last thing I want to be perceived as is Grinch-like, but I can't help but notice all of the inane, silly, and meaningless cards and holiday emails I'm getting. image: https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-359949528-png/blog-files/picture-4.png --- ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner # The Grinch Who Stole Value [ Doug Davidoff ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/author/doug-davidoff) Dec 17, 2009 6:45:53 AM At this time of year, while we are all in the midst of the season's greetings ritual, it is worth stopping for a moment to remind everyone that empty ritual is meaningless.  The last thing I want to be perceived as is "Grinch-like," but I can't help but notice all of the inane, silly, and meaningless cards and holiday emails I'm getting. It reminds me of a lesson my mom taught me.  As I child, I was known to be slightly impulsive.  My "act first, think second" habit caused more than a few things to break.  I learned (quickly) that if I apologized quickly the punishment would be far less than it would have been otherwise.  I became really good at saying "I'm sorry."  Eventually my mom taught me that merely saying I'm sorry didn't mean anything if I didn't act sorry.  At that point, saying I'm sorry no longer had a positive effect. I learned that empty words were worthless. Today I got  the following email message: [![Empty Communication](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-359949528-png/blog-files/picture-4.png "Empty Communication")](http://thefastgrowthblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Picture-4.png) What's wrong with this you ask?  I've never done anything with them, I don't think about them, and I have no loyalty to them.  All this message did was highlight how little they actually care about their customers. Now, if this were happening just during holiday season, I wouldn't comment on it.  However, these empty acts happen all the time, and in today's attention-deficit world, businesses can't afford empty communication. - They happen when you send out a newsletter that your readers don't find relevant. - They happen when your salespeople call on your customers and your customer [gets no value from the call](https://www.imaginellc.com/avoiding-commoditization-part1). - They happen when emails go out with all data and no context. Buyers are constantly making decisions about how relevant you are.  Your challenge is that 99% of that decision is made subconsciously.  As people have less time and less capacity to deal with information, your #1 communication job is to ensure that you make the cut.  Resolve to make every communication meaningful, relevant, and valuable. [B2B Sales Strategy](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/b2b-sales-strategy) ## Read On [![Increasing Revenue without Hiring More Salespeople](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/forecasting-image.png?width=352&name=forecasting-image.png) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/traditional-forecasting-is-bs) ### [Why Traditional Forecasting is BS — And What To Do Instead](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/traditional-forecasting-is-bs) If someone tells me their biggest problem is forecasting, I congratulate them. After all, if... 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