By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

The best holiday message to clients and referral partners is a short, personal text tied to something real from your year with that person, sent before the December pile up. Brokers get thanks for a specific deal or call, owners who said not yet get warmth with zero ask, lenders get your 2027 buy box, and hosts get real thanks.

Picture the version most people send. December 18, one digital card to the whole list. Same snowflake, same “wishing you a prosperous new year.” It goes to the broker who sent you two CIMs, the lender who returned your call on a Sunday, and a dentist you met once at a conference.

The broker who sent you the CIMs notices. Not the card. The fact that he got the same one as everyone else.

What should a holiday message to clients and referral partners say?

It should say one thing only that person would recognize, in under 40 words, from you, by text. Three parts:

1. One specific line from the year. The deal they sent, the call they took, the intro they made, the thing they told you about their kid.
2. One line of warmth. Happy holidays, enjoy the time with the family, whatever you would actually say.
3. An ask only where the role calls for one. Lenders and new brokers can hear your buy box. Owners who said not yet hear nothing about deals in December.

If you cannot write the first line, that person is not ready for a personal holiday message. Put them on the January list instead. The super connector operating system covers how to keep that first line on hand all year.

Who gets what holiday message?

Different seats at the table need different notes. This is how I would sort it.

Role	What they get	The ask	When
Brokers who sent you deals	Thanks that names the deal or the call	None	Week before Thanksgiving
Brokers you have only met	Where you are now and your 2027 buy box	Coffee in January	First two weeks of January
Owners who said not yet	Warmth tied to what they told you	None	December 14 to 22
Lenders (SBA, bank, private credit)	Thanks and your 2027 buy box	“Send me anything that fits”	November 30 to December 11
Mastermind and event hosts	Thanks for the room, naming who you met there	Offer to help with the next one	Week before Thanksgiving
CPAs, attorneys, wealth managers	Thanks and a one line reminder of what you buy	None	Early December, before tax season

The owners row matters most. An owner who told you “not yet” is watching how you behave while the answer is no. For the long game with them, see following up with owners who are not ready to sell.

What are good holiday texts to send brokers, owners, lenders and hosts?

Good holiday texts name something real and stop. Each one below is under 40 words. Swap the brackets for the real detail.

Broker who sent you a deal:

[Name], thinking back on the year. The [Company] CIM you sent in [month] was the best look I got all year, even though we passed. Thank you. Have a great holiday with the family.

Owner who said not yet:

[Name], hope the holidays are good to you and [spouse]. Still thinking about what you said about [their son] running the floor. No agenda. Just glad we met this year.

Lender:

[Name], thanks for the time this year. For 2027 I am looking at [industry] businesses, [EBITDA range], [region]. If one crosses your desk, I move fast. Happy holidays.

Mastermind or event host:

[Name], the [city] dinner is where I met [Person]. We have talked three times since. Thank you for building that room. If you need anything for the next one, I am in.

CPA or attorney:

[Name], thank you for the [client] referral this year. Still buying [industry] in [region]. Happy holidays, and good luck with tax season.

Why lenders get the buy box and owners do not: a lender’s job is to see deals early, so your criteria help them. If you want the detail, SBA lenders as a deal source explains what they see first.

When should you send holiday messages to business contacts?

Send before the December rush or after it, not in the middle. Here is the window for this season, with dates from the OPM federal holiday schedule and Hebcal. The timing is how I would run it, not a study.

Window	Who to text	Why then
November 16 to 25	Hosts and the brokers who sent you deals	Lands alone, before Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26
November 30 to December 11	Lenders, CPAs, attorneys, wealth managers	Before year end closings and the client rush. Chanukah runs December 4 to 12
December 14 to 22	Owners who said not yet	Personal, close to family time, before Christmas on Friday, December 25
December 23 to January 3	Nobody, unless you are replying	Most people are offline. New Year’s Day is Friday, January 1, 2027
January 4 to 15	Brokers you have only met, anyone you missed	Quiet inboxes, people planning the year
From January 19	Coffee and call asks	After Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 18, 2027

One rule on top: if someone replies, the timing table no longer applies. Answer like a normal conversation.

How do you keep track of who got what?

You write it down the moment you send it, or you lose it by New Year’s Day.

Say you have 120 people across these six roles. That is illustrative, but it is a normal number for someone who works brokers, lenders and two or three rooms a year. Each needs a different note, in a different week, with one real detail you have to remember from months ago. And in January you need to know who replied, who said “let’s grab coffee,” and who went silent.

That is the part a spreadsheet starts strong on and drops by week two. For how the brokers in that table fit your year, the business broker relationship playbook is the long version.

The system that does this for you

FRONT OF MIND opens on your 10 minutes for today. In December, that list follows the windows above, and each person has one line on why today: a follow up is due, they posted, their company was in the news, or they are going cold. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max, written from what you actually know about that person. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits.

It runs in your phone’s browser and can be saved to your home screen. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them, and you can export or delete anytime. If FRONT OF MIND doesn’t surface people in your network worth reaching out to within 72 hours, we’ll refund you. No questions asked.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who belongs on your holiday list first. See how it works

See how it works