This year marked the 20th anniversary of our annual Turkey Giveaway and Santa Photo Client Appreciation Event in Sioux Falls, SD. While we average five client events a year, this is the crown jewel—the one that fills our team’s hearts to overflowing.
Over 1,100 people came through our office, 500+ turkeys were given out, and hundreds of kids got photos with Santa (equally delighted or terrified). It was a stunning reminder that gratitude compounds. It’s also a masterclass in how to scale referrals, retention, and relationships through system-based client touchpoints.
And yes, the turkeys are frozen, but the loyalty is not—it’s red-hot.
1. 20 Years of Lessons (and One Frozen Truth Bomb)
Let’s rewind. At our very first turkey event, we handed out grocery store gift cards. Clients were grateful, but it was a total miss. There was no experience. No connection. No reason for anyone to remember us. Zero stickiness. The only thing that stuck was the realization that this was not how we wanted to build a client-for-life model.
For the next few years, we stood inside grocery stores with branded banners announcing free turkeys for Amy Stockberger Team clients. We even handed out free market analyses, thinking we were being innovative. (Spoiler alert: that’s not a value proposition; that’s the job description.) Worse, we were standing in dress shoes by the store doors in November in South Dakota.
2. Systems Scale Memories Without Burning Out Your Team
Our first few years of checklists were a joke. Word docs with notes scribbled on them, passed from hand to hand like a relic. Fast forward 20 years, and every single event now lives inside its own workspace on Monday.com. Every task, deadline, owner, expense, and RSVP is tracked with precision. Each year, we copy the previous template, complete with automations set up, tweak what we learned, and move forward. It’s become almost effortless.
We use Monday.com to manage the entire flow, from digital RSVPs and QR check-ins, to counting how many cookies we actually need. Every part of the event is run with strategy. We track every cookie, cup of cider, bottle of tea, and number of people served so we can improve and streamline each year. Our COO and ChatGPT helped us hit our lowest-ever cookie waste number this year, with just 20 leftover.
Switching to QR check-ins has been a total game-changer for our team. No more manually checking in every client one by one. It’s streamlined, efficient, and gives our team more time to actually engage with the people in the room.
This year, we added a new feature for our agents: the moment their client checked in, they received an instant email alert. It was a simple way to give them a heads-up, because even the best agents need a little name nudge now and then.
Once clients check in, they’re automatically tagged in Sierra Interactive (my favorite CRM) with a custom hashtag like #TurkeyPickup2025. That tag makes it super easy to segment our thank-you messages, track attendance year-over-year, and run targeted invites when we’re gearing up for the next event.
We used ChatGPT Agent Mode to help tag and organize everything this year. Huge time saver. Zero drop-off. Total system win.
3. Marketing Your Event Is More Than Sending a Pretty Postcard
One of the hardest lessons we learned early on was that your event invite needs to be treated like a campaign, not a flyer.
We now have a multi-layered outreach system. Our clients receive a save-the-date postcard at the beginning of the year listing all of our events. For this event specifically, they also get a reminder postcard, a series of emails, multiple SMS messages, a voice drop from SlyBroadcast, and posts in our private Facebook VIP Club.
And yes, we send another SMS the day before the event to remind them that they RSVP’d. We learned that if we didn’t do this, humans would be humans and forget, and we would be left with mayhem the next day when they remembered.
4. Pre-Planning Isn’t Optional
We don’t guess our way through client events. We pre-plan every single one a full year in advance.
Before the new year even begins, we sit down and lock in all the major pieces: event dates, times, estimated headcount, budget projections (usually based on last year’s numbers), sponsorship goals, and exactly when sponsor funds are due. Everything goes into our calendars, CRM, and Monday.com checklists.
That calendar discipline gives us the freedom to move fast, automate marketing touchpoints, and stay ahead of any curveballs. And it allows our team to plug-and-play, not panic and improvise. We’re not starting from scratch every year. We’re starting from a proven system that just gets sharper.
Bonus: Most of our events are cash-flow positive because of sponsorship revenue. Yes, we serve with heart. But we also run a smart, profitable, operationally tight business. Impact and income are not mutually exclusive.
This long-game planning approach also makes our post-event meetings a thousand times more valuable.
Because within 7 days of every event, we gather the team for a full breakdown. And that meeting is non-negotiable. It’s where the gold lives. We go through what worked, what didn’t, what surprised us, and what we’re doing differently next time. We talk through hiccups, foot traffic patterns, feedback wins, and where the wow factor landed. If we wait longer than 7 days, those insights get fuzzy. And those are the details that help us build something better each year.
We also use that meeting to set the next year’s date, while the energy and lessons are still fresh. That way, we’re not waiting for annual planning to revisit the details. We’re always building forward.
So yes, the event itself is magic. But the systems behind the scenes make it magically efficient.
5. The Magic of Santa (Yes, the Real One)
It’s not just for little kids. Clients bring their new grandbabies, nieces, nephews, friends, and their grown kiddos for a fam photo. We’ve even had pets show up for their close-up with Santa. One of our beloved clients came through this year with tears in her eyes. She told my team this would be her dog’s last Christmas, and she just wanted one more photo with Santa. Yes, ma’am, that we can do.
But here’s where it gets deeper.
A few years ago, I was at a listing appointment with longtime clients. We were preparing to sell their parents’ home, and in the middle of the meeting, they shared a story from a past turkey event. They had just lost their dad. The grief was fresh. They were in line with their kids waiting for Santa photos when Santa looked up, called her brother by name — a name no one else had said — and asked him what he wanted for Christmas.
They froze. It hit them in the heart. They took it as a sign from their dad that he was still with them. We all shed tears that day.
This isn’t just a photo op. It’s a moment. A memory. A piece of their story and ours.
6. We Always Add Something New
Each year, we intentionally layer in something new. Clients never know exactly what’s coming, but they know it’ll be better than last year, even if by a sliver.
This year, we gave out our first-ever Holiday Guide (go follow me on IG @amystockberger and DM me Holiday, and I will send you the template to R & D).
We also handed out tea, potatoes, and we bought an insurance package to have clients roll the dice for the chance to win $20,000 holiday spree. The line to play was insane, and the smiles were even better.
We also added a rolling camera setup with a sign that simply said, “Tell us what you’re thankful for.” The stories shared were real and raw. Gratitude is one of my favorite emotions, and this year it was overflowing from every corner.
We always post signage at every event showcasing our Lifetime Home Support™ benefits, reminding clients why they chose us, and why they stay.
7. The Emotional ROI: Priceless
But we also hear the hard stuff. The things that leave you quiet. The parent who won’t be there this year. The child who should’ve been. The diagnosis that changed everything. And yes, I cry every year. Because being part of someone’s life for this long means holding space for it all.
This is what a real relationship looks like. This is the emotional ROI. And it’s beyond measure.
8. The Right Time to Ask for Reviews
ATTENTION: DON’T SKIM THIS PART.
Do NOT ask for Google Reviews at the event. If too many reviews come in at once from the same IP address, Google will suppress them. Their spam filters see it as suspicious activity, and many of your hard-earned reviews will never see daylight. And Google will go back and delete reviews; we have seen it happen. It’s heartbreaking.
We’ve learned that the best time to ask is two days after the event. That’s when clients are still glowing from the experience, and it’s far enough removed to avoid triggering any algorithm alarms. We send a short SMS with a thank-you and direct link, and it has consistently yielded the highest visibility.
9. I Will Never Get Tired of This
Every single year, without fail, clients wait in line to tell me how much they love our agents. They tell me about the extra time that was spent, the care they received, the way our systems made their lives easier. They go out of their way to thank us for the moving trucks, the party equipment, the Home Support Team partners, and everything they get from being part of our Lifetime Home Support model.
And every time, it hits me like a proud parent moment. The same way your heart swells when someone praises your child. That’s how I feel when they praise our people. I will never tire of it.
Another one came this year for her 10th turkey. When she started, she was single and just buying her first house. Now, she’s married with three daughters. They’ve transacted with us eight times. And this year? Only one of the girls cried with Santa.
As I Looked Around the Room…
Ready to Create a Legacy-Worthy Client Experience?
Let’s turn your one-time clients into forever fans—and your forever fans into 5 new clients each.
Reach out to schedule your consultation or explore the Lifetime Home Support™ Academy now.
