The Ultimate Guide to Creating Business Cards that Actually Help you Win More Business Part 03
Make sure you read part one and part two in this blog series before moving on to this one.
More expensive is not necessarily better
Just as white is a colour on a business card, the materials you use will impact upon the person receiving the card. Deciding whether the card should be thick or thin, if high-quality materials should be used, and the style of lettering, should ideally not be financial decisions. Not because it’s important to spend as much as possible, but because a thick linen card with embossed lettering may not be representative of your company, and could be detrimental to the process.
Consider your industry, the need for durability, and your businesses brand message before deciding on the type of card.
The front of the card is whichever side the other person is looking at
Business is far less formal than it used to be. Business cards are often yanked out of pockets and quickly shoved into the hands of important contacts. What they see when they looked down could be the difference between placing the card on their desk, or in the bin.
The back of your card should add as much value of the front – the contact is going to make judgements no matter what side they are looking at.
Implementation
Your well-designed business card, created with the sales process and the interaction itself in mind, only works if everyone understands how to use it.
Taking the time to communicate the reasons behind the new, or redesigned business card is crucial to maximising your investment. As with anything else, how this is communicated can be the difference between success and failure.
Don’t Make it About the Business Card
Business card training is not an appealing prospect to enterprise level sales people, senior leaders or…probably anyone else. This should be upskilling from a communications standpoint, and the training should include the business card – not be based on it.
Communicate the whole strategy
Salespeople are less likely to get excited about a business card redesign than they are about a more focused and well thought out sales strategy. Explain the reasons you went through the process, the planning process and the research undertaken. Empower them to improve their methodology and understand more clearly their own value, and that of the business.
Just handing business cards out to employees, especially after taking the time work through how to make them most effective, is a wasted opportunity. This is also an opportunity to re-communicate your brand values, and unique selling propositions as part of an upgraded communications plan. By getting everyone involved in the process, your investment in business cards is maximised and moves from being a marketing initiative to a unique opportunity for increased sales, better internal engagement and brand cohesiveness.
