Have them, carry them, never run out. Business cards are a physical reminder to others that you have had contact with them. Business cards should also contain all your contact details. This may sound extremely obvious, but it never ceases to amaze me when I run into clients or people wanting advice, who essentially have an incomplete business card.

Here are some key details to always have on your business card.

Do:

Have your business logo somewhere prominent on the card
Have your name in an easy to read location
Have your job description or title
Have your phone number
Have your fax number
Have your mobile phone number

and finally, never ever overlook having

Your email address & your business’ web address

Do Not:

Have single sided business cards; once a plain card is up the wrong way, it becomes a blank piece of paper, otherwise known as a scrap that will ultimately be written on and thrown out. Make sure that your card is eye catching on both sides and is clearly a resource to those who you wish to deal with. If your card is as comprehensive as possible, then people will hold onto it.

Do not have blank cards where your staff can write their names. It is unprofessional, looks bad to the customer and is also detrimental to the morale of the staff who are giving them out.

It’s simple; your staff are assets, either they have cards or they do not, don’t have blank business cards with a space to write their names. It merely reinforces a number of key points to both the staff and the customer.

1. To the customer it says that they are not dealing with a decision maker
2. To the staff it says that they are dispensable.

Do not EVER, EVER, EVER put a line through details on your card and hand write the new ones. This is one of the worst mistakes that businesses make when trying to save a dollar after some of their details have changed. Put those old cards straight into the bin and get some new ones made up with the new details.

A talking point……

A neat thing that you can do is have multiple styles of cards. As long as your logo is intact across all design elements, it is a great point of interest to your customers and associates to have these different cards. It leaves them wondering what you are going to do next and even sets your card up to be a collectable of sorts. We launched 3 business cards within one year and the feedback was tremendous. I would often go to see a client and they would have all three cards lined up in their card holder. When I asked why it was simply that the client thought that they looked great. The upside of this is that now I occupy a whole side of one page in their card wallet.

Now ask yourself, what would you prefer…….to be a scrap or something worth holding onto? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?

Till Next Time,

Tory

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