My parents just had their 50th wedding anniversary last weekend. It was a treat to see fraternal cousins that I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. We all had children and so we ask the usual questions. It turned out that my cousin had a daughter who had graduated medical school
“What field of medicine will she be practicing?”, I inquired.
“Well, she has her doctorate.” “She’s a doctor.” My cousin replied.
“I understand she is a medical doctor, but what will be her specialty?” “What is her area of expertise?” I asked.
After a pretty extensive conversation, I discovered that my cousin was not really sure. He was sure of the thousands of dollars he had invested in his daughter’s education, but had no idea what his daughter was really going to be doing for a living nor did he have his daughter’s business card or clinic information available.
This event had an excessive attendance of seniors. If his daughters’ area of expertise had been geriatrics, there were 45 or 50 potential new clients eating buffet right in front of us. What a missed opportunity for a new doctor possibly looking for a client base.
You can consider it a big a mistake when you underestimate the importance of letting people know what you do for a living. Everyone you know and come in contact with should be able have general knowledge of who you are and what you do. The best place to start is with your own family members. Share with them what key factors they should listen for in a conversation. These factors can lead them to a good referral for your business.
Let’s take a look at an example. If you are an insurance agent, tell your family that when they hear someone discussing the purchase of a new home, buying a new car or discussing retirement, these are all factors that might lead to a good lead for your business. Train your family to identify the particular need of this person. Teach them to offer a solution and a call to action by sharing what you do for a living and how you can be contacted. Make sure you give them business cards that they might pass out to others when these situations arise.
Now that we are on the topic of business cards, have you upgraded yours recently? You have probably updated your computer, cellphone and other items within your business. Is it now time for a business card update? Make sure your card has all of the basics. Your address, fax number, email, website, your title and full name. If you maintain a business blog, I suggest you add that information as well. Blogs are a powerful marketing tool when used properly, and you always want to be at the cusp of any good business trend.
Does your business card spell out precisely what your company does? If the name of your business is Acme Company, Inc. and you detail cars, it should read “Acme Company Inc.” with the words “Car and Truck Detailing” below it. This includes when you have a title. You can be concise and use words like CEO and Vice President of Sales. If you are very imaginative you can use titles like, Decorating Diva, Head Honcho or Queen of Sales. Just make sure that you have a product or service that will not be tarnished by the silliness as a result. I want you to note that your goal is to always make an impression and set yourself apart from others. Your card can be a powerful tool in this avenue.
You have probably worked hard to strengthen your networking tools. Now you need to take that expertise and start training your friends, family and clients to help you get the word out about your organization. If you are diligent, you will find that in a short period of time your name recognition and excellent business referrals will start to grow.
Next time you are at a family function, ask yourself, “does everyone in this room really know who I am?” If the answer is not “yes” you need to get busy and start making an impression. Make it your goal that nobody needs to ask you who you are and what do you do ever again.
Popularity: unranked [?]
You must log in to post a comment.