OK, So let’s say that you have a few bucks to spend and that you are not papering the world with business cards by leaving them under the window of cars at Wal-Mart. (Or if you do let’s just say that you are wise enough to have two versions of your card….) What is the purpose of the card?
In times past they were often referred to as calling cards. When someone visited another person they sent in their calling card by way of introduction. Cards today do this too. You meet someone and hand them your card as the way of introduction. I’ll bet you didn’t know this but there is an important function of business cards that high-powered people know. They are rank insignia for civilians.
Think about it…You meet someone on the airplane. He asks what you do. Are you going to reply that you are Executive Vice President of Acme Erasers? That would smack of arrogance. Instead you casually say that you are with Acme Erasers and hand him your card. He can read your title and adjust his opinion and behavior accordingly.
While we are on the subject think about why it is that salespeople always want a fancy title like Sales Manager or Vice President of Sales. They do it to gain credibility on a par with the person they are visiting. I have seen military coins used for the same purpose as a means for introduction.
THE BUSINESS CARD NOBODY WILL LOSE OR THROW AWAY.
So you have seen all manner of fancy business cards. We have the photo card because some people think that others want their portrait smiling up at them from their rolodex. There are the magnet cards so that we can stick the dog groomer to our refrigerator and there are even the electronic ones that speak to you or are data carriers like USB drives with a sales message in them. You can spend a ton of money on a magnetic card but if the client pitches it you are out. So how do you make sure they won’t throw away your business card?
One way is to make a beautiful coin with the company logo on it as well as your contact information. These are designed to look and feel expensive. (Challenge coins aren’t expensive but the look like it.) These “cards” go beyond being just an information card and pass into the realm of the gift. Who is going to throw away a gold presentation coin? Even if the client puts it in his/her top desk drawer they will see it frequently and be reminded of YOU. Talk about a classy way of introducing yourself.
- Challenge coin of Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild
METAL BUSINESS CARDS
We can make these to look like a challenge coin of course but we can also make them to look like your company logo, a traditional business card or whatever else you can imagine.
BUSINESS CARD COINS ARE ALL ABOUT THE PRESENTATION
I’ll end with a corny story. A salesman visits an important client and finishing a productive meeting , hands the customer a gold plated business card coin. He says “I want to give you a
because I want to leave you with the thought that I am here to provide the gold-standard in both products and customer service. You can think it is over the top and it might be. But on the top is exactly where you want to be.