Doing it with Class!

Doctors do it, hair dressers do it, and salespeople can do it too.

I have been working with a chiropractor for a few months and when it came time to give me a new appointment, she would use a quarter sheet of paper to check off the appointment time. Inevitably the paper would get lost and not be found when I got home. I suggested to her that she use her business card for a reminder. The patient could write the time and date on the card and then tuck it into their wallet. This method worked so well that the quarter-sheets of paper are now gone. Professional offices use this method sporadically but it certainly makes life easier for the patient. When I set an appointment with a potential customer at a networking meeting, I have appointment cards that I use. They are printed on only one side with my name, email address and phone number at the top and a place for the date/time and location of the meeting. There is even room for putting notes or comments. This way I can fill out one for myself and my potential customer will also have one. The appointment will now be easier to track once I get back to my main calendar.

Your client will also have an easier time of remembering when the appointment was set for, and will also have a point of contact if a change needs to be made. It is just another way of making it easy. You can order business cards for very little expense if you use the one ink color format for these types of cards. There are also many online printers that offer inexpensive cards. However, you can also print these on your own. Using card stock from an office supply store and your word processing program, you can create your own appointment cards. I would not recommend that you do this for your business cards as you want those to look very professional.

When making appointment cards you can be quite creative. When doing so, make sure the information you want the client to have is clear. Do not try to confuse them with unnecessary details.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com