Start a bonfire, make notes on the back of them, use a corner as a toothpick… many people think that’s about all business cards are good for.
How many times has someone asked you for your business card and you searched your pockets, wallet or purse in vain and ended up writing your name and phone number on a scrap of paper? THAT sure didn’t leave a positive impression! Or worse yet, you missed an opportunity because the person left without anything that reminds them who you are and how to reach you.
So really … why should you have business cards and how will that help grow your practice?
Make an Impression
First off, let’s discuss the business card itself and its appearance. There are boring cards that make zero impression on anyone and, while that is better than having no card whatsoever, it will not achieve the full results that a stunning, well designed card can.
Some practitioners have designed their own without knowledge of the wide variety of printing styles, colours, shapes, types of coatings, and so on. Getting a printing company to help you choose something smashingly impactful is a smart move and that help is usually free. They often have hundreds of samples.
Yes, it may cost a little more to get a really awesome card printed, but acquiring one new patient or client more because of the impact your card made on them would pay for the entire print job. There are things you can go cheap on but the first impression you make on a potential new patient or client is invaluable.
Who Should Have One?
Answer: Anyone who wants the practice to grow and do well … in other words, all staff and doctors of the practice.
Many staffs of practices wear uniforms with the practice name on it and when they are out for lunch or stop into a store or when picking up their kids from school or daycare after work, people they meet have been known to ask them questions about the practice and get interested and ask the staff member for a business card or the staff member could offer them a card.
When at a party and the conversation turns to what you do for work, you can answer their questions and offer a business card.
Also, the front counter in the practice should have your card prominently displayed and available as people sometimes want to pop in and take one.
Have a QR code printed on the front or the back that can be scanned by potential patients or clients to take them to your website through their phones. Those are the little black squares made of little black bits that may have seen in magazine ads, on billboards, and other people’s cards. (Google it and get data on how to do one for your practice. Also, put it on display in the front window of your practice.)
Patients and clients can be given a couple when they leave the practice now and again, and encouraged to pass them on to a friend. Any material you give a patient or client should have a card clipped to the front of it. Many practices use the back of the card to put “Next Appointment” information to give the patient.
So don’t be shy about spending a little extra and getting a really remarkable business card made that leaves a lasting positive impression. Be liberal in the use of them and you will inevitably acquire some new patients through the use of them.
