Name Tags – Obvious and not so obvious uses.

On the subject of name tags, these can be used by a host to identify different categories of invited guests. Depending on the type of function, there may be existing clients of the business as well as potential clients with whom the host wants to do business; perhaps some invitees are clients of a particular division of the business while other invitees are from another division within the business.  The host can use slightly different name tags to differentiate between these selected clients. It is hard to find a worse way to annoy a prospective client than to invite them to a function and to then ignore them. What message does that send? “We invited you here so that we could give you the cold shoulder in public….?” Many businesses are guilty of this. They seem to think the prospect should be grateful for the free food and drinks. This should never be the case. All worthwhile prospects are likely to be busy people and that they have given up some time to spend with you. You should be grateful. Further, by attending, most are indicating that they are prepared to look at doing business with you; others, well, you always get some free loaders – it’s the risk you take and you just don’t invite them again!

Make sure you, and if you are part of a team, your team members can easily identify target clients standing on their own and very quickly and seamlessly introduce these target clients into a group. Identifying who these target clients are can be achieved by colour coding the name tags, or by using slightly different fonts types or sizes. The more subtle the difference is, the better, so that you will not have to provide an embarrassing answer to an observant guest. This strategy also makes it easier for reception to welcome each identified guest with an appropriate greeting determined beforehand for existing clients and for potential clients. An example might be “Wonderful to see you again Mr. Bramley.”, for clients who have attended before, to a “Welcome, Mr. Bramley – glad you could join us.” for new clients attending for the first time.