Sending “face cards” to confirm meetings, not just follow up

When Tony Goebel, LUTCF, entered the financial services profession, he was excited every time he convinced someone to sit down with him.

Then many would cancel their appointments the day before the meeting, leaving the four-year MDRT member from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, frustrated and disappointed.

One relatively small change, however, allowed him to eliminate this problem almost instantly: Instead of only sending these prospects and clients a “face card” — exactly what it sounds like: a card with his face on it, and a short message — as a thank you, he began distributing these cards to identify the day, time and location of a meeting and say he is looking forward to it.

“People that I have never met before light up when I see them because they recognize my face from my face card, even though I don’t yet know who they are,” Goebel said. “They often have my face card confirming our appointment sitting out on their desk, taped to their computer or on their wall so they don’t forget the meeting.”

Variety of benefits

These have been so effective, in fact, that Goebel has created them for the staff of his practice, and they send cards to wish a happy birthday, randomly thank them for their business or simply to remind that they are there to help the client. “It’s a way to connect my service rep on a personal level to someone they will probably never meet in person,” Goebel said.

During meetings, the cards also provide a useful place to write down action items Goebel needs from the client, so this information is easily connected to his face and contact info.

In addition, if Goebel stops by a company and the client isn’t there, he leaves a face card indicating why he came by, so the time he took to go there still has value. “If you go to a company and they don’t know you were there, that is a wasted call,” Goebel said. “If you leave a personalized note with your smiling face, it’s almost as if you talked with them briefly.”

Read more in “Build a brand that sets you apart.”

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist