You see them everywhere: restaurants, grocery stores, retail establishments. Employees wearing name tags can be found nearly every place you need to go. And it doesn’t stop there! You can find name tags at conventions, conferences, meetings and more.
Someone putting on a name tag makes them immediately more approachable. A name tag connects your name with your face, so customers feel more comfortable where you work. A business’s best asset is its employees. Customers who interact with employees wearing name tags are more likely to have a positive experience. With these experiences comes customer loyalty.
As Scott Ginsberg, the Name Tag Guy says, “Your name tag is your best friend for several reasons. First of all, a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don’t know (or forgot) your name. Secondly, it’s free advertising for you and your company. Third, name tags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable.”
Your employees can help with branding and customer retention by wearing their name tags outside work. Think about this: as your employees travel to and from work, if they still have their name tags on, you get free advertising! And, if they leave them on during off-campus lunch breaks, free advertising!
When employees continually wear name tags, your brand becomes more visible. The more people see your logo, the more they will know your business and what you do. So, when purchasing name tags, make sure to add your logo to make the most out of them.
Typically the power within name tags is acknowledged as a professional and friendly way to identify a company or personal identity. Many companies use name tags for branding and employee recognition. And this employee communication helps to improve customer care.
Name tags also provide confidence to those at a conference or meeting. Even if everyone doesn’t know each other, their names are visible, making introductions less intimidating. In addition, people can confidently call each other by their names.
Providing balance and uniformity is what name tags do best. When your business succeeds, your employees feel they are a part of that. So, having them help with your branding (by wearing logo name tags) is an essential part of your marketing.
Wearing name tags can help create an inviting atmosphere, making the employee feel more approachable. In addition, when your customers come into your business and see a face and can immediately associate with a name, it makes them more apt to stay and do business with you.
Everyone can use lanyards; seriously, you can find them everywhere. Schools, office buildings and even sporting venues use them daily. In addition, lanyards are commonly used during conferences, conventions and other events. Remember, every detail counts for any event, including branded lanyards for every attendee and presenter.
Not only do custom lanyards help in branding on the job, but they also help with networking at events. And, when you design your lanyards to have a business logo and name, it makes your marketing efforts more effective.
Keep your employees branded at all times. Add your logo and company color to a lanyard, and you won’t be able to give them out fast enough. Or, use a slogan or motto on branded lanyards to promote your business. These tools add recognition and identify not only the wearer but also the company. Often, lanyards are a requirement for access to a building or meeting and can be used this way as advertising.
While lanyards are commonly used for displaying badge holders or name tags, they can also be useful for other daily activities. And, they make for great marketing tools as well as providing security for events. Use branded lanyards for keeping track of keys and other personal items.
Lanyards are incredibly versatile due to their custom nature. Add text, logos, graphics and more to promote any brand. The text can be a phrase, a date or the name of an event or business. In addition, wearing a lanyard makes ID or credentials more accessible to show to others or for security proof that you can be in a building or any other typically private place.
Whenever you put on a name tag, you become the face of your purpose, whatever that is. Your name tag represents this purpose to everyone around you, which benefits you and others. It can quickly help the people around you put your face with your name. We have all heard that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” So, tell that story simply and quickly with your smile and a name tag.
Helping your customers is what your business does, right? When you focus your priorities on your customers’ needs, you are actually doing your business a favor. As you meet your customer’s needs, you can better your business and better your customer service. In the long run, focusing on who is doing business with you will help you in your client retention as well as finding new customers.
Whether small or large, every business will always benefit from improved customer service practices. So how can you, as a business owner, help your employees and customers feel more valued? Here are several steps that you can take to improve your customer service.
Understand Your Customers’ Needs
According to several studies, service is vital in a customer’s brand loyalty choice. However, each customer will have a different view and opinion of excellent customer service. To provide this excellence, you need to determine your customers’ needs. Once you find out these needs, you can better train your employees to meet them.
Listen to (and Implement) Customer Feedback
You should also listen to customer feedback. Sometimes reading customer feedback is not the most exciting thing to do as a business owner. However, whether you are a small business or a large one, customer feedback should be a critical point in running your business.
Even if it’s negative, customer feedback will keep your business running up to par with what your customers expect. Part of being a business owner is listening to your customers. When you listen to your customer feedback, you can improve the customer’s experience. Once you improve this experience, your business can better help meet your customer’s needs.
Take all customer feedback constructively. Remember that most customers only provide negative feedback when something needs to be fixed. Therefore, even when dealing with positive feedback, find a constructive way to implement any changes that you need to your business.
Pay Attention to Your Competitors
Yes, even your competitors will influence your customer’s needs. For example, if consumers have a bad experience with a competitor, they may turn to you to meet their needs. So, you should always pay attention to your competitors to better help your customers.
While it is not prudent to stalk your competition, you will find it necessary to understand how your competitor runs its business. Then, you can identify possible shortcomings in their business and find ways to improve your business by building on what customers need.
Provide Open Communication
One of the best ways to improve your business’s customer service is by communicating openly with clients and customers. Find ways to communicate directly with customers about what services and products you offer and how they meet their needs.
Use every available means to communicate with your customers. Whether it is online and social media or in-store surveys, make sure you keep in contact with your customers. No matter how you communicate with your customers, make sure you use consistency in that communication.
Communicating with your customers is a crucial component of running a business. When you have an open line of communication, customers’ needs will become readily available to you. From the feedback received via surveys or messages sent through emails, customers will be happy to let you know what they need when your business is transparent.
Helping your customers remember your brand will also help you retain them. You help customers remember your brand and business by constantly providing them with your best business practices. This consistency is one of the best ways to accomplish customer retention.
Following Up with Your Customers
There are so many different ways that you can get in touch with your customers. From in-store surveys to social media postings, customer communication is easier than ever. Following up with your customers after completing a service or transaction is an excellent opportunity to understand their needs.
Once you understand these needs, you can follow up with your customer to ensure that they are satisfied with your business dealings. One of the easiest ways to reach out to your customers for a follow-up is an email. Make sure that when you send out emails to customers, you fully represent your brand. Your voice still needs to remain consistent so that your customers will keep coming back.
Promptly Handle Complaints
Part of listening to your customers is also taking their complaints. While taking complaints may not always be an easy part of doing business, it is vital that you allow your customers an opportunity to speak their minds. In addition, when you let customers complain about poor service or poor quality of product, you are also gaining their trust.
It is an important part of this step to follow up after receiving a complaint promptly. Remember, most customers do not complain unless there is an issue. And as a business owner, you want to make sure that there are no issues between you and your clientele.
No matter the kind of feedback you receive, you can always learn from what your customers tell you. So, always encourage customers to express and share their feelings about your company. Stay as transparent as you can during this process, and customers will continue doing business with you.
Meeting Your Customer’s Needs
One of the keys to excellent customer service is understanding and meeting customers’ needs. To make this happen, several steps must be followed. Keep the following in mind while dealing with your clients, and excellent customer service is sure to follow.
Offer Reasonable Solutions
Knowing your customers’ needs is only half the battle. The other half is to offer solutions to any problems that may occur. Find ways to explore how to improve your business continually. One of these ways is to listen to your customers’ needs and then respond with a way to fix any issue.
One key thing to remember is that the solutions need to be simple. Keep an open mind when responding to customer issues, stay as transparent as possible and actively keep your customer in the loop as you offer any solution.
Keep Listening to Your Customers
Just because you found one customer’s need does not mean that you found them all. Constantly keep listening to everything your customers say about how you run your business. Remember, your goal is excellent customer service. Without listening, this goal is unattainable.
And, don’t just listen but actually hear what your customers are saying. Take into consideration everything they say, no matter how unimportant it may seem. While sometimes it is hard to admit that a customer may be right, you may have a broken system (especially if more than one customer complains about the same thing). The only way to stay in business is to keep listening.
Be Honest and Transparent
It does not matter what type of business you run, honesty and transparency are two of the most important things you need to remember. Keeping your customers aware of how you are running your business will keep you in business.
Unhappy customers are not repeat customers. After all, a happy customer is your greatest asset as a business. Remember that a happy customer is also a buying customer. Whether it’s goods or services you offer as a company, your customer is there because of how you make them feel.
Honesty and transparency are just good business practices. Stay honest in your dealings, and your business will increase. Keep transparency as part of your brand, and you will continue to have excellent customer service.
Tools for Improving Your Customer Service
Name Tags
Communicate and relate better with your employees and customers easier with the help of name tags. While we are slightly biased, name tags are just a good business decision. They provide identification, security and so many other benefits.
There are significant benefits to wearing name tags in any retail establishment (grocery store, boutique, department store, etc.). Some of these benefits include the use of identification in marketing, providing security, identifying employees and other staff, and many other positive benefits.
With an extensive line of tags available, we have everything to meet your needs. Name tags are guaranteed to improve your customers’ experience and improve your customer service.
Name Plates
Be more approachable by using personalized name plates around your business. These name plates can include employee names, directions to find offices and other amenities, identify conference rooms and even provide an uplifting message for your customers.
Reusable Badges
These versatile reusable name badges help your customers even when you have a high employee turnover. Your customer service will improve when everyone has identification. Reusable badges are perfect for volunteers, seasonal employees and even visitors.
And, with printable inserts, you can quickly provide identification for everyone at your company. Our reusable name badges are simple systems that can either be written on or printed and still look professional.
The H2H experience should be available to all customers. What we mean by this is human-to-human connections. Connecting with customers should be the focus of every business. Over the past while, we have become disconnected.
As humans, we crave experiences that connect us with others. Those connections have turned online throughout the last year and have become a little less human. So, how do we revert to that constant human interaction we naturally crave while still existing in our ever-changing world?
Part of the solution to this issue is becoming more approachable. While you and your company may have already been in a position of trust, people need to feel that they can still trust you and your services. Now the question is, how do you gain that trust and become more approachable.
It’s simple: having fun while working keeps up employee engagement. The happier the employee, the better work they will accomplish. And, to make employees even happier, remember to make sure they work well as a team. Team building is a necessary component to your business success!
While teamwork is critical, you also need to find the balance between work and fun as a business professional. Allowing your employees to get to know each other through fun-filled team activities combines their strengths and helps them finish work faster.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together towards a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
Teamwork is critical to any business’s success, both large and small. So, when employees can connect over common interests, goals and ambitions, they will work better together. And when you have a team that builds up each other, your business will constantly succeed.
Keeping your team motivated takes effort. As a business owner, you need to help your team members develop their bonds to collaborate and communicate effectively. Enter team building!
Providing new name plates and name tags for employees help them to keep engaged with co-workers. Award plaques also help with encouraging strong teamwork.
What is Team Building?
It is a way of describing different activity types used in a learning or working environment that enhances social relations. These actions in turn define roles within teams and often involve collaborative tasks to help people work better together. When teams are put together, they are expected to understand their roles and responsibilities and to get along.
A team that works well together is more effective, more productive, and more successful — not to mention happier and more fun to work with! But team building at work can be tricky, especially when typical team building activities tend to induce more eye rolls among teammates than high-fives.
Studies have shown that businesses with engaged employees pull in more sales and services compared to competitors how have low employee engagement levels. The bottom line is that it is essential for every business to find a way to keep their employees engaged and to work on their team building.
How to Build a Better Team
Don’t underestimate team building games, but don’t overestimate them either. Make sure that if you are going to be adding games to meetings and other team activities they are something that will keep the attention of your employees.
Team building activities and games are supposed to be not only educational but also enjoyable. They help the team learn about each other — how each person thinks, works, solves problems, and has fun. Whether you want to do some new hire orientation icebreakers or just bond your team closer together, there are inventive ways to do this.
From inside around a board room table to outside while relaxing in the shade, keep your games moving. By using interactive games, you will keep your employees’ interest longer and have a more meaningful situation.
Exchanging white elephant gifts at your (next) party? Name tags make it easy to draw a person’s name to see who gets to choose a gift first. And unlike with paper strips, you won’t have to rewrite their names again next year.
If you want to have a different activity this year, there are several games you and your coworkers can play with blank name tags. Have each person draw a picture of something that represents them. Then, have everyone guess which picture belongs to whom. Or, write a question on each blank tag and give it to each person to pin on their shirt. Everyone then has to answer the question pinned on the person they’re talking to while they socialize. Be careful which markers you use as some markers may be permanent.
Grab That Badge!
One person should be chosen as the group leader and has everyone form a circle. They will then pass out adhesive name badges and pens to each participant. The badges should still have the backing on them so the sticky side is not exposed. Each person then writes their name on the badge. After everyone is done, the group leader collects all the name badges and mixes them up.
The group leader will then give each person an adhesive name badge and tells everyone to peel off the backing and place the name badge on the back of the person sitting to their right. The members of the group must then wander through the group and search for the name badge with their own name. Once they find it, they will take it from the person wearing it. The game becomes extra entertaining if someone’s name badge ends up on their own back.
Research shows that humor not only makes work fun, but it also increases productivity. So, give your employees something to laugh about by customizing badge ribbons with work appropriate humor. Use clever puns, dad jokes and funny pop culture references. If you and your team have inside jokes, stick them on a badge ribbon too. Wearing funny badge ribbons around the office will reduce stress levels and keep your employees smiling. The more your employees are in a good mood, the more productive they will be.
What other activities and ideas can you come up with for your team building activities?
What is the importance of name tags to businesses? That’s a great question! As your name tag experts, we want to provide our customers with answers for their organization.
From retail stores to secure data centers, name tags are a part of everyday life. Studies have shown that communication is enhanced when people know each other’s names. Whether you are a professional, a business, an educator, a meeting planner, or anyone else, name tags are essential in reaching out to customers and clients. By giving your employees name tags to wear, you are increasing their visibility and accessibility.
Name tags are an essential tool for the growth and success of your business. They make customers feel welcome in your office or store because they immediately know who they are talking to. And they make your employees more accountable for their actions because their name is visible to everyone. As a result, nearly every business uses them! You can find name tags in many industries, including food service, hospitality, retail, event planning, etc. Each name tag tells your brand’s story to help customers and employees remember their experience.
Scott Ginsberg (The Name Tag Guy) has developed a philosophy about wearing name tags.
“Everyone should wear name tags, all the time, everywhere, forever.” ——————
We agree that name tags are essential!
We know that wearing name tags helps build a corporate identity. These professional tools also help customers interact better with their employees. Imagine what would happen if not only your employees wore name tags but so did your customers! There would be fewer questions about who people were or what they needed.
Name Tags are essential in marketing and communication. They provide personal identity and with a logo, they expand corporate branding as well. Employees who wear name tags offer additional customer service and personal responsibility for that business. Name tags are the hardest working element to a person’s uniform in meetings, conventions or any event.
Name tags and other personal identification products can significantly benefit your company. And while these products might seem trivial to have around the workplace, using them has many advantages. They become part of your marketing and a means to offer your customers exceptional service. The conversations that come from wearing a name tag lead to better interactions and opportunities for sales. And they make your employees directly approachable at any time.
IDENTIFICATION
Sometimes, it can be challenging to remember everyone’s name. However, by wearing name tags, newer employees and other team members in the company are more apt to recognize each other. These identifiers have become essential for many companies while allowing employees to follow required dress codes and maintain their individuality. After all, the primary reason for wearing a name tag is to provide an identifying feature for each person.
From churches to state office buildings, having identification also helps when dealing with people. Whether it’s a group of 12 or a crowd of 1,000, when everyone is wearing a name tag, it’s easier to ensure people are where they need to be. It is also easier to remember who each person is. Whether for employees, volunteers or visitors, using an identifier like a name tag provides a professional atmosphere for everyone. It keeps employees accountable for their actions and gives customers the necessary information to complete their business with you.
BRAND RECOGNITION
Branding is an essential part of any business, whether large or small. Support a strong branding and marketing strategy using name tags with your logo.
Add your business logo to name tags and quickly identify every employee, volunteer and other staff as a part of your organization. Every time employees wear their name tags at work or within the community, they provide free advertising. Use these professional tools to your organization’s advantage, and remember that the more visible your brand is, the stronger it becomes.
With so many options for logo name tags, you’re sure to find something that fits your needs.
COMMUNICATION
Name tags are an excellent way for customers to start conversations with employees and retail staff. They inform the customer who they are working with from the first interaction. This communication goes both ways. And, if a customer needs to report an employee’s behavior, whether exemplary or otherwise, name tags provide an instant identifier for those circumstances. In turn, this dialogue aids managers and other supervisors in handing out praise and dealing with disciplinary actions.
“A name tag isn’t just a sticker; it’s a statement. It’s about friendliness, identity, culture and human nature,”
Scott Ginsberg
A sense of unity is one of the most positive things to come from wearing a name tag. Belonging to a team provides a sense of togetherness and helps businesses to function to their highest capacity. Name tags help build this bond, and with that bond comes unity and happiness. Now is the time to recognize that having a happy team means having a successful business. When everyone wears a name tag, the positive experiences they share with your customers are boundless.
Many studies show that communication improves when people know each other’s names. They may need to interact with others regularly who they have yet to meet; wearing a name tag breaks down social barriers so that everyone is approachable. Remember that better communication always turns into better performance.
SECURITY
When you require employees and staff to wear name tags, you can quickly identify if they belong where they are. There are many times when visitors may be present. Visitor ID badges keep everyone safe. Security teams understand the importance of name tags in keeping track of where people are and where they need to be. Identify everyone, from visitors to the president of your company. With this identification, everyone is sure to know where they belong and who might not belong.
Sometimes, wearing a name tag will help identify people prepared to provide aid or emergency services in hazardous situations. Name tags can also help emergency and security professionals identify people who can give them access to certain areas of a facility that will allow them to respond adequately to the situation.
For companies that deal with sensitive information or products, someone who is out of place would be easier to spot when employees are accustomed to seeing their fellow employees with name tags.
The True Importance of Name Tags:
Name tags will always have a fundamental place in interpersonal communication. They increase the ease of identification, the quality of communication, security and recognition for your organization. In addition, name tags eliminate barriers between your customers and employees, so add them to your business today!
The first thing to do is to determine if you even need this meeting to take place. Sometimes meetings happen without prior thought to what their purpose should be and how to bring that to pass. If you think that a meeting is a way to go, ask yourself some quick questions before scheduling it.
But, first things first, what is a meeting?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a meeting as “an act or process of coming together.” A meeting is a gathering of two or more people coming together for a specific purpose. These are commonly held when multiple people need to decide on agendas or ways to achieve a particular goal. They may occur when face-to-face interaction is required to make a decision. Meetings may also take place over the phone or a video chat. A meeting can be informal, such as a social meeting with friends, or a formal gathering, such as a business luncheon.
To avoid wasting time and resources, communication for a meeting’s purpose is critical. Everyone, at some point in time, has attended a meeting and thought during or afterward about why it even happened. Don’t waste time in a meeting that could have been an email or quick one-on-one discussion with someone.
First, clarify the purpose of your meeting and write it down. Second, decide if this a one-way conversation that can be handled in an email or a phone call. And, don’t forget to ask the critical question if any of the information that needs to be shared of a delicate or personal nature. This brings in to question about figuring out who will be attending this meeting and why. And lastly, do you have enough time to prepare adequately?
So, what are the seven rules for planning a meeting?
No matter the purpose of a meeting, whether business-related or not, there are specific tasks which need to be completed to accomplish the underlying goal of that meeting. This is where planning comes into play. Yes, meetings can be boring even if planned out, but remember that you need to make sure it is necessary. And, they can be extremely efficient and productive when planned correctly.
The First Rule: Identify the Purpose of the Meeting
There are multiple reasons to hold a meeting. And, the success of your meeting starts with defining why you need to have it and setting the goals and objectives the event will address and solve. Make sure when making the list of reasons to hold the meeting, you are clear and concise. Clarifying the purpose of your meeting is an essential part of planning your event. And, clear goals and objectives help with the effectiveness of communication. This ensures that everyone in attendance understands why it is important.
Creating an Agenda
Because all meetings should have a clearly defined purpose, it makes sense that every meeting should have a clearly defined agenda. Creating an agenda will improve communication, even if your meeting is small and only has a few in attendance.
Lay out a sequence for the meeting. Plan time for a brief introduction to provide context, and for a discussion of next steps at the end. Decide how much time to devote to each item and what order makes sense. The longer it is, the harder it will be for people to remain focused, so it’s wise to underestimate how much your group can cover in the allotted time.
A well-written meeting agenda organizes and outlines the meeting’s required points of conversation. It highlights important information and helps attendees determine their roles and responsibilities within the meeting. For a planning meeting, the agenda is especially important as it helps to ensure that all planning aspects are addressed within the designated time. Define the planning meeting’s logistics. Provide information on the meeting’s time and location. Include special instructions, such as participation codes for conference calls and login information for online meetings.
It is important to remember that having an agenda is significant to the productivity of your event. An effective agenda should be clear, concise and readable. Share the agenda with participants when necessary, so it must be easy to follow. This agenda should promote effective communication and show the appropriate actions and steps to take to keep people on track and motivated to complete the tasks the meeting sets forth.
The Second Rule: Inviting the Right People
Now that you have determined that you need to hold a meeting, make sure to invite the correct people. You don’t want unnecessary individuals to put the time and effort into coming to something they either don’t belong at, or don’t need to be at.
In some corporate cultures, employees don’t need to participate — they only listen and head back to their workspaces. At other companies, employees participate freely. In today’s collaborative workplaces, interacting and sharing ideas is not only welcome, it’s frequently the purpose of the entire meeting. When you’re setting out your expectations, it’s also a good time to send out any required reading or material you’ll want those attending to look over. That way they’re prepared when they get to the meeting and there are no surprises.
Consider who can help you accomplish your goal and who will be affected by the meeting’s outcome. Identify key decision makers, people who are knowledgeable about (or have a stake in) the topic at hand, those who need to be informed in order to do their jobs, and anyone who will be required to implement decisions made. What about size? Keep problem solving meetings small (around 8 people). Include more people for brainstorming (as many as 18). If you’re providing updates or rallying the troops, be as inclusive as you want to be. But remember: time is money. Be conscious of the ripple effects your meeting can have on people’s time across the organization, and only invite those who absolutely have to be there.
The Third Rule: Time and Space
While it may seem simple, planning when and where your meeting will take place is of enormous importance. And, part of planning when it will be will also consist of who is coming. You will need to make sure that everyone will be available to come, especially if their jobs require the information being present at your meeting.
And, making sure you have a venue, whether it’s the office conference room or a larger gathering hall, is crucial. Make sure you have enough space for everyone.
As you look for a great location take into consideration the tone of the meeting. A small informal and intimate meeting would work great in a small room with the chairs set into a circle. A formal meeting may require a conference room. Will there be break-out sessions? You will need to prepare for multiple rooms. If this is a full or multi-day event, do you need to provide a room for a meal or activity? Larger meetings require more space, and it will often take longer to find an appropriate space so plan ahead. Be sure to find a space for your event before you publicize the date. Many people begin planning around a specific date only to find that the selected venue is not available, it may be necessary to make adjustments to the venue or the date, stay open to possibilities.
The Fourth Rule: Preparation
From technology to social media and even how you communicate your invitations to the meeting, you must make sure that everything is adequately prepared. You will need to identify and arrange everything needed for a productive meeting; this includes testing out all technology used during the meeting. Prearrange for all required items for the event, and make sure to pay attention to even the smallest details.
Preparation, a take-charge attitude and good oral communication skills are keys to effectively chairing a meeting. It is your responsibility as a chairperson to make sure the meeting fulfills its primary objectives within its preset time parameter. You also need to keep participants engaged and make sure everyone has a voice. Both what you say and how you say it can make the difference between an effective, productive meeting and one that “fails.”
In theory, everyone understands that preparation can make or break an important meeting. The more work you do before you walk into the room, the more productive and efficient you’ll be. But who has the time to properly prepare? Our checklist makes meeting prep quick and easy—be sure to print it out or save it for later. Each step is described in more detail below. Using the checklist and the principles behind it will ensure that you’ve covered all your bases—and that you won’t be wasting anyone’s time (including your own).
Identification for Attendees
Name tags also provide confidence to those at a conference or event. Even if everyone doesn’t know each other, their names are visible and so introductions feel less intimidating. People can confidently call each another by their names.
The bottom line is that name tags don’t have to be expensive or fancy to be powerful. When used appropriately, name tags help to build community. The power within name tags is real. So, put one on today! We have an almost endless variety to meet any need.
The Fifth Rule: Participation
This rule is simple: make sure that everyone in attendance at your meeting knows why they are there. By giving everyone an assignment or asking them to help with a presentation, they will feel of value to the common cause.
From food to printing the agenda, everyone should be able to participate in the meeting. This includes assigning personnel to perform research, develop strategies, disseminate information and implement policies, establishing time frames and benchmark goals, and defining qualitative and quantitative measurement tools to gauge effectiveness. But, make sure to always follow up on actionable items in advance of their due dates.
The Sixth Rule: Stay on Task
From starting on time to your organization, the only way your event will flow without fail lies in your preparation. Every meeting should start with a “call to order” to get attention. Sometimes this can be a random prize drawing or a roll call.
Timing is essential, both from a logistic and productivity standpoint. It can be frustrating when things don’t get going because attendees are trickling into the room at their own pace. Make sure to take charge of the meeting. Start promptly and with the “call to order.”
Then, stay on task. Center all conversations around the goals and objectives of your event. Stick to your agenda; that’s why you made it in the first place. And, if things start to deviate course, get back as quickly and directly as you can. Make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard, but also make sure to reign the conversation in when necessary.
The Seventh Rule: Meeting Follow Up
Once your event has concluded, take the time to check to see if you need any follow up. Whether it is with one person or the entire attendance roster, follow up in just as important as the meeting itself. You need to measure the result and effectiveness of your event.
A meeting is only as good as the action it results in. Every meeting with an agenda should also have a desired outcome. As the organizer of the meeting you should continue to drive people towards that desired outcome and act like a “ringmaster” of the different opinions and cases presented at the table. Once consensus has been achieved this should be confirmed in an email so that everyone has written confirmation. You should also track your progress against these stated objectives until the task is complete.
And, don’t forget to clean up! From taking down any decorations to cleaning up leftover food, make sure you leave the venue as you found it. This keeps your venue options open for your next meeting (you don’t want to blacklist your company from anywhere).
Definition: BRANDING – a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a specific product, a trade name or trademark, or a particular kind or variety.
Let’s break it down a bit farther to make it a little easier. The act of branding is the process involved in creating a unique name or image for a product, person or idea. Most people and companies accomplish branding through advertising and other similar means. It is also the action of building a convincing individual or unique presence in a consumer market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
There are two types of branding: personal and corporate.
Personal branding is the process of individual marketing, or advertising, themselves or their career as a unique image, or brand. It is in effect the ongoing practice of building up an image or uniqueness about themselves to others around them. A personal brand often involves the use of someone’s name on various marketing products.
Thomas Peters, an American writer on business management practices, said, “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding.”
Corporate branding is the process of promoting the logo and brand name of a company or corporation for marketing and advertising purposes. Typically the range of a corporate brand is extensive and is a way to express the company’s ideals and goals.
Whether personal or corporate, a brand is essential to anyone who wants to stand out from those around them. Corporations typically have a logo designed while individuals must promote their names as a logo.
Your brand is how people perceive you wherever they interact with your business, both the impressions you can control and the ones you can’t.
When you think about it, people have brands too. We each have a name, a face, a style, a way of communicating, different impressions we make on different people, and what they say about us when we’re not in the room.
Likewise, businesses have names, products, logos, colors, fonts, a language, and reputations to manage that make up who they are and affect how they’re perceived.
You can’t build a brand without being consistent and maintaining that consistency as you extend your brand to every part of your business. But it all starts with establishing what that consistency is going to look like and the feeling you want it to evoke.
Branding Your Business
Your company’s brand is what you are, what you want to be and what you aim to become. This brand can be a promise of product quality or trust in a service. Remember, a brand is what makes your company unique. Your branding should make your company stand out from all of your competition. It should let your consumers know what they should expect from your products or services.
So, in layman’s terms, corporate branding is the process of promoting the logo and name of a company for marketing and advertising purposes. Branding helps to expand a business and get the word out about the company’s goal.
Branding is the most important part of your business, whether it be large or small. Building a strong brand helps your company not only be financially stable, but memorable. And, by being memorable, your brand will draw in more and more customers just by word of mouth.
Starting With the Right Tools
Name tags and name badges provide necessary company branding. This branding is vital for all of your marketing needs. It distinguishes you from your competition and helps others to recognize your quality more readily. By using logos on name tags, you create a focus to help drive your business.
But, don’t limit yourself to just your name tags. Don’t forget that signage and other identification products are there to help advertise your brand. From custom lanyards to award plaques and everything in between, get it personalized with your logo! And then start spreading the word.
Your logo represents not only you and your company but also your brand and overall commitment to your clients and customers. And creating consistency by adding your logo to everything you personalize (from name tags to corporate gifts), lets people know you’re proud of what you stand for.
Consistency in logo use will make your brand an industry leader.
From colors to logos, consistency matters. So, using name tags, name badges and other personal identification items will establish your brand. And finding the right consistency with logos, colors and fonts helps to solidify your message. By defining what your brand is up front, you help establish your company as an industry leader. And making sure that your logo balances your brand at the top can be quite the process.
Oh, and make sure to use the same colors for all of your logo work. Find a way to keep your logo and text the same on all name tags and name plates. If your office uses signage, make sure to include the proper colors and consistency. A company who ensures that their brand is well developed will retain and obtain connections with their clients and customers.
Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.
