Should salespeople put photos of themselves on business cards?

Outside of real estate agents not very many business cards that I've seen have a photo of the salesperson. Should salespeople put photos of themselves on business cards? What are the pros and cons in your opinion?

Getting personal is good for business and when a company can create an impression that they have heart, they are raising the bar. Think about how radio broadcasters have billboards around so people know what they look like. We find it easier to relate to people we know by face and it makes it much easier to remember someone when we know what they look like.

I recommend that people use a photo of themselves on a business card, stationary, emails because it makes a better impression. If you had a choice between one company and another which one would you choose? Would it be the one that you don't know much about? NO, you would choose the one that you remember by their face on a business card. Why, because the picture made it personal.

You would choose the one that made a more favorable impression.

Very interesting question realtor.

I don't think there's a clear black or white answer. I would say there are five factors to take into account to help decide whether it could work for you:

1) Are your customers very conservative? Would they consider a phtoto on a card to be too self-promotional or vain?

2) Is there a negative association with having your photo on the card? Here in the UK photo's on business cards are not common so would be looked upon as a bit of a novelty with no negative preconceptions. But if photos on cards are stronly associated with a group that you don't want to be pigeonholed with then it might be worth avoiding (not that there's anything wrong with selling real-estate - it just might not be an appropriate mental connection for everyone's profession)

3) Does it fit with your style? Especially if photos on cards are a bit of a novelty - does novelty fit well with your personal style? If you are a very conservative salesperson selling safe conservative products to safe conservative customers then maybe not.

4) Can you get a good photo done?

5) Unfortunately: how attractive are you? Really, honestly. Research has shown that having your photo on a website or literature can be very helpful if you are good looking. As a minimum we feel more of a connection with the person by seeing their face. And the well-known halo effect also means that good looking people are asumed to be more capable and intelligent - so if you've got it, flaunt it. Sadly, the research also showed that if you're not so good looking, then the picture can count against you.

Personally I hve a caricature on the back of my card. It's quirky, it reflects my personality and personal branding as being a little bit different and able to bring something different to the table, and it's always a good conversation starter.

I fully recognise that some potential customers may see it as being unprofessional, or "just not the done thing" - but the chances are that they are not the sort of people who I wolud end up working with anyway. Whereas the people who feel better about me bcause of the caricature could well be my target customers personality-wise.

Ian

I saw a card today of an agent in a tennis outfit holding a tennis racket and the slogan said, "Now Serving You!". It was cheesy but I didn't mind it. I'll stick with a head and shoulders.