The benefits of name tags can be limited or expanded by how you see and use them in your company. If you’ve just been relying on simple name tags with your company logo, this post is for you.
The Importance of Name Tags
Name tags are facts of life in many businesses. If you have public-facing employees, the odds are good that you use name tags to identify them. If you stop to think about why name tags are important, you might say they put names to faces and make employees accountable to company standards. But have you ever thought about how simple name tags could be building relationships that go far beyond the professional?
If you ask yourself “What are the benefits of name tags” or “What is the aim of a name tag,” you might not answer, “To build human connections using creativity.” But if you open yourself to that possibility, your company name tags can be relationship builders that create trust and spark excitement in your customers.
How? Let me tell you a story.
The Power of Personal Connection Through Name Tags
A couple of weeks ago, I took my kids to Disney World. All of the employees wear name tags that include their name, the Disney logo, stars for the number of years they’ve been there, and the city and country the employee comes from. A young man serving hot dogs was from Venice, Italy, where I visited with my family last summer. I chatted with that young man about his home city.
His name tag created a human connection that wouldn’t have been possible without that one extra detail – the city he came from. Name tags are professional necessities, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Name tags can also build relationships and encourage human connections. With customized name tags, your customers might remember your employees long after they leave your business. And that means they’ll remember your business, too.
The Impact of Name Tags on Customer Relationships
I have a personal theory about the trust factor name tags can provide. Imagine a bartender with no name tag working for a month. They’ll make sales for the company and earn tips for themselves. But what if they wear a name tag for the next month? Do you think it might make the bartender more friendly? Will that name tag start building relationships between the bartender and their customers? Do their customers stay longer, start conversations, and have another beer? Will the bartender make more sales and tips as guests connect on a personal level? I think they will. Why? Because humans like to connect, and that name tag creates a connection.
The Significance of Names in a Fast-Paced World
As sophisticated and crazy as the world is getting, starting with a name, also slows things down. For many people, our names are our favorite word. For example, I’m Bryan with a Y. Most people with my name are Brian with an I. I’m proud of my “Y”. When I see it out in the wild, like driving through Bryan County, Georgia, I get a little thrill. When someone asks about the spelling of my name, that builds a connection between us.
Name Tags as Career Milestones
Here at Name Tag Wizard, we recently got an email from a long-term customer named Katie. She shared a photo of her collection of name tags, starting as a Food and Beverage Assistant at a golf club and moving up the ranks all the way to General Manager. These name tags were part of building her relationship with her career. They trace her personal history and have been an important part of her identity with the company. Katie’s name tags stated her title at every stage of her professional development, giving her both something to claim and something to aspire to.
Creative Customization of Name Tags
So, how can your company’s name tags get to work at building relationships? Why not add some creativity and customization to those tags? One great way is by adding a question. Questions build connections by engaging people. Here are some ideas:
- Lego asks what employees’ favorite Lego brick color is.
- A pet store might ask: “Team Cat or Team Dog?”
- For a golf course, “What’s your lowest round ever?”
- A brewery’s name tag could ask, “What’s your favorite type of beer?”
- An Italian restaurant might ask what kind of pasta the employee loves most.
If we both love dogs, stout, or fettuccine, we’re going to connect over that. How can you have fun with name tags in your industry? What kinds of questions can you add to your employees’ name tags to help them with building relationships?
Using Name Tags to Spark Conversations
When you add titles to name tags, they don’t have to be formal. For instance, I use a name tag when I attend trade shows that says, “Bryan Croft, Visionary.” When people ask about it (making connections!), I tell them I’m a dreamer. I dream about everything. I had a dream of building this ecommerce company that we’re having fun with. And a dream about helping the kids in Haiti where we have an orphanage. And my trade show name tag builds relationships by creating an opening for conversations about that title and what it means to me as a person.
Reflecting Company Culture Through Name Tags
You can reflect your company culture with your colors, logo, font, and the size of the elements you choose. And you can go in any direction that will create connections and make your customers feel comfortable. You can let your employees’ name tags build relationships if you think of that surface area as an open invitation for connection.
What will you do with your company name tags? Whatever you decide, we make thousands of customized name badges at Name Tag Wizard every day. With many options for customizing, we can help you bring your imagination to life. Create your own custom name tags today with our easy-to-use design tool, and start building those relationships!