Client Development and Marketing Questions, Part 6 
Question: Does a company executive care about getting a card from an associate at a networking event? 
Answer: To be candid, getting the card from an associate or a partner means little to the executive, but learning about the executive and his or her company and finding a way to “give” value to him or her will mean a great deal to you. Doing something that shows you recognize what makes him or her unique can be valuable. Last year, a young female associate in my old firm called me after attending a big social event where she met a gentleman in his sixties who was a leader in the industry. He was born in Germany, but has lived in the United States for 30 years. The female associate spent a year in high school and a year in college in Germany. She asked me what she could do to follow up with this gentleman after the event. It turned out that a photographer had taken a photo of the two of them with two other people. I suggested that she get a copy of the photo and either write on the back of it, or better yet – on a card or monarch stationary, that she was glad to meet him and some other pleasantries about her experiences in Germany. I told her it would be even more memorable to him if her handwritten note was in German. Finally I told her to conclude the note by simply saying something about the work she is doing in the industry and how much she has enjoyed working with companies in the industry. Think about it. She was given the opportunity to make a second “touch” in a unique way with her note in German while giving him a photo of herself that would allow him to connect her name and face. She did it and she actually received a call from him thanking her for the card. She was thrilled by the response. Will she ever get any work from his company? Who knows, but she has positioned herself to be remembered. 
This is the last in the series of answers to questions I have received. I hope you found a question you have been wondering about and I hope I answered that question for you. Please send questions of your own and I will include them in a future Blog.