In a world where environmental consciousness is becoming increasingly vital, every industry is called upon to reassess its practices and adopt more sustainable alternatives.
Yet, amidst this urgent call for change, one area that often gets overlooked is the traditional business card exchange ritual. While exchanging physical business cards has been a staple of professional networking for decades, the environmental toll of producing and disposing of these cards is substantial.
Therefore, after several months of development, we at Simpson & Marwick have launched our own Digital Business Card platform, reducing the immediate need for physical card distribution and improving our carbon footprint.
These private landing pages, provided through embedded hyperlinks, QR codes and NFC technology, allows contact to be made in a number of different ways, as well as linking to all of our social media channels.
Furthermore, at the tap of a card against a mobile phone, there are clear call to actions, including the ability to request a valuation, a mortgage or conveyancing referral and to add yourself to our 50,000+ buyers database.
An example, in the form of my own landing page, can be found here; https://www.simpsonmarwick.com/profiles/5149-2/.
This move comes after changes to our suppliers saw us move our non-office based staff onto tablets, move to us having eco-friendly For Sale Boards and the removal of paper documents.
While, in situations where print is necessary, our new suppliers now use recycled/recyclable materials, there is the need to accommodate for the less tech-minded. However, the long term plan is to move to being completely paperless.
I still question why some Solicitors continue to insist on having paper offers printed and posted, rather than simply relying on the electronic versions.
Not to mention Estate Agencies printing whole 30+ page Home Reports, to view only a handful of pages, rather than simply view these documents on screen.
I believe, whether the industry in general likes the direction of travel or not, that this sets an example of what the new norm should and very easily could look like, within the industry and further afield.
With lots of plans currently in development, we look forward to continue to improve our clients experience in the most eco friendly way possible.
It's time to say goodbye to outdated paper, no matter how inconvenient it may be.
