Author: Santosh Ramnani

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What’s the most important thing for you to do when hosting a conference, or setting up a booth at a tradeshow, or attending an event? It’s a no-brainer, really—you want to make sure that you capture every single contact.     

If you are not doing that, it doesn’t make much sense to spend thousands of dollars on such events.

However, if you are still using outdated techniques to capture event leads, like asking your prospects to fill out paper forms, collecting business cards in fish bowls (that never make it to your CRM), and renting event badge scanners, you’re not quite doing it the right way!.

What you need is an automated conference badge business card scanning app to scan all of your prospects’ contact details on the fly, automatically export the contacts to your sales CRM, and send email follow-ups..

ScanBizCards does all that, and much more.

We’ve added two major new features ScanBizCards (currently available to our US users only)  

• Conference Badge Scanning: You can now easily save contact information from conference badges of your attendees at conferences, trade shows, and events.
• Batch Scanning: You can now batch scan multiple business cards all at once.

In addition to this, ScanBizCards also has a new and improved Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to ensure higher scanning accuracy.

Check out our new website and social media pages

You can learn more about our new features, and explore our resource center on our new website.  

You can follow ScanBizCards our new social media pages to get the latest updates on our app, industry news, insights, perspectives and more. Here are our new  Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages.

 

Sales professionals go to great lengths to attend B2B marketing events.

From shelling out a special budget for this purpose to logging in extra working hours, there is so much you have to prepare yourself for.

Naturally, after going through all the trouble, you want to achieve the best results at the B2B event you are going to attend.

For your company, best results mean capturing qualified leads at such events.

That said, capturing qualified leads is no cakewalk.

However, you don’t have to worry. To make sure that you don’t end up empty handed even after putting in so much effort, we have rounded up some proven methods for capturing qualified leads at events.

1. Identify Your Target Audience

The more qualified leads you acquire, the more revenue you are likely to generate.

This much is obvious.

But how would you know who is your audience? How will you find them? Are they even going to attend the same event as you?

Just imagine this scenario: you end up at a content marketing event but turned out it was more like a meet up between some content marketers and you could barely find any leads, let alone qualified leads.

Now what?

Well, you head back home feeling dejected.

This problem can easily be eliminated by a quick audience research and identifying your target audience.

Your target audience primarily consist of folks whose problems you can solve and who have the budget to avail your services.

Have a look at some other questions that will help you identify your target audience:

• What should be the size of the company you want to pitch your product to?
• Common age group of your prospects
• Where should your ideal customer be located?
• What should be the challenges faced by them?
• Can you solve their problems?

Once you have an answer to all these questions, you will be able to identify your target audience easily.

This will help you connect with the leads that are most likely to purchase from you.

2. Go Prepared With Important Apps in Tow

One of the reasons why so many sales professionals fail to translate their efforts into acquiring qualified lead is because they are still using archaic sales methods.

Most of them are still going to these events with lengthy lead capture forms. This often leads to indiscernible handwriting, incomplete forms, and so many other handicaps.

Ugh! To think that you are only left with a few pesky leads after putting in so much of your time and efforts.

Well, it’s 2019 and look around — every top salesperson has abandoned these unreliable methods.

All of them are using various automated sales productivity apps to alleviate all these problems.

In this particular case, we would suggest using a reliable business card scanning app.

With these card scanning apps, you don’t have to write down the contact details. They automatically scan and capture the details included in a business card, which can then be exported directly to your CRM apps.

If you are a Salesforce user, then it would be a great idea to give ScanBizCards app a try. You don’t have to worry about it not aligning with your goals since you can avail its free trial initially to test the waters.

3. Offer your leads a bonus item

Everyone likes free stuff. And your target audience is not any different.

So, why not offer your leads a little something extra?

For instance, you can offer them a sample product on a purchase or a special discount coupon valid for their first purchase.

This is likely to give your qualified leads a nudge in the right direction and tempt them to finally do a business deal with you, given that your product solves their problem too.

Don’t sweat just yet, you won’t lose your money by distributing discount coupons or samples at B2B events. Once it starts translating into sales, your bonus offer will be worth it.

And let’s be honest, it’s not just about the free bonus item. It also adds a personal touch to your sales pitch, which would be hard for your prospects to resist.

4. Engage your leads before the event

B2B events are exceedingly professional, no one can deny that.

But it doesn’t mean that you can’t spruce things up a little before the event in order to engage your leads.

If you engage your leads on social media channels a few days before the event, you can easily and capture them at the event venue.

You just have to put some efforts in engaging them.

So, don’t hold back and engage your target audience. Share your excitement on going to the event, ask people in your connections whether they would like to tag along with you.

This will help you connect with your leads even before the event. If you engage with them properly, you might even be able to incite their curiosity about your product beforehand, which will make it easier for you to capture leads during the event.

Not just this, run social media contests for your social media followers and reward the winners. On social media for that matter, the word gets around fast. Once you start engaging your followers, even their friends will come to know about you. Now, those who are going to the same event will make sure to come at your booth and check out your product.

5. Leverage user generated content

In the previous point we discussed how you must engage your leads before the event in order to capture them at the event.

Another great way of making your target audience familiar with your product and your event (or your event booth) is by leveraging user generated content.

You would probably think, “Why not create your own content?” Of course, you have to create your own content as well. However, user-generated content has the edge over your regular content.

This not only saves you additional hassle, but it also boosts your event’s visibility and promotes brand loyalty at the same time.

How does it work?

It’s actually quite simple. All you have to do is to run a giveaway. For instance, you can host a giveaway contest and offer two airplane tickets to the winner.

Now encourage your audience to share images of the giveaway contest on their social media pages.

Crocs, for instance, encouraged its customers to post their photos accompanied by the hashtag #comeasyouare. They also feature some selective images on their website and Facebook page.

However, there’s a catch.

People are willing to share their photos for crocs which is a hugely popular brand.

But why would they do it for you?

No offense, but you are not that well-known…yet.

You can do one thing though. You can incentivize this process by offering something in return like discount coupons, a gift card and so and so forth. However, make sure that whatever you offer is valuable to your target audience.

Conclusion

What are you waiting for? Go ahead and try out these event marketing tips and methods for capturing qualified leads at B2B events. Your event or if you are attending someone else’s event, your booth will get flooded with leads in no time.

Just don’t go unprepared and always keep a business card scanning app installed on your smartphone. Such an app can prove to be a pretty remarkable tool to quickly collect lead information without causing any unwanted interruptions.

So, which method would you use to capture qualified leads at B2B events? Let us know in the comment section below!

Let’s face it. Not everyone likes mingling with strangers albeit important strangers at B2B Events. On top of that, B2B marketing events can be expensive, so much so that they take up 18 percent of your total marketing budget (Source).

That said, the cost incurred can easily translate into more revenue generation if only you leverage these events to their potential best. With so much time, money, and effort invested in, it would be downright disastrous if you do not.

That’s why today we have rounded up some amazing tricks to help you achieve the best results at B2B events.

1. Do your research and find out who is attending

We are going to talk about some amazing tricks that will help you get maximum results at B2B events.

However, there’s one thing that doesn’t need to be taught.

Research skills!

If you truly want to get the best results, then you have to brush up on your researching skills.
Sometimes, even some basic research on social media channels like Twitter and LinkedIn can help you garner plenty of details about your prospects. Get some information on the companies that are going. Would they qualify as productive leads? What problems they are facing currently and how can you solve them?

You need to find out the answers to all these aforementioned questions to make the most out of the event you plan to attend.

Moreover, you must let your followers on social media know that you are going to attend a B2B event by posting something along the lines: “I will be in Vegas next week attending CES, if you’re also attending, let me know, beer’s on me”

Folks connected with you on your social media channels will start responding to your post. This is a great way of knowing who else is attending the event and the people you are going to meet there.

With extensive research, you can save a lot of your time and catch hold of the right people and productive leads. This way, you’re well prepared and can make the best of your time there.

2. Say no to outdated lead capture methods at events

Why do businesses readily spend so much money on these events?

The reason is quite actually simple — nothing solidifies business relationships more than meeting with your prospects in person. You can easily get your point across without any barriers and build a more symbiotic, trustful relationship.

Don’t believe me?

I am sure this statistic will change your mind:

According to a survey, more than 76 percent of salespeople claimed that in-person events are their most successful top of the funnel engagement tactic.

However, if you are still following archaic lead capturing methods at these B2B events, then you will have a fight on your hands.

For instance, marketers are still collecting business cards in fish bowls and some are getting their forms filled out to capture lead information.

What year is it — 1992?

If you want to boost your B2B lead generation efforts at these business events, then you have to start leveraging more sophisticated not to say time-saving methods.

Stop asking your leads to fill out lengthy forms. Trust me no one likes to do that anymore. Instead, learn to communicate effectively during B2B business events and make use of more automated tools such as a business card scanning app. Such an app will negate all the hassle from your lead capturing method and automatically scan your prospects’ contact details and export them to your Salesforce CRM tool.

Now that you have collected all the necessary information with a single click, you can easily follow-up with your prospects after the event as well.

3. Offer Freebies

I don’t like free stuff — said no one ever.

Right?

Giving out free but relevant stuff is always a great idea to capture leads.

You don’t have to shell out a massive budget to give out free stuff. Small things like a nice, branded pen or a power bank will do. You can also offer discount coupons for your own product or service.

Attendees will go home with a satisfied smile and even spread the word around about your brand’s generosity.

And it doesn’t matter if you are not hosting your event. Even if you are placing a single booth at someone else’s event, when attendees get hold of the news that you are distributing free stuff, they will be sure to stop by at least once. Once they come to your booth, the rest is up to you how you engage them and capture their business cards.

Mind you, don’t stop to write down their contact details in the middle of a conversation — it will only harm your B2B lead generation efforts. As I relayed in the previous point, just install a credible business card scanning app to automate such tasks. For now, your main focus should be on engaging the leads and to move them further down the sales funnel.

4. Spread the word on social media

Social media is exceedingly powerful — are there any disagreements?

Yeah, that’s what I thought!

Even its staunchest detractors can’t deny the power it has, especially when it comes to lead generation for your B2B events.

Social media doesn’t have to be only about *I-am-vacationing-in-Bahamas* type of posts. You can, and you must use this channel to spread the word around for your event.

Again, the idea is the same — even if you have a booth at some event or hosting your own event — you need to promote it to the fullest.

That way, everyone in your vertical can learn about your event and your company. Don’t shy away from posting at various other portals such as Reddit, Medium, and so forth. These platforms have a massive outreach and given that you present your pitch in an engaging manner (with a mention of your free giveaway), you can expect a huge turnout.

5. Develop a reliable follow-up strategy

You have got some productive leads at the B2B event you recently attended. Well, good for you!

And if you heeded our advice of installing a credible business card scanning app to quickly capture the leads, then we are sure you are now armed with a list of your prospects’ contact details.

But these contacts won’t bear desired results unless you re-engage the acquired leads and follow-up with them after the event. Hope you know that your prospects probably came across several other pitches like yours — so you have to fight many other fish in the pond.

You can do this by making your follow-up email engaging and informative. Try to incorporate something that is valuable and useful to your leads, offer them a solution to their problem, and so forth.

While you are at it, you can also offer a limited discount coupon, or any other incentive to give them an additional nudge.

Concluding Words

Armed with these great event marketing strategies and tricks along with some great automated sales tools, there is no way you won’t find success at such B2B marketing events. While these tricks are veritably useful, you still need to do prior research about your target audience and the events you are planning to visit. For instance, if you are planning to give away free stuff, you should know who your target audience is and what sort of stuff they would like.

So, implement what you learned today but back it up with substantial research. The return on investment (ROI) will be well worth all the efforts and money spent.

Lead Generation is the life and blood of a business.

Let me tell you one hash truth: Without lead generation, your business is likely to fail.

However, the prospect of lead generation scares the bejesus out of people. Because not everyone is able to capitalize on their B2B lead generation efforts.

You are blogging extensively. You’re leveraging email marketing. You’re engaging each and every prospect on your social media channels as if they are your best friend.

But nothing is working out!

Why?

Well, it might be a tough pill to swallow, but maybe you are implementing your lead-generation efforts in the wrong direction.

And that’s what we will discuss today: How can you boost your B2B lead generation efforts in 2019 so as to get the maximum return-on-investment (ROI)?

1. Attend B2B Marketing Conferences

Professionals and sales experts tend to overlook marketing conferences in favor of digital marketing and social selling.

However, they fail to realize that the traditional form of prospecting and lead generation is still alive and kicking. Thanks to the ubiquitous social media and internet, one-to-one networking is becoming scarce and even more important at the same time.

It’s obvious that you stand to gain a lot more if you leverage a channel that is less congested than the one that is infiltrated with salespersons trying to pitch their product. And that’s why we recommend you attend as many B2B marketing conferences as you can.

But don’t forget to get some effective pointers on how to communicate effectively in business conferences. Going in unprepared is not going to help you either way.

While you are at it, don’t forget to install a business card reading app on your smartphone. It will always come in handy when your leads hand over their business cards to you.

This way, you won’t have to worry over trivial things like noting down the contact details or missing out on important leads.

Business card scanning apps are also important because attending conferences mean you’ll meet many new people. And we don’t expect you to memorize each of their names and contact details. But if you take their business cards, and make sure to add them to your address book immediately, you’ve got a solid, qualified prospect list by the end of the event.

Thus, don’t shy away from attending some great B2B events happening throughout the year. I can’t even begin to think of all the leads that you can generate. Moreover, if your entire sales team is at the event, ScanBizCards enterprise will help them directly export contacts to the CRM, making sure every important connection is captured.

After all, it doesn’t make sense to spend so many resources, time and money in attending the event and not even getting the ROI that you deserve.

2. Host Webinars

Textual content is not the only form of content that you can leverage — especially if you consider writing blobs of text as content marketing.

Times have changed and your prospects expect the same from you.

And that’s why we see a wide array of B2B companies indulging their audience using more engaging content forms such as webinars, seminars, podcasts, and so forth.

It’s a win-win situation for you. For one, hosting a webinar doesn’t require shelling out a big budget. Secondly, you don’t exactly have to go to extended lengths to partake in a webinar.

And the good news is that you can amass an excessive loyal-base with little labor from your end.

And this is not just I who is saying this.

In fact, 52% of marketers believe that webinars and seminars are the most effective methods to generate leads and make the most out of your lead generation efforts.

However, this is not to say that you can turn a blind eye to the textual content.

Conflating webinars with your long form blog posts will actually help you generate more B2B leads because blogging is a great way to build your authority in the industry. Hosting webinars is the next step.

3. Email Signature Capture via ScanBizCards App

I know you are tired of the archaic methods that all the other blogs keep talking about.

Blogging. Email Pitching. Cold Calling. Yada Yada!

But suppose you receive an email from an important, quality lead and delete it unintendedly?

What a bummer!

I bet you wish you could capture their contact information right in time.

This is where ScanBizCards comes into the game.

With the ScanBizCards app, you won’t have to worry about missing out on important leads.

You just need to set up email capture on your ScanBizCards app and find new contacts and update existing ones automatically.

Now that you have successfully setup the ScanBizCards app on your smartphone to capture the email signatures, it will assist you by scanning all the contacts from email signatures from the emails you have received in the last 30 days.

You don’t have to worry about missing out on important contact information anymore — because ScanBizCards automatically detects any changes or updates in your contacts’ details, along with suggesting new contacts every time you receive emails from people that are not already in your address book, meaning additional prospects for you.

4. Promote Customer Referrals

There are so many ways to generate leads.

But the goal is to find the one that will get you the most bang for your buck.

And that’s why we vociferously suggest you promote customer referrals. This method will not only help you boost your B2B lead generation effort but also help you capture high-quality leads.

Can you think of a previous customer who had been really happy with your services? Or a customer you helped drive a huge ROI?

I am sure you can think of quite a few happy customers.

Now do some research or use net promoter score (NPS) score to find out which customers are more likely to promote your product or service. Based on your results, you can ask them to spread the word around.

You will be amazed to see how willing they are!

5. Blog Extensively…But For Your Target Audience, Not For Google Bots

This is something that needs to be said. We witness people involved in extensive blogging but to no avail.

They spend hours and hours to make sure their blog has all the necessary things to rank higher on Google. But what they seem to overlook is that Google bots are not dumb. You can try out yourself, all the articles ranking on the first page of Google are informative and have an exceptional quality.

While making sure that your content is SEO friendly is a great idea, but your main goal should be to write for your target audience. Make your content engaging and informative at the same time. It should resonate with your target audience so that they will feel comfortable doing business with you.

Parting Words

So, this is it!

While attaining B2B leads is no cake walk, there’s nothing a good strategy can’t achieve.
Thus, if implemented correctly, These 5 tested tips will help you tremendously in generating high-quality leads.

What is your favorite way to boost B2B lead generation efforts?

Technology has made it easy for people to stay in touch with each other.

You can do just about everything using a laptop, a smartphone, and a reliable internet connection.

You think so?

If yes, then you have another thing coming!

Because no matter what you do and how good you are at pitching your brand, nothing can ever beat the power of face-to-face communication.

This is why business events and conferences are still relevant, and people continue to take great pains to travel to such events.

Now, this is not to say that technology is not important.

In fact, the blend of technology and traditional communication can be leveraged to get things done in a smoother and more productive manner.

For instance, to make the most of your time while traveling to a business event, you can take the assistance of sales productivity apps like ScanBizCards, a business card scanning app that will ensure you never lose your contacts, and help you network smoothly at business events.

So, hope you are ready to network at some of the upcoming most lucrative marketing conferences! Here’re our picks.

1. MarTech, April 3-5 in San Jose, CA

Marketing and technology! The amalgamation of both can help your company grow by leaps and bounds. And this is why it is suggested to pay a visit to the MarTech conference going to be held in San Jose starting from the 3rd of April.

The event will be centered around three important topics — marketing, technology, and management. From alleviating your struggle with the MarTech investment to helping you leverage Artificial Intelligence, this conference will help you gain powerful insights on diversified topics.

2. Ascendant Conference, April 17-18 in New York, NY

Want to meet some of the most innovative minds in retail and marketing? Then you must try visiting the upcoming Ascendant Conference in New York, NY. However, this is an exclusive, invite-only conference. Therefore, you would have to connect with people and ask around and see if you could get an invite.

This conference is especially known for its success and motivational speakers. At the Ascendant Conference, people not only come with a goal to build a stellar network for their company, but also for their personal growth.

If you fail to make it to the conference in April, then you can try getting an invite for the one that is going to be held in San Francisco on October 16-17.

3. Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, April 16-18 in St. Louis, MO

Touted as the largest digital marketing conference in the Midwest, the Midwest Digital Marketing Conference (MDMC) is going to host nearly 2000 attendees. That’s a huge number. But good for you since you have a better chance of getting in.

Last year, they had over 130 prominent speakers from brands like Under Armour, LinkedIn, HubSpot, Google, Yahoo, and so forth. If you are an execution-based marketing professional looking to try out more innovative ideas to boost your marketing success, then you shouldn’t miss out on this event.

4. B2B Marketing Leaders Forum APAC 2019, May 21-24 in Sydney, Australia

One of the biggest marketing events in Sydney, B2B marketing leaders forum is most helpful if you want to get informative insights on how to market your brand with a smaller budget and team. Held at the Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf in Sydney, this conference is geared towards industry-based roundtables and focuses on the art of budgeting.

If it looks like something you are itching to gain knowledge in, then don’t hesitate to fix your seat at B2B Marketing Leaders Forum APAC 2019.

5. MozCon, July 15-17 in Seattle, WA

With a lineup of stalwart speakers, MozCon is an anticipated marketing event to be held in Seattle, WA. You will especially get to discover unique and innovative marketing tactics like how to rank higher on search engines and what to do in order to make data-driven decisions.

Moreover, this conference poses an opportunity to connect with like-minded marketing professionals as well as prospective leads for your business.

Here’s a list of the type of people you will get to meet at the event:

• SEO executives
• Representatives from marketing agencies
• Content marketers
• Marketing executives
• Basically, marketers of all stripes

6. The Brand Marketing Summit, May 30-31 in San Francisco, CA

This marketing conference allows you to connect with over 350 marketing leaders from all walks of time listen to over 40 big brand speakers.

This conference is specifically helpful for marketers who are curious to know more about personalization in marketing, content and social media marketing, and customer service. You can also attend their twin-summit in New York instead of San Francisco if you want.

Attending a summit in of the biggest cities in the United States will definitely allow you to connect with some of the biggest names in the industry.

7. Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON), July 16 – 18 in Cleveland, OH

As the name suggests, this event is solely based on Artificial Intelligence and its impact on marketing.

Well, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on marketing is not hidden from anymore. At the beginning of this article,we touched on the topic of how using an automated business card scanning app can help you network better at such events.

So, a minute thing like this is a piece of common knowledge.

At this conference, you will get privy to deeper insights on how marketers can leverage Artificial Intelligence and automated sales productivity tools.

In case Artificial Intelligence and other technological terminologies intimidate you, you should know that this event caters to people with a non-technical background. So you don’t have to be a data scientist or an expert in analytics and coding to discern and use Artificial Intelligence for your marketing endeavors.

Summing it all up

As you are getting on with your daily routine, it is important to take some time out to attend these events where you are likely to connect with so many prominent people from your industry. We would also recommend to give your teams a chance to experience some of these events.

Also, don’t forget to install a business card scanning app that will allow you to communicate effectively at business events. Otherwise, there are high chances that you will either end up losing some important business cards or put off the other person by interrupting them in between a conversation to ask for their contact information.

Traveling for business can be tedious. For starters, you have to stress about flight booking, busy airports, harried packing, and so forth. The whole trip can be overwhelming and a lot to manage.

All in all, you have to upend your whole routine to squeeze your business traveling in the midst. Then there’s another worry that looms over your head — a fear of being worn out and losing out on your important tasks.

However, if you have a couple of tricks up your sleeve and a few sales productivity apps like ScanBizCards, a reliable business card scanning app. and other business contact management apps, you can withstand any business travel like a pro.

In this article, we are going to discuss five things you can do to make the most of your time while traveling for your business.

1. Prepare Your Electronic Gadgets To Avoid Interruptions To Your Work

From the moment you leave to the moment you reach your destination, and even at your business meetings, you should always have all the important electronic gadgets with you.

First and foremost, make sure that you pack your laptop and its charger along with your smartphone’s charger. While you are at it, don’t leave without charged devices — it’s better to be prepared for all situations.

Another thing that we would suggest is to make sure that your smartphone has all the important business apps up and running. For instance, given that you are going to a business event where you are going to be meeting with a lot of important people you might want to keep in touch with, it’s better to keep a business card scanning app installed on your smartphone. So, whenever someone hands over their business card to you, just click a quick picture and the business card scanning app will do the rest for you.

That’s one troublesome thing out of the picture.

Apart from this, invest in Wi-Fi systems that will help you in the plane or in case you get stuck on the tarmac.

The aim is to always be prepared for the worst scenario — you never know what you might face. Take extra strides so that you never fall behind your work schedule.

2. Carry Your Business Cards With You

In the aforementioned point, we talked about the importance of a business card scanning app. This conversation translates into another point — what will you do if someone asks you for your contact details?

Will you ask them to write it down on a napkin? Or save it in their smartphone?

Don’t even think about it.

Not only will you come off as a novice, but you will also give off unprofessional vibes. And this is something that you want to avoid at any cost.

And this is where traditional business cards come into play. Contrary to what some millennials would like to believe, business cards are always going to be important, especially when it comes to business meetings and conferences.

So, don’t make the mistake of overlooking your business cards while packing for your business trip.

3. Travel Light

Hope you have packed all your necessities.

Toiletries? Check!

Business Cards? Check!

Important electronic gadgets (along with their chargers)? Check!

Installed important sales productivity apps? Check!

Now, don’t go overboard with packing. Just pack necessary clothes along with a pair of business shoes and zip up your travel bag. The most you can do is to add a mechanical pencil or a padfolio for business purposes.

Moreover, prepare a to-do list and double-check everything before you step out of your home. I would again repeat, don’t overdo it and make sure to pack only the necessary stuff — things that you can’t simply go without.

Smart and succinct packing spares your physical exertion as well as unnecessary mental stress.

4. Prepare For International Business Trips

Preparing yourself for an international business trip can be a bit trickier than your regular business trips. First, make sure that you check some prominent travel websites to get information regarding any advisories, special requirements apart from visa and passport, warning, and so forth.

One thing that most people overlook is the cultural difference. You don’t want to be guilty of this anomaly.

Therefore, it is also imperative that you learn the basic customs of the country you are visiting to avoid making cultural missteps. Apart from this, learning a few basic phrases in their language might also help you out.

Moreover, if possible, make sure to opt for global entry — a system that allows you to get screened at the airport within a few minutes.

5. Don’t Overwork Yourself

When you are on a business trip, your primary objective is to attend the business events and meeting successfully. However, it is technically impossible to achieve that if you are either stressed or tired.

To avoid something like this, make sure that you reach your destination a day earlier. This gives plenty of time to get alleviate your stress and do away with the jet lag. In this vacant time, take a nap and stroll around the city as a carefree tourist. Do what you must to de-stress yourself and be at your professional best during the business meeting or event.

Parting Words…

From packing to downloading sales productivity apps, we have covered almost everything to make sure your business trip turns out to be a veritable success.

Above all, avoid stressing yourself out on things that are beyond your control. We know that as an entrepreneur, you have to take a multitude of decisions. But, you must also keep in mind that to take productive decisions, you have to stay at the best of your health.

And yes, don’t forget to get a few pointers on how to communicate effectively in business meetings beforehand. Armed with the points mentioned in this article and your business communication prep, you will surely be able to make something good out of your business trip.

Back in the day, when people didn’t have access to platforms like LinkedIn, business cards were the only way to network with your leads.

However, that’s not to say that they are completely obscure now. In fact, it is farther from the truth. Business cards are still and are likely to remain relevant forever.

Don’t believe us?

Then how do you suppose business card scanning apps like ScanBizCards getting so much traction? The fact that a huge number of audience is flocking to use such apps tantamount to the popularity of business cards even today.

This gives way to another question — despite the tremendous rise of social media, why are business cards not dead yet?

Read on to find out!

1. Because Our Memory Still Sucks (Duh!)

This much is obvious, right?

As the years go by, our attention span isn’t getting any better. If anything, it is relegating even more. In 2015, a study conducted by Microsoft revealed that the average human attention span had dropped to eight seconds, down from twelve in the year 2000.

Just introspect yourself… how many times have to met important prospects at business events and when reached home, thinking that now you will follow-up with them through LinkedIn, you end up forgetting their names?

Don’t you wish that you had collected their business cards? Need I say more?

So, if anything, we need business cards now more than ever. And don’t worry, collecting business cards doesn’t mean that it is going to hinder your networking opportunities.

You can communicate freely at business meetings without worrying over saving the contact information from the acquired cards. Instead, the best thing to do is to install a business card scanning app in your smartphone so that you can quickly take a picture of the business card which then can be directly exported to your CRM with all the important contact details intact.

2. Business Cards are always accessible

From your business website to your social media pages, none of these things are immune to WiFi cut or interest dead zones. Business cards, on the other hand, are pretty much accessible at all time and at all places.

Just imagine a scenario where you visit an important conference, meet some potential clients, have a quick conversation, and ask them for their LinkedIn page. However, you realize that your phone battery is dead. Now, you can’t even save their contact information.

But, the traditional business card saves the day! Next, they hand over their business card to you… yes, it’s that simple.

Business cards can be viewed irrespective of any physical shortages, and they are always working for you unless you end up losing them. However, for that also, we have discussed a credible solution, that is to use a business card scanning app to keep all your contact details intact.

3. Business Cards make you look professional

No other form of contact medium can make you look as professional and legitimate as your business card. And as a matter of fact, people have a penchant of trusting businesses that seem reputable. Therefore, having a formal as well as a creative business card is one of the best ways to show that you are running a reputable business.

Now, when I say that business cards make you look professional, I don’t mean that they have to be boring and dull. People often mistake the word “professional” with dull and staid. But you have to be creative as well as professional at the same time.

The goal is to make a memorable first impression with your business card. You can use various creative ideas for your business cards to make them more compelling. For instance, you can use metal business cards to create a long-lasting impact and to fuel the conversion.

4. Business Cards exude your preparedness

What would you do if someone asks for your contact information in an important business event? Would you write it down on a napkin and then hand it over? What if their battery is dead? This doesn’t sound like the most professional thing to do.

So, rather than scrambling around to find a pen and a paper to write on, the best thing to do is to keep your professional business card in tow. It resonates with your work-ethic and shows the client that you are always prepared.

5. Business Cards add a personal touch

We know that smartphones are now an integral part of not only our personal life but our professional life as well. However, one still cannot refute that they are highly intrusive.

It doesn’t bode well for your otherwise flowing conversation to interrupt it just to type in each other’s contact details. It takes away from the personal touch of the conversation.

You will have a much better chance of connecting with your prospect if you don’t fret about exchanging contact details. Instead, what you can do is to simply exchange your business cards when you are about to take leave.

Business cards serve as a tangible reminder of your meetings juxtaposed to a hastily entered contact number on your mobile phone.

Conclusion

So, these were some of the reasons that implicitly prove the immortality of the business cards. Now, with the influx of some of the best business card scanning apps in the market, they are likely to thrive even more. And why not? They are cheap, portable, and most importantly, easy to hand out. So, there’s no reason to disregard business cards and all the more reasons to have one.

It is, therefore, safe to say that the conversations are always going to end with, “Can I have your business card?”

However, don’t interrupt the conversations by trying to save the contact details in your smartphone as soon as you receive a business card. Just collect them throughout the business event and save them later on with the help of an effective business card scanning app.

Network freely, communicate well and use ScanBizCards for everything else

If you want your business to thrive these days, you have to concentrate on more than just closing the final sales deals. You have got to engage with your customers and collaborate effectively with your team.

But, how will you achieve that?

The answer is simple: you have to communicate effectively so as to get your point across to your target audience without hassle. That said, you cannot achieve this all alone. You require the assistance of various apps available online to makes things easier for entrepreneurs including contact management apps, business card scanning apps, CRM tools and so and so forth.

Today, we will discuss some important things that can come in handy while communicating in business meetings.

1. Download a Business Card Scanning App

Communication comes way after networking. So, first and foremost, you have to concentrate on networking freely.

But networking can be a lot of hassle. Sometimes, marketers end up losing all the contacts they acquired in an event or a networking meeting. Even if they carefully retain all the acquired business cards, they end up mixing up the contacts or entering the wrong data.

This is where business card scanning apps come into play.

Business card scanning apps like ScanBizCards allow you to save all the contact details by clicking a quick picture. And you know the best part about such card scanning apps? They automatically export all the contact details directly into Salesforce, which again saves you a lot of time.

With so much time on your hands and an effective contact list, you can now concentrate on your meeting and can follow-up with your networks after a day or two.

2. Talk Less, Listen More

This doesn’t mean that you have to sit quietly, curbing your curiosity in the business meetings. What we technically mean is that, instead of talking utter gibberish, or something that doesn’t add any value to the meeting, focus on listening to your peers and prospects.

Once you understand the point the other person is trying to make, you will be able to communicate way more effectively. Give your utmost attention to the speaker, and then put forth your points and give well-research insights. And if you missed a point, or are having a hard time getting your head around something, politely ask the speaker to elaborate or repeat their point.

Rest, you don’t have to worry about interrupting them to ask for their contact details as you now have a business card scanning app in place. Just collect their business card after the meeting, or when you are done interacting with them so that you can store their contact details in peace afterward.

3. Prepare Beforehand & Support Your Point

Talk is cheap.

If only I had a penny for every time this time-honored adage turns out to be correct!

Don’t fall in the same category. Prepare your points backed by extensive research before participating in a business meeting. When you support your points with credible stats or case studies, it adds to the value of your talk to a very large extent.

In fact, people are more inclined to believe what you say when you give them real-life examples or data that support your claims.

4. Pay Close Attention to Body Language

Oftentimes, sales professionals fail to pay attention to the body language of the speaker. They don’t realize how big of a mistake it is to undermine this aspect of communication.

In fact, according to the statistics, during face to face meetings, 93% of people’s judgment of others are based on non-verbal inputs like sales body language.

Don’t forget that it is a two-way process. While you can get an idea about your client’s decision or inclination towards your product, your client can also build their perspective about you based on your body language.

For instance, seemingly minute things like making eye contact and sitting straight show that you are sincere and confident. Also, if your client is staring off into the distance or slouching in their seats, it resonates with the belief that what you are saying doesn’t make sense to them.

So, learn to pick up body language and at the same time make sure to use a correct body language yourself.

Summing it all up…

If you pay close attention to all the above-mentioned points, you will be able to make tremendous strides towards improving your communication abilities in business meetings.

Most importantly, during busy meetings and events where you have to collect hundreds of business cards, professional tools like business card scanning apps will help you remain cool so that you don’t crack under pressure.

So, use these tips carefully and face important business meetings like a pro!

Networking can take your business places.

That said, as your network grows, the total number of contacts continue to grow on your iPhone’s contact app or any other device, which is probably great since you are expanding your horizons by networking.

However, all this networking might go in vain if you aren’t organizing and managing your contacts properly.

But organizing your iPhone contact app isn’t as easy as it may sound. It must be flooded with incorrect and outdated contact numbers as well. Today we will help you tackle this problem with some tips and one useful Address Book manager app.

Read on to find out!

1. Conflate Your iPhone’s Contact App With CircleBack, An Address Book Manager

For starters, if you want to use your iPhone’s contact app to its potential best, then you must consider automating your contact organizing process.

This is where CircleBack, an automated address book manager, comes into play.

CircleBack is poised to become the best address book manager that does plenty of things for you including updating your contacts list intelligently, discovering new contacts in your Google, Microsoft, and Exchange inboxes, cleaning up duplicate contacts.

Apart from this, it also works perfectly as a business card scanning app which automatically exports business card to CRM.

Taking the management of your address book seriously can actually save you a lot of time and hassle. In fact, if you want to navigate through your contacts list with ease, without getting inflicted by the irrelevant, outdated clutter, then you have got to pay attention to your address book management.

So, don’t delegate anymore and automate the process of managing your phone address book using CircleBack.

2. Don’t Forget To Add Full Contact Details

“Hey Siri, call my mother.”

You can give this simple command and literally reach any person.

But there’s a catch: you need to fill out the full contact details in order to do that. Regular, generic information like a person’s name, email, and phone number won’t cut it out for you. When you enter details like people’s nicknames and the relationship you have with them, it makes Siri more powerful. This, in turn, makes your own task considerably easier.

Adding your contact’s address might also come in handy later on. For one, it saves you the trouble of searching for your contact’s distance in your Maps app. Secondly, you won’t have to keep asking people their address every time you are to visit them.

3. Categorize Your Contacts

Your iPhone’s contact app allows you to organize your contact into groups to avoid the clutter and the ensuing confusion.

Say, for instance, you have a whole list of entrepreneurs you need to text, but it is an arduous task to remember each one of their names. However, if you categorize people in different groups, this problem may never arise again. Grouping people can help you send your messages through without excluding anyone important in your contact list.

You can always manage your grouped contacts via the Contacts app on the Mac or in the iCloud.

4. Use A Business Card Scanning App

While you most certainly are capable of entering each and every contact detail manually, it still leaves you vulnerable to mistakes.

For instance, while you are attending an important entrepreneurial conference, the chances are that you will be flooded with business cards left, right and center. The best way to tackle this is by using a prominent business card scanning app like ScanBizCards.

ScanBizCards will not only scan the business cards you get but also export them directly into Salesforce. Apart from helping in entering accurate contact information, this business card scanning app also allows users to enter contact information in bulk.

Conclusion

There are so many major things your iPhone’s Contact App can do. You just need to follow the aforementioned points to make the most out of it. All these tips along with an automated address book manager can do wonders for you and save you a lot of unwarranted hassle.