Effectively Use Your Business Cards to Maximize ROI

At each event, we often come across a number of well-dressed attendants who are impressively spoken, exchange business cards promptly, are highly confident, but are still unable to leave a mark. What’s amiss? Typically, it’s their mannerisms and readiness for the event.

You cannot simply barge into a discussion at an event, start reciting your saga, and abruptly shove your business card into someone’s hand. That’s intrusive!

Understanding how to make the most of your business cards to leverage quality contacts will do wonders to enhance your ROI.

1. First and foremost, before going to any conference, install a business card manager (iOS, Android) on your smartphone to instantly turn your important business cards into contacts. You will come across as a professional, save time, and it will reflect your eagerness to truly connect with your contacts.

2. Second, don’t be a card spammer and hand your business card to anyone and everyone. Choose wisely! Meet new people, join friendly groups, ask open-ended questions, and don’t talk for too long. If anyone seems interested in your product, politely present your card and ask for theirs.

3. Third, keep your business cards handy, and mind the little details. Digging through your pockets for your card is awkward. Similarly, don’t be short on them. Since you’ll never really know how many you’ll need, you should always have a decent amount of cards on you.

Also, unless specifically requested, don’t offer multiple cards to your new contacts to be passed on to others that would need your product/service. This creates a negative impression.

Finally, don’t use your card scanner app for every card you receive. You don’t have to turn all your business cards into contacts. Use it for those you truly intend to remain in touch with.

However, only use your card scanner app when parting ways, and not before, and add notes when saving the contact to remember things later. It’s not wise to ignore attendants even for a brief moment, so don’t scan business cards while you are still in conversation.

4. Fourth, as soon as you turn a business card into a contact, connect with your prospect right away. If you are a ScanBizCards user, you know how quickly you can scan business cards on your iPhone or Android device. Then you can then immediately connect with your contacts with a quick email along with a picture and your contact info. Further, you can also submit the cards for manual business card transcription, or export business cards to CRM.

5. Fifth, take action. After saving the contact and exchanging initial introductory emails, it’s time to take some real action by following-up and to connecting personally. Check the notes you wrote down when saving your business cards to fulfill the promises you made during the event, and to take the relationship further.

Remain in touch with your prospects through social media. But first, conduct a bit of research, understand their likes and dislikes and the best channels to approach them, and then make an offer to meet up for a cup of coffee to take things further.

But what about the cards you received during the event that you considered insignificant. What do you do with them?

6. Finally, before you discard the insignificant cards, just scan for any that may be useful. Then run a quick Google/LinkedIn search for each of these cards, try to know a little bit about the person, and if you find the information useful, try to connect with them. Discard any useless cards.

Business cards are a marketing tool to help you acquire new customers, and you can follow the tips above to maximize your business card ROI. In addition, you may also get creative with your card design to stand apart from your customers. Happy networking!!