Business cards are among the most useful networking accouterments available. They allow you to quickly and efficiently distribute your business’s details to potential clients while simultaneously reinforcing your professionalism and conveying your brand identity. That’s why we take pride in being able to provide high quality business card printing for our customers. But how can you deploy your business cards to ensure that they have the greatest impact? Naturally, you want to ensure that the people you network with end up contacting you or your business using the details on your business cards. Consequently, you need to hand out those cards in way that guarantees they won’t be forgotten.
1. Write on your cards
According to the website Careerealism, it’s a good idea to write a note on the back of a business card just before you hand it over. The purpose of this note is to remind the recipient of who you are, what you talked about or why they asked for your contact details. The next time they look through their business cards, your note will jog their memory about your meeting and remind them to get in touch with you. This technique may be simple, but it’s surprisingly effective at ensuring your business cards aren’t forgotten post the networking event.
2. Wait for someone to ask for your details or ask if they want a business card
Don’t just hand your business card to someone as soon as you meet them – wait for them to ask for your contact details instead. If they don’t explicitly ask for your contact details, ask them if they want your business card rather than just handing it over. The goal is to get your prospective contact to request your card or the information on it. This is because people are more likely to remember and look at business cards that they specifically asked for than business cards that they just accepted automatically. Making the recipient feel like they took the initiative in asking for your card is also a great way to ensure that they feel positively about your meeting, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will contact you. This is a key strategy to deploy at events and exhibitions if you want to increase your conversion rate.
3. Only hand out your business card to genuine leads
It’s important to carefully choose who you give your business card to. Only give it out to people who you have the potential to be useful contacts. If you give your business card out to everyone, it will lose its value and no-one will pay attention to it, so make sure that receiving your business card is a big deal for the recipient.
Have a look at this great/important article from Career Realism: 3 rules to smart business card etiquette.
If you’re still not sold by our advice have a look at one of our previous articles: The Advantages of Business Cards
Of course, before you can deploy your business cards effectively, you’ll need to have them designed and printed. Check out our professional business card templates to kick off your networking adventures.