Your business card is a very powerful networking tool when used appropriately and even more so if it clearly markets and promotes you and what you do that helps other people.
One of the more obvious uses of your business card would be as a tool for obtaining the business cards of your contact targets. In order for this to work, you must always have a stock of your personal business cards on hand. If you want to make a really good impression you could always keep your cards in a smart but modest looking silver cardholder. A gold one would be ostentatious and for this reason is not recommended. I tend to carry a fair amount if additional cards in the cubby-hole of my car. There is nothing more frustrating to me, or that looks more unprofessional than a salesperson or marketer who has run out of business cards. Don’t be tempted to cross out a colleague’s card and scribble your name on it. It’s tacky to do so, not to mention unprofessional.
If you want a contact’s business card, the easiest way to ask him or her for it is to offer yours in exchange for theirs. Your business card also needs to make a good initial impression and I suggest you give this a fair amount of thought. This applies even if this means having two cards printed, one for your networking purposes that displays a photograph of you and one for your business activities if you feel a photograph implies that you are vain.
What does your current business card say about you? Does it say you are a professional or an amateur? Did you go cheap on the production of your card, using poor colour tones, unreadable fonts, a backyard print shop and the cheapest paper you could find? Alternatively, does your business card grab the attention of its beholder immediately sending pangs of jealousy through their body just because your card is so fantastic?
Your business card is like an advert for your business. If the name of your business doesn’t say what you do, then you should rather put in bold or in very visible letters exactly what it is that you do. The name of your company can then fit in above the address. So, if you are a plumber and your company’s name is ‘Bramley Plumbing’ then your card can carry the traditional bold logo that just about every card that you will ever receive carries. If, however, you call yourself Bramley Services, then put Plumber in big bold letters that stand out on your card. The same will apply if you are advertising your services or products in the newspapers. Unless you are in the advertising industry you will probably skip 90% of the advertisements. Your brain simply filters these out as unnecessary noise and your brain will focus only on relevant information pertinent to your sub-conscious ‘to-do’ list. If you have a leaky tap, your attention is far more likely to be drawn towards an advertisement saying ‘Plumber’ than it would be drawn to the word ‘Services’.
I do not know what your business card looks like at this moment but I'm sure that there are many ways that you may already have thought of to improve on it. Because so many contacts will remember your face but maybe not your name it makes sense to me that you should always include a current photograph of yourself on the card. Do not be that lazy or so vain that you leave the same photograph on your card for the next 20 years. I know people who have done this, to their detriment as it may well create a negative impression which will take a while to overcome. Lazy and vain! Perhaps you only thought of that photograph as a great picture of you; after all no-one has photographed you since and it was only twenty years ago. Keep you photograph fairly current.
While your card should say something about what you do to help people or the position that you hold in your business, you should avoid cluttering the card in case you confuse or irritate the recipient. Keep the card simple but smart. Certainly any relevant qualifications that you might have can be included on the card. Don’t forget that the back of your business card can also be used. My good friend, Lars Lofstrand from The Capacity Company, has only one word printed on the back of his business card. The word is “Why?”. This is because as a business consultant he is always asking the “Why?” question. So it makes sense to stimulate conversation in that direction. Others have set out the services they offer on the back of their cards.
Once you have mastered the process of exchanging your business card with that of a contact, you must try and master the art of reading their business card whilst simultaneously and quickly generating questions to stimulate conversation and rapport with your new Contact. Whatever you do, do not just shove the card into your pocket, purse or wallet. This would be considered disrespectful and would make your contact feel unimportant. Take a few seconds to look at the card and to show your interest. A standard business card will contain the name of the person, their designation and the company for whom they work or whom they represent, their qualifications and the address and telephone numbers of the business, all of which can assist you in formulating many opening questions for your contact to answer. Perhaps you know someone else who works for the same company as your contact? Maybe you are aware of or you are already using a product or service that they manufacture or supply.
Assuming your conversation with your contact goes well, (and that simply means that you have agreed to stay in touch), you should make a note of this agreement on the back of your contacts card to remind you of this as well as any other agreements you made to send brochures, follow up for a meeting and such. If you intend to make these notes in the presence of your contact, first ask their permission to write on the back of their card. Be aware that in some cultures writing on their business card is seen as insulting; and then when you pocket their business card on your person you could see yourself being assisted out of the venue by the very large gentlemen you saw standing at the door earlier. This would not be good for business or future relationships - so be aware of this. I like to put a new contacts business card into my wallet after showing the appropriate respect. That’s where I keep my money and photographs of my family; my wallet is something I try not to leave home without. It’s important to me and hence so too are the business cards I put into it. Is that not the same for you, for everyone?
The agreements you record on your card or pocket notebook can range from a golf or lunch date to a promise to send an interesting or relevant article or perhaps even a brochure of your products and services. If you are not setting aside time in the next day or two to get back to your new contacts, you might consider recording the details, date and venue of the networking event on the business card as well to prompt your memory when you do get the chance to make contact.
If your business card indicates how you help people you could advertise yourself by inserting your card into mail shots, statements of account, post boxes or cluster boxes together with an introductory letter. The opportunities are vas and limited by your imagination.
Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals when giving out your business card. After seeing a client and concluding business I like to say to a client as I am about to leave. “Here are a couple of my business cards for you to give to someone you care about who you know should be exposed to the work that I do. Don’t keep me such a secret!” I usually hand across three of my cards with the clients name on them so I know who referred the new contact; that way I can thank my client for the referral.
Does your business have a slogan? I’m the leverage guy, I teach you to leverage your time and your financial affairs. Include the slogan on your card. That’s your point of difference that separates you from your competition or that answers why you are the person to help them do what they do, but to do it better.
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