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Forgot Your Business Cards? Here’s Why It’s Not a Big Deal

Monday, February 26, 2018

Headline: Forgot your business cards? Why it's not such a big deal. Picture of a woman at a networking event with empty pockets. By Beth Bridges, Networking Motivator

Forgot your business cards the last time you went to a networking event?

Don’t feel bad. Personally, I’ve forgotten to go networking with business cards more than once.

I know some of you are asking “Do people still use business cards?!”

They do at most of the networking events I’m familiar with, but the question is “Do you NEED business cards?” And if you do, what do you do when you forget them or run out.

First, don’t panic. I can only think of two reasons you should even care if you have them.

Are you surprised to hear that from a networking expert? Hey –  if the best networking advice you’re getting is “don’t forget your business cards” then you need to look around for better networking advice.

I’ve been to 2,500+ networking events, plus I’ve written a five-star rated book on networking and I’m telling you that forgetting your business cards is far from the worst networking mistake you can make.

Besides, do you know what most people actually do with your business card?

Photo of messy desk drawer full of business cards and other papers

Copyright: uppij / 123RF Stock Photo

Yep. Nothing.

They throw them in a drawer, pile them on their desk and dig for it when they think they might need to reach out to you (too often it’s to to sell you something).

What they usually don’t do is put them into a CMS, they don’t do follow-up and they don’t find you on social media.

All the things they should do when they make a new connection that they think could matter to them (and that they could matter to) in the future.

As someone who has attended hundreds of networking events and given out thousands of business cards, I know that few – if any – of those cards directly made a difference.

It’s the impression YOU make and the responsibility YOU take to follow up that makes a difference.

Yes, design is important.

Your card can act like a tiny branding billboard while it sits on the top of their desk or floats around in their purse. Or maybe you’re a graphic designer or marketing expert. In that case, you should have an informative card or an incredibly beautiful or eye-catching design.

But for the rest of us, the card is a simple information-transferring tool.

And unless you make a really great first impression or you have something they really want right now, you don’t have much control over what they do with that business card.

 

What You Should Care About When Networking With Business Cards

What you really care about is getting their card. Or getting their contact information if they are someone you want to connect with. Because YOU know that you have control over what you do with their information.

Here’s what you need, more than a physical card:

  • A way of storing their information that is NOT a drawerful of cards.
  • A good reason to follow up.
  • An interest in building a long-term relationship rather than go for a quick sale.
  • And a networking plan. 

If your networking strategy is focused on these concepts, then handing out business cards like Halloween candy is not important.

 

What to Say When You Forgot Your Business Cards

woman surprised and shocked that she forgot your business cards for networking

Still, it’s an awkward situation. People do still use business cards. They still mostly expect that they’re going to a networking event to exchange business cards. Let’s ignore the dubious wisdom of that as a useful strategy and talk about what to say when you forgot your business cards.

You can always say you ran out. 

Or that you changed purses.

Or that you left them in the car.

Whatever reason you don’t have a card on you, don’t make a big deal out of it.

Don’t emphasize how dumb you feel or how embarrassing it is. If they didn’t think you were dumb or should be embarrassed, making a fuss sure will make them start thinking that way.

I would simply say, “I don’t have any cards on me. Can I have one of yours? And then I’ll send you one of mine when I get back to the office.”

If they were just being polite or doing the expected “ask for their business card,” they’ll say sure, send it to me later. If they’re really serious about getting in contact with you, they can get out their smartphone and immediately add you as a contact. Or you can get their email on the spot and message them your contact information.

But if they’re fine with getting your business card later, just offer to mail it to them.

Then, HERE’S THE KEY PART:

You must actually send them your business card!

Well, of course, you said you would do it but you and I know how real life gets in the way, fifteen unexpected things happen and a week goes by. If you must, send it to them the very moment you get home or back into the office. If you don’t do it immediately, it’s less and less likely you ever will. This is exactly what John Maxwell’s “Law of Diminishing Intent”says will happen: “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.”

Besides, you know that they very likely STILL won’t do anything with that business card, so why even bother sending it?

  • First, someday they’ll remember that you promised something and you didn’t do it. Never mind that it was a tiny thing that they weren’t looking for as a big deal anyway.
  • Second, but what if they actually DO find themselves needing your service? Or run across someone else who does? Now you’re missing a chance (albeit a small one) to make a valuable contact or get a referral.
  • Third, and most importantly, it’s not about the business card!

It’s all about making contact with them and either continuing or starting a conversation or building the connection. From a sales perspective, they call this a “touchpoint” and it takes about 6 to 8 of them to generate a sales lead.

In networking, it takes time to get to know someone and build trust with them. Each “touchpoint” is an opportunity to get closer to that goal which should be bigger than making a one-time sale.

 

The Ideal Way to Send Them Your Business Card

Mailing a handwritten card is probably ideal, but I’ll tell you right now, unless you’re a special human being who is organized enough to have note cards, pens, and stamps right there in your desk, you’re probably not going to do it.

And, forgive me for judging you, haha, but if you frequently forget your business cards, you probably don’t have this going on either.

But, if you can swing it, I recommend an actual, hand-written, real-life note card with your business card tucked into it.blank notecard and fancy pen for writing thank you notes and sending business cards when you forgot your business cards

Write something simple: “It was great meeting you yesterday. As promised, here is my card.”

Then include something personally valuable, useful, or interesting to them. Maybe it’s a link to a great blog post you recently found (or wrote). Maybe it’s a resource that would help them. Or maybe it’s even an offer to help them connect with someone else.

Sure, you can send an email. Make sure though, that you’ve got something incredibly relevant to say in the form of those helpful resources. And write a great subject line: “Information that I promised you” is a good one IF you’re certain they’ll remember your conversation and are anticipating your follow-up.

Just be aware though, it’s even easier to ignore an email than it is for them to let your business card rot in a drawer.

Don’t be afraid to follow up to your email if you don’t hear back. We all know how easy it is to have an email slip past us, even though we appreciated it and intended to respond.

 

The Second Method (You’re More Likely to Actually Do It)

I will admit that the reason I embraced this second method is because I know I’m bad at the first. Recently, we had a huge search party at home because I knew there was “a stamp”… somewhere.

Screenshot of a card I recently sent.

Instead, I use SendOutCards to follow up. It’s a tiny bit “less perfect” than a hand-crafted, hand-written, custom card. But “done is better than perfect.” And I know the hand-crafted card isn’t going to happen. Plus, it’s a better method for those of you who have cultivated truly atrocious, unreadable handwriting.

Or if you’re like me, I’ve keyboarded for so long that I’m only good for writing down about 10 words at a time.

SendOutCards is the next best solution for the disorganized and penmanship-challenged. It’s an online greeting card design tool that is like print-on-demand. You create the card or use one of their pre-built templates, then they print it out, stamp it, and mail your real-life, tangible card. For less than $1.60 per card.

Speaking of which, I’ve got to complain here for a minute about the price of greeting cards! I’ve seen them up to $10, so my husband is forbidden to buy them for me now… put that money into my gift! SendOutCards are a definite bargain.

(If you’re interested, email me and I’ll tell you how to send one for free to try it out.)

As far as a solution in following up when you forgot your business cards, while they can’t insert your business card, you can literally design it into the card.

The recipient is either going to toss that entire greeting card or maybe they’ll actually put your info into their contact management system (which means they’re a serious networker).

Or, you could almost guarantee they won’t throw the card out. When you meet them, take a selfie of the both of you together and put that on the front of the card – now they’ll keep it at least for a while because it has THEIR picture on it!

At the least, they’ve now got your business card in a larger format that will perhaps not get quite so lost in the piles on their desk

 

Why Not Just Connect on Social Media?

Why not connect with them on social media? Sure, you should.

Just don’t let it be your only point of contact.

Here’s why:

Who owns that list of connections if it’s on LinkedIn? (Hint: It’s Microsoft. Which means Bill Gates, who personally I think is pretty cool for having donated over $45 billion but I still don’t want him owning my contacts list.)

And if you’re using Facebook to connect with people, not only does Mark Zuckerberg own your contacts, he gets to decide who sees what you post and therefore who gets to interact with you.

Connecting with them on social media is the “Yes, and…” follow-up action to getting them into your own personal contact management system first.

 

Two Reasons You Shouldn’t Forget Your Business Cards

First, people expect you to have a business card.

If you forgot your business cards you look unprepared or you seem like you’re not serious about your business or networking. People still use business cards.

You won’t seem to have your s*** together and that is definitely NOT the first impression you want to make.

What if you deliberately don’t carry business cards because it’s old fashioned, or it’s too analog, or you’re using a digital medium? Work out a method to explain your philosophy to other people in a way that doesn’t make you sound like a condescending tech nerd.

Andy Ellwood, Co-founder and President of Basket, deliberately only ever brings one card to an event. Then he gives it to the first person he sees and then can truthfully tell everyone else he’s out. Because he says, “… it doesn’t matter if they have my contact information, I need theirs.”

The second reason you should even care if you have business cards?

How else are you going to enter the door prize giveaway?!

 

 

Enjoyed this post? Got something valuable or useful from it? Click here to get more on my private email list along with a free excerpt from my book “Networking on Purpose.”

 

 

 

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