RSS
Home
What do you do with a business card?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
I am a firm believer that you grow your business through relationships. (That is why word of mouth is the best form of advertising.) Question - What do you do with a business card? As the saying goes, your net work equals your net worth. So how do you increase your network? We all attend networking events with the hopes of making connections which can turn into relationships. But at the end of the event, we are just usually left with a business card. So again, what do you do with a business card? Most people send a follow-up e-mail to the 3-5 interesting people they met at the event.
I do things a little different. Here are a few tips to creating what Bob Burg wrote in his book titled "Endless Referrals". Everyone knows that fortune is in the follow-up. The critical step to any introduction is the immediate follow-up. The key to good follow-ups are creating a timely system. Here is an efficient follow-up system that will increase productivity because it is dependent on technology.
.png){kind=small}
Step 1 – scan the business cards into an electronic system. My favorite is Neat Receipt. Neat Receipt not only scans business cards but also receipts and helps catalog them into a system. The business card scanning program breaks the information into individual pieces of data like first name, last name, email, website that is converted into a csv (comma separated value) file. For just 200.00, you now have 30% of a staff member working in your business! Talk about productivity…
.
Step 2 – Add a group to the scanned in csv file to remind you of where you made the first contact. (relationships don’t begin until 3-5 exposures) This will help you remember where you met the person and upload into a Contact Management System. Of course, I have a favorite from one of the business owners on www.DiversePhilly.com called Send Out Cards. Send out cards is a web-based service that allows consumers to save time by picking out or building a card online and sending the card from a central location (in your own handwriting too!). Though that is the design of send out cards, I find it quite useful CMS tool. Since it is internet based, your contacts are always with you and you have the ability to write notes on the contact and follow up with a card to keep an on-going relationship. The CMS tool is just a one-time 99 dollar fee! Now we have just added another 15% of a staff member to your workforce…
.gif){kind=small}
.
Step 3 – Run the contact list (csv file from step 1) through www.linkedin.com so you can see who knows who and leverage their relationship to create a new relationship for your business. Now that one exposure can lead to a 2nd or 3rd exposure through the use of the internet. This is one value proposition for linkedin but the biggest value proposition for my business is the ability to read my profile (which is really an on-line resume) and view the testimonials. We know that potential customers want to know how you can help them and the very best way to show the quality of your work is through a testimonial of a current client. Linkedin has taken it a step further and allows me to update content quickly and easily through connecting my linkedin profile with my wordpress or blogspot page. In the 21st century it is all about convergence…
.jpg)
Step 4 – Run the contact list (csv file from step 1) through www.facebook.com friend finder tool. Some business owners actually tell me that facebook is just for kids or that they only socialize with friends on Facebook. Facebook is the greatest networking tool I have ever seen. Now we not only remember names and e-mail addresses but we have photos! The saying – “A picture says 1000 words” has never been more true! We even get a description and common interests to boot! Facebook has broken down the walls of a corporate structure and allowed the CEO of an organization to talk to the janitor. This breakdown will create a new economy with flat organizations who are just trying to work together. Just recently, I connected my business with the CEO of a major corporation in the Philadelphia area (hint check my FB profile…). The most common response to a business owners not utilizing Facebook is they say they don’t want to get connected to people they don’t know. The lifeblood of any business is new customers. Since Facebook has the ability to bring new customers to a business that required very little effort on the business owner(s), it does not make economical sense to turn the prospect(s) away.
Related Articles:
Comments
