The simple truth is that in business and especially when meeting a potential partner or prospect in person, the entire world judges based on the first impression. No matter how shallow it may seem, making a lasting impression on someone has to do with more than just looks and clothes. It also involves how confident you appear engaging with others, your demeanor, body language and overall presence. But even if you excel in all of these, not following proper business etiquette when handing someone your business card for the first time can be enough to ruin the overall impression. Here are three rules to follow when it comes to handing out your cards:
- Never waste contact information
- Give your business card when someone asks for it
- Keep your cards to yourself
Never Waste Contact Information
If you don’t intend to follow up on a potential prospect or contact, why take their card in the first place? If you ARE looking to capitalize on the meeting, on the other hand, then you could simply make a quick call or send them a physical card. Professionals can send out industry-relevant information and tips while entrepreneurs can send updates about new developments and products in their business.
Give Your Business Card When Someone Asks for it
If someone is interested in connecting with you beyond an event or place where you met them, they will ask for your card. A helpful thing to remember is to write a note on the back of your card before you hand it over. It could be something relating to what you and your contact talked about or it could be something as simple as a reminder as to why they asked for your information. The reason for this is that such a note will serve the purpose of jogging their memory as they later go through a sea of cards they have in their collection.
Keep Your Cards to Yourself
“But, that defeats the whole purpose of handing out a business card?” No. What this means is that you shouldn’t hand out your business card to EVERYONE you meet. In addition to being plain annoying, doing this is also rude and very distracting. Particularly so if you know what it feels like to have someone come up to you while you are talking to someone else and slip a business card in your hand only to keep moving without making contact. This is NOT the thing to do and can be very damaging especially if the two people previously engaged in conversation are already having a good connection. If you hand out your business card to people randomly, it is most likely to end up in the trash can, so go back to the first two guidelines to avoid such a result.
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The easiest way to ensure your business cards resonate with the recipient is to create a unique design and incorporate memorable features like the use of materials and colour to make them pop and be easily remembered. Instead of putting in the time to come up with all of this yourself, simply get an experienced and reputable professional like Quickcards do the job for you. Quickcards’ graphic designers will work closely with you to realize all of your ideas and come up with a design that will not only impress potential prospects, but will also ensure more contacts in the future. Get in touch with Quickcards today and have your business cards professionally designed and printed.
