Hey There,

I don’t know about you, but I wash a LOT of business cards. A lot. Every time I open the dryer to find little shreds of paper, I slap my forehead and start singing Britney Spears’ “Oops!... I Did It Again.”

The reason I always have so many of other people’s business cards is a good one, though: I refuse to give out my business card to people I want to do business with. Stay with me here… I KNOW you’ve washed business cards before. In fact, let me ask you this: when was the last time you received a business card and actually went home to reach out to that person? I’m going to guess, for a lot of you, it’s a big fat never.

Here’s why I say this: at the beginning of my career, I used to hand out a lot of business cards—to pretty much everyone I talked to. After a few years, I realized no one ever reached out to me after I gave them a card. At first, I took it personally. Then, after washing my first business card, I realized what the problem was.

As a salesperson—or someone trying to sell a product or service—handing a prospective customer your card and putting the responsibility on them to reach out to you isn’t… well… do I even have to finish this? Have you had your lightbulb moment yet?

Now, I won’t deny I still wash the occasional business card or find a sticky one at the bottom of a purse I haven’t used in a year. Nobody’s perfect. That said, I’ve made it a firm rule, embedded into my process, to only receive business cards—not give them out.

Here’s my process:

✔️Receive the business card

📱 Scan it into my HubSpot app, where it stores all the info

🔗Connect on LinkedIn

📧 Send an email, mentioning where we met and how the conversation ended

🗑 Throw away the business card

*All within 24-48 hours*

What’s your process for meeting strangers and collecting business cards? Do you have a big stack somewhere in your house or office? A Rolodex, perhaps? Or do you put them in your pocket only to collect shreds from the dryer vent?

Here’s some homework for you: go find your stack of business cards, dust them off, and drop a little surprise follow-up! Go get ’em, tiger.

-

Lisa Proeber | Owner, The Middle Six® 

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