Bowing isn’t commonplace in North America, says Allison Graham, author of Business Cards to Business Relationships: Personal Branding and Profitable Networking Made Easy. But we could learn some lessons from the Japanese when it comes to exchanging business cards.
The most important is to regard the business card as an extension of the individual. So, Graham says, the way you present and receive a business card says a lot about the kind of professional that you are.
“Advisors sometimes go wrong when they pull that card out too quickly,” Graham says. “It is like they jump into the sales role instead of the connecting role. There is a big different between collecting business cards — which does not lead to profitable business — and connecting with people.”
To help you build that better connection, Graham offers some tips on how to present (and receive!) a business card:
1. Make sure your cards are accessible
When you are at an event, you need to be sure to have a business card “outbox.” You know that people are going to ask you for a business card at some point, so there should be no reason, Graham says, to have to pull out your wallet and rummage around your belongings looking for a card. Keep them in a pocket or somewhere that is easily accessible.
2. Don’t double up on space
You should be sure that while your cards need to be accessible, they should be separate from your “inbox;” that is, all the business cards you have received. There is nothing worse, Graham says, than presenting a card and having to ask for it back because it is actually someone else’s card. That’s one surefire way to scuff the polish from your networking prowess, Graham says.
“It defeats the entire purpose of what you are trying to do by networking,” she says.
3. Pitching
In Japan, when you present your meishi, or business card, it is recommended that the card be held at the bottom two corners, face up and turned so the person receiving it can easily read its content. This is a practice you should consider so that the other person will easily be able to note your name.
“Don’t just throw [the card] at them or give it to them facedown or without any thought,” says Graham. In North America, it is more about showing respect for the piece of paper, she says, because it is an extension of the person, “so you should be thoughtful.”
4. Catching
Just as important – if not more so – than how you hand your card to someone, is how you receive a card.
When a prospect offers you their business card, you want to be sure you pause and take the appropriate amount of time to read the card. “It’s about authenticity and giving the impression that you are going to do something with it afterwards – not just throw it in a corner,” says Graham.
“You should physically look down at it, read it and look back at the person. It shows that there is enough respect for who that person is and that you are interested in their information,” she says.
Proper etiquette frowns upon someone who simply takes the card and automatically puts it in his or her pocket. Doing that won’t help you remember the person later on, Graham suggests.
5. Save your doodling until later
You should refrain from grabbing your red pen to make notes on the card right away. Remember to think of the card as the extension of the person. You wouldn’t dare take out your pen and start colouring on a prospects’ white shirt at a mixer event. So, you shouldn’t make notes on the card in front of them either.
This is the second article in a two-part series on business cards.