Do you have piles of business cards from other people? Maybe they are neatly arranged in a Rolodex, cardboard box or business card case or in small piles around your office, in your briefcase or in the pocket of the suit you wore to the last event. You may have hundreds of them stuffed in a garbage bag.
They aren’t doing you any good there. However, the thought of dealing with them may be so overwhelming that you decide to ignore them. They can’t be any good, but your instincts say you shouldn’t throw them away.
As a business coach in San Jose, I’ve seen women entrepreneurs do this again and again. But there’s gold in those cards—information that can help you make more sales and increase your business profitability. You simply need to learn how to leverage the information.
The key is to develop a contact relationship management (CRM) system that makes sense to you and is easy to use. Begin by dedicating an hour or so to organize the information.
Handle Your Business Cards
Step One is to collect all your cards from wherever they are. As you go through them, put them into piles. I’m suggesting some categories below, but you may also come up with some of your own.
I-Don’t-Know-Why-I-Have-This-Card Pile
When you look at a card and you have no idea why you have it and you can’t remember the face behind the card, it’s time to dump it in the recycle bin. If it is someone you are meant to work with, they will come back into your life.
Referral Pile
These are people you have purchased goods or services from that you might recommend to other people or use again. By referring others, you build good will both with the person you referred and the person whom you referred. At some later date you might sub-categorize them into the types of service they offer, or just keep them in alphabetical order.
Current Customer Pile
These are active customers who are using your goods and services. They are part of your gold in these piles. You want to keep these cards front and center in your mind, reaching out to these people on a regular basis.
Past Customer Pile
This is another part of the gold in your business cards. They used your services once; why didn’t they come back? It might be a good question to ask. These past customers are also potential future customers. This stack should also be available to you on a frequent basis.
Prospects
Be careful that you don’t confuse prospects and contacts. A prospect is someone with whom you’ve had more than one brief discussion. You’ve had several conversations and feel that they could definitely benefit from your services. Some people call this group their “hot leads.” This pile is also part of your gold — people to keep checking in with regarding how they are doing.
Contacts
Everyone else is a contact. To keep your pipeline full, it’s good to keep moving these folks from the contact pile to one of the other piles. Pick a few to check in with each week, sign them up for your newsletter or your blog feed. Remind them periodically that you are around and begin to develop a relationship with them.
Use a Sales Database
Step Two is to enter the information into the CRM database you want to use. It can be a spreadsheet to get started. If you have lots of business cards, you might want to invest in a business card reader. Or you might want to get more sophisticated and use something like HighRise which will guide you through the sales process.
