Do You Have a Business Card?
January 04, 2007
Contributing Writer: BIG Mike McDaniel
Yeah, I gotta card somewhere - lemme find it
What good does it do to go to all the time, trouble and expense to have really neat business cards printed if you can't come up with them when the time is right?
It happens every day. A business conversation, casual at first, makes the crucial turn and a relationship begins to develop that could turn into profit.
"Do you have a card?" is the question most commonly asked.
"Do you have a card?" says "You have passed all my little tests and now I want to get down to business."
"Do you have a card?" is the one question that says the bridge has been built and we are now going to communicate further.
The new relationship is like a shaky house of cards, anything can knock it down.
"Sure do" is the reply expected, as you deliver with obvious aplomb, a crisp, clean, professional looking business card. "Let me write my cell phone number on the back..."
Talk about getting your foot in the door. That move not only says you are a pro and goes a long way to cementing the relationship, but it also says you have just put the prospect in your "inner circle" by penciling in your cell phone number, a number you obviously don't print on the card or banter about.
But not all tentative transformations from conversation to business relationship happen that way. All too often a giant Boo Boo kills it dead, like the bug commercial on television.
The most obvious is not to have a card (or cards) available when asked. "Well, er, .. ah.. no I don't." BONG, next contestant.
Worse yet is having to search. You should be able to "whip one out" without digging out your wallet and thumbing through pics of the kids, or plunging to the bottom of your purse past the hair spray. "Let's see, I've got one here somewhere, no, that's a card I got yesterday, no, that's my kid's picture, here it is, no, that's not it either...” You should be able to quick draw your card faster than an old west gunslinger.
When asked "Do you have a card?" you can create an impression that can make, or break, any future relationship with the person who asked.
Always carry at least one crisp, clean, professional looking business card and know where to find it.
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© 2006 BIG Mike McDaniel http://BigIdeasgroup.com
BIG Mike is the Small Business Advertising Expert and author of "Business Cards - Front to Back". This book tells you how to make your business card the most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.
To learn more visit
http://tinyurl.com/j6ol3
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