Hellos into handshakes

• By Tamsin Fox-Davies
• 25 Jul 2012

You had me at “Hello” – but now what?

So you’ve had a meeting, and you’ve exchanged cards, but what do you do next? We usually put cards in a pile or a drawer, because we don’t have a system for dealing with incoming cards. But what if those cards are potential clients?

Have a look at these “follow up” tips to help you take the steps that turn cards into customers – and help people do the same for you.

1. Fabulous follow up

Get a good follow-up process in place. This can be as simple as sending a simple cut-and-paste follow up message to every person that gives you a card, encouraging them to connect on LinkedIn and Twitter and newsletter, and perhaps referencing a conversation you had.

2. Killer calls to action

Give your cards a clear call to action and follow-up-ability by:
• Using double sided business cards.
• On the front, put every means of contact on your cards – you don’t know how people will want to connect with you, so include your email, mobile, Twitter, LinkedIn, business Facebook Page, website, etc.
• On the back, put your call to action (CTA). What that call to action is depends on who your contacts are – but a CTA that works for most people is to encourage people to sign up for your mailing list. If you use Constant Contact you get a special QR code to increase sign ups, which is ideal for business cards. Just make sure you give people a reason to join your list, e.g. exclusive hints and tips.
• Alternatively, use the back of your card to promote your Facebook business Page in exchange for something special like a discount voucher, downloadable guide, or exclusive video.

3. Go on - get in touch

So, now you know how to use your business cards (and those you collect from others) to get more customers. All that you need to do now is get in touch and see if any of your cards are customers waiting to happen.

Tamsin Fox-Davies is Constant Contact UK’s Small Business Marketing Mentor. Constant Contact helps over half a million businesses worldwide to get their next customers through their suite of easy-to use digital marketing tools and training.

Written on:

25 Jul 2012

Categories:

Best Practice, Networking, Marketing