by Brad Closson
I sat down at a networking event and found a business card lying on my place setting. As I looked down the table, I realized this same card was resting on every place setting. No handshake. No introduction, no opportunity to converse. Just the card. As I bent the card in half in preparation of throwing it away, I realized how much of an impression your business card and your card etiquette can make in 2010.
Your business card should be part of you. You should really be fond of your card. You should enjoy the design, the look and the feel of it. You should be proud of your card. It is representing you when you are not present.
We toss around our business cards without much thought. We zip them across the table, pile them on information counters and fold them in our wallets. We take pride in our reputation, our integrity, and our professionalism, but the item that we have selected to represent us is treated quite poorly.
During a visit to China, I was surprised and interested to find that the business professionals feel that their business card is a piece of them. It is an honor to receive a card and a formal interaction to exchange cards. When business cards are presented, the owner of the card holds the card out with both hands, with the card facing the recipient. The card owner bows and waits for the receiver to look at the card and then look at the owners face. This action imprints the memory of the card with the card owner. Chinese professionals respect the significance of the card.
When you cannot be at hand, does your card represent you well?
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You make a really salient point. When I help people organized their business cards, I often use an ABCD system.
C stands for “crap” – it’s the card that someone leaves at everyone’s seat, or makes a cardiovascular exercise out of shoving at every person in the room, (I’ve even found them neatly lined up on the sink in the BATHROOM!). I suggest that they throw those cards out as soon as possible because this person has already proven that they don’t “get it”.
Your point speaks to that. If someone respects their card and thinks of it as a piece of them (like a picture, perhaps?) then they might be hesitant to just throw it around, and would be more likely to make it an extension of an authentic communication and part of a growing business relationship.
Thanks for the insight Ragen. I really like your ABCD system that we learned in your workshops. I appreciate the feedback MD.
I noticed the same thing at a recent networking event and felt the same way. And, truth be told, I didn’t connect that card with the person when it was their turn to introduce themselves. Clearly, they didn’t help me make the connection.
I guess that since they were clearly new to the group, they could have said, “Since this is my first meeting, I left cards for each of you.” At least then, I would have known who left it. And, I’d probably have been more forgiving…since several of us thought that someone was saving seats for a small group of friends! hahaha