How we deal with business cards [infographic]

You go to a meeting, you get 8 business cards, you have to add notes in the lobby or parking lot so that you know who the decision maker was, who the person was that was driving the initiative, and, the person that pays the bills. Identifying the people that you need to contact while it is fresh in your mind is important. Cards are usually traded at the end of a meeting, but, I've always made it a point to swap cards as early in the meeting as possible so I could take notes. Am I going to take notes on my phone? Probably not. That said, people need to quit using glossy two sided cards. I do have a legal pad, but, it is much easier for me to write a quick note on a card because I don't have to worry about two people having the same initials and did I write down the wrong piece of info, etc.

Would transferring those cards be any easier via phone? probably not. I can write quicker than I can open a card, select the person I'm talking with and enter the notes. Having a quick way to pull up the 3-8 cards I just received to type notes, added bonus. Having a way to add a voice memo that can later be transcribed or translated, additional bonus. Able to integrate with my contact management software, extra bonus as well.

That is half the problem, and, in particular, one that Bump, Google Goggles, this product and many others don't appear to handle well. When I go into a meeting, I have to remember who I promised what, who I need to follow up with and when. So far, dead-tree cards fit this purpose better.

Scenario two, I'm at a bar/restaurant or some gathering, perhaps even http://ftlhackandtell.eventbrite.com/ this weekend. I know the community there is likely to be technical, they are probably going to be on top of things, but, if I am there making contacts, there's one thing I need and that is a simple, seamless way of getting that data. I've got to carry Bump, Google Goggles, mynameise, and whatever other possible method I can to make sure I can swap info without having to swap a card. Email addresses are difficult to transcribe in loud settings, certain letters can be confused, people have cutesy names that miss a vowel so that it has to be spelled out letter by letter, etc.

"No, that's mgacontrl.ly yeah, megacontrol without the e and o, well, the first o in control, but not the second o, and .ly, but an l before the ., well, our sales staff liked the name"

Then, you have the conventions. In this case, business cards reign supreme. If I'm at a booth, I'm going to walk away with 200-500 business cards. People will hand me cards just to not hear a sales pitch and to get whatever promo goodies are being handed out. It isn't worth my time to get those cards electronically because 50% or more won't be interested and will give enough cues when I call back that they get moved aside. Of the interested ones, then I'll get those input into the system.

While each of these companies appear to be solving a problem, they really need to talk with the people that have the problem they're solving.

I was talking with a client this morning about the very issue. Three-four month android user, stack of 550 cards gathered over the last month. You know she deals with cards?

Lay them all face down on the photocopier, photocopy 10-13 cards at a time, puts them in a file folder to key into her contact management software on the plane to the next convention. She's very technically savvy, but, there are a host of reasons solutions don't work. Even the conventions have moved away from the barcode reader that reads the id badge and then hands you a list of each person you scanned at the end of the show.

I did tell her about Google Goggles for scanning the cards and she's going to try it on the next stack, but, out of 86 cards I scanned, 3 had errors - those three used serif fonts for the phone numbers. While it is nice for archival purposes, I can't depend on using google goggles at a function (unless it has a way for me to save a copy of the picture somewhere that I haven't seen).

I miss being in sales. :)

And something physical? Like cassettes? CDs? Newspapers?