Love handing out business cards?
Every one of us are guilty of this at one point of time or another, especially if you are self-employed and see your business card as a promotional tool.
Countless books on “networking” and “how to raid a room for potential clients” have given the advice to subscribe to law of averages, when it comes to promoting yourself. Promote yourself, yes, but don’t super-impose yourself upon others.
When you strike a conversation with others, resist the ever-present urge to whip out a name card and start belting out your well-rehearsed elevator speech, spoken logo, walking advertisement or whatever else your pitch may be called.
When you give your cards out to others, and make that process a primary objective of all encounters with other human beings who resemble a potential client, you are doing nothing but alienate them. Human beings can smell a salesman from over a mile away( i suspect due to evolution, and the increase in MLM salesmen over the years)
Stop talking about yourself. Instead, probe the other party by asking them what THEY need, and what they WANT. It is only by listening attentively that you can find out more about their needs and wants, and as such, craft your proposal that revolves around providing a solution.
The processes are simple
1)When in doubt, do not talk about yourself, instead you should compliment and probe, and if you are in luck, the prospect will reveal a need or a desire
2)Resist the temptation to stuff your service or product down the customer’s throats.
3)Only give your card when the prospect gives you one, or asks you for one. Business cards are so 1990s!
4)Craft your proposal around your customer’s needs, not what you THINK they want or need!
P.S: Wondering by now why i titled this post as such? Well, I titled it so because I am confident that all your years of mindless business card handing out has led to many over-inflated wallets. Wallets that led to butt cramps if it stayed in their pockets and sat on for more than 1 hour at a single go.
Come on! We all know where business cards go to when it’s time to “spring-clean” wallets! We take them out, bind them with a rubber band, and then throw them into the card stash under the office desk.
Takeaway messages are
1)Stop killing trees by handing out namecards nobody remembers
2)Stop inflicting painful butt-cramps on others!
Ciao!