Manage Your Contacts: How to Effectively Organize Business CardsYou're at a professional-association meeting or business conference, meeting and greeting a variety of people. And, by the time you return to your office, you have a small stack of business cards that you now need to deal with. Depending on your chosen method of storage, you may decide to do as you've always done and place them alphabetically into your Rolodex.
Or, perhaps you have an even easier method and just add them to the top of your ever-growing stack of business cards, which are stuffed in a drawer and wrapped with a rubber band. However you have handled the messy process of business-card collecting in the past, now is the time to determine the most efficient system for collecting and storing business cards.
Exchanging business cards has become a standard method for sharing information between two business strangers. However, we all know that, sometimes, we collect business cards that we ultimately never use. That's why it's important to establish a system for handling business cards.
First, when you receive a business card, be sure to indicate the date and event on the back so you'll remember when and where you met this person. That way, if you choose to contact them, you can reference your meeting. Next, while there are those who are "old school" and believe you should hang onto every business card you receive, it's important to consider how likely you are to ever contact this person. If it's not very likely, you may feel compelled to discard it immediately.
Finally, if you do hold onto a business card, be sure to place it in your filing system for a set timeframe (i.e., two or three years). If you don't contact the person within that timeframe, then delete it due to lack of use. It's very likely that the information will no longer be valid, anyway.
Once you've determined which business cards you will retain and for how long, you'll need to devise a system for storage. The four most common storage systems are: Rolodex, card box, business card album and computer. The benefit of the first three systems is that you actually retain the business card itself and merely store it with information and your notes intact. However, you're then left to find a place to store your Rolodex, card box or card album.
However, if you use a business-card scanner, such as the NeatReceipts Business Card Scanner, the information is stored on your computer, removing clutter from your desk. In addition, you can take NeatReceipts with you anywhere. You can scan all of your business cards into your computer, and then categorize, organize, and keep track of all of your contacts easily. And, at only 4 ounces, it's the smallest color-card scanner around.
If you prefer not to invest in a scanner, you may also want to consider typing the information from each business card directly into your PDA or computer address book, Excel spreadsheet, computer database or customer-relationship management system.
Once you know what business cards you're going to store and what system you'll use to store them, you need to determine the method by which you will arrange your system. You may want to file your business cards or the scanned contact information by industry, last name or company name. Or, if you're someone who travels frequently, perhaps you could arrange it by state or country.
Another option is to separate the contact information into current contacts versus archived contacts, making it easier to delete old, unused information. Also, you may want to color-code your contacts to indicate which ones are significant - contacted frequently - or to indicate different contact types - business associates, business/friend associates, vendor, etc.
The whole idea is that receiving business cards is so much more than just getting a small piece of card stock with printing on it. It's a vital part of doing business that can offer you important information for future business, friendship, or even career opportunities.