Overcoming "business card phobia." (Powerplay)

Some folks call it "business card phobia." Maybe that's overstating it, but if you end up letting these small, rectangular cards gather dust on your desk--or worse yet--at the bottom of your briefcase or purse, you've got the disease.

Rod Griffin, a sales manager for Procter & Gamble, has a way to help cure you fast so that you, too, can harness the dramatic networking potential of business cards. In his job, Griffin views his own business card as one of the most positive "leave-behinds" or sales tools in his repertoire because ideally the cards make others think of him. Whenever he finds himself in a networking situation, "I engage in small talk for a few minutes so people get a sense of who I am," says Griffin, "and then I extend my card." Griffin adds that he will immediately ask for a card if the other person doesn't offer one at the same time.

During the interaction, he codes the card with notes that indicate if he thinks he can be of service to the individual ("pc" for potential client) or if the person can provide services to him. When appropriate, he'll also write notes about the conversation they had.

Afterwards, he divides the cards into the two categories and puts them in one of two business card books. Griffin updates the books periodically, putting the inactive cards in a file box. The cards that generate business relationships go into his day planner.

Susan Rich, owner of Get Organized, Get Rich! in Los Angeles, collects hundreds of cards each year. But they don't end up in rubber-banded piles on her desk. In fact, she's developed a coding system that lets her keep eye contact while networking. She also has a well-organized tracking system.

When someone hands her a business card and asks a buyer's question (How much do you charge? Are you available right away?), she makes a small tear in the card. She codes cards by where she tears them: top, bottom, left, right. If someone wants her consulting services, the tear goes at the bottom; if they want her to speak, she tears the top.

When she returns from a meeting, she codes the cards further. Cards that have tears get the most attention. She creates piles of 10 based on job ranking. Cards from people with the most important jobs go on top: director, vice president, manager. Then, she codes them by locale.

Rich then places each set of 10 cards face down on a photocopier. Then, she makes a note at the top of each photocopied sheet indicating where the conference or meeting was held.

Once she's coded the sheets, she throws away the cards and works from the sheets. She'll jot notes on the page when she mails a brochure or promo piece, and she keeps all the pages in a binder, continuing to make notes as she follows up each lead. If someone is interested, Rich starts a file on that person. If there's no interest, she puts a strike through the card and doesn't enter it into her database.

This way, instead of ending up with little cards cluttering her work space, she has a working mailing list. As proof, she frequently receives calls from people three years after they've met her. They'll tell her they kept her brochure and now want to use her services. "I ask them which conference we met at and go to the binder that holds all the photocopied sheets." (The binders are arranged by year.) "Then, I'll say, 'Are you still on Ventura Blvd.?' They drop dead right there [from surprise]. And I get a new client."

When someone becomes a client, she enters the name into her database and carries it in her day planner.

Like Griffin, Rich says you never know when a networking opportunity will arise. So, she keeps 50 to 100 of her own business cards in the glove compartment of her car because it's usually the closest place to her when she runs out.

Griffin keeps a handful of his own cards with him even if he goes out for a social evening. "You may be sitting in a restaurant waiting for your table when you strike up a conversation with someone who needs your services," he points out. "You just never know."