The Importance of Business Cards
The exchanging of business cards is as close to a universal ritual as you can find in the business world.
The ritual may be universal, but the design of business cards and how they are swapped vary across countries. Architects have their artistic cards; lawyers like it black; the Japanese make the exchange of cards an informal ceremony. While there are cards for the deceased, and obituaries are often crammed full of cards and tributes. Some business people hand out 24-carat gold cards, and there are kindy exchange cards with not only the new contact details, but also the job descriptions of their parents and even grandparents. This practice has become so common in parts of New York, for example, that the use of such cards is now prohibited by some of the area's institutions.
Cards have been around a long time. One form or another. The Chinese invented the paper notice that the intending to pay them a visit, but they were for social purposes only. Later in the 17th century, European businesspeople invented a new type of card to act as miniature advertisements. In today's world, business cards can cause people to have strong reactions ranging from hatred to embarrassment and respect. Few other exchanges provoke more heated discussions among those focused more on social norms than functionality than the simple act of swapping business cards itself.
Lots of companies try to promote themselves by designing the card. Employees at one famous toy company gave out little plastic figures containing contact details stamped on them. One fast-food company has business cards which are shaped like a portion of French fries. A Canadian flower shop once gave each customer a wooden card to redeem in their store for each of the bouquets. For many business commentators, such gimmicky business cards prove that the use of paper cards will ultimately come to an end. After all, why bother exchanging bits of thick paper at all when you can simply swap electronic versions by smartphone?
However, one can just as well argue the opposite: that business cards have a lot to say, and in a business world full of meetings and correspondence, it is more important than ever that your card is noticed. Attempts to reinvent business cards for the digital age have not been successful. Even all the latest technology won't help people get selected after handing out a little rectangle of paper rather than using a digital file format.
The traditional business card is necessary to understand how business works. Business cards are thriving in a digital age. It is a powerful reminder that there is much about business that is timeless. According to Kate Jones, a business lecturer, there is one element and inescapable issue. Her 2006 study of more than 200 business executives in North America found that trust was the key element for running a successful business. You need to be able to look someone in the eye and shake that sort of person. In this way, you can transform acquaintanceships into relationships. A good proportion of business life will always be about building social connections — having dinner or playing sport with clients and colleagues — and while computers can deal with administrative tasks, it is still human skills that have to function on another level.
The rapid advance of globalisation means that this relationship-building process is becoming ever more demanding. Managers have to put more effort into dealing with international counterparts, especially when there is not a common language, which is so often the case these days. A recent UK survey showed that chief executives of global organisations must routinely spend three out of every four weeks on international travel. It is in these situations that business cards are doubly useful as they are a quick way of establishing connections. Cards can also remind you that you have actually met someone in a face-to-face meeting rather than just searched for them on the internet. Looking through piles of different cards can enhance your memory in ways that simply looking through old-time electronic lists would never do.
Janet McIntyre is a leading expert on business cards in today's world. She maintains that as companies become more complex, cards are essential in determining the exact status of every contact you meet in multinational corporations. Janet also explains how exchanging business cards can be an effective way of initiating a conversation because it gives people a ritual to follow when they first meet a new business contact.
The business world is obsessed with the idea of creating and inventing new things that will change the way we do everything, and this does lead to progress. But there are lots of things that do not need to be changed and in Janet McIntyre's view, tradition also has an equally valuable role to play. Therefore, the practice of exchanging business cards is likely to continue in the business world.
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Children’s business cards have been banned in some kindergartens.
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