The True Costs of Traditional Paper Business Cards In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, agility and efficiency are paramount. We’ve embraced digital transformation across nearly every facet of our operations – from communication platforms to CRM systems. Yet, one relic often remains from a bygone era: the traditional paper business card. While it might seem harmless, there are hidden costs of traditional paper business cards that can impact your business, your team, and your valuable new contacts. For Your Business: Beyond the Obvious Price Tag The immediate cost of printing business cards is clear, but the true expense goes far deeper. However, few have considered how inflexible traditional business cards are as an investment. A paper card, once printed, is static. Any change in job title, contact number, or even company branding renders an entire batch obsolete. How often do you find yourself ordering new cards because of minor updates, only to have hundreds of previous versions sitting unused in a drawer? This isn’t just a waste of paper; it’s a drain on your budget. Then there are also environmental costs. In an age of increasing environmental awareness, the notion of printing new stacks of cards with every career change seems counterintuitive. The reality is, a significant portion of these cards are never used, or worse, quickly discarded. This contributes to unnecessary waste and undermines your company’s commitment to sustainability. The illusion of efficiency You might be thinking that despite all this, it is difficult to beat the convenience of giving and receiving a card at the end of an encounter. And you’d be right, except it is only an illusion of efficiency. Just because your new contact has your card it is no guarantee that they’ll keep it, remember you or type the information into their systems. Yes, handing out a card is easy, but the aftermath is always a hassle. In fact it takes 2000 traditional business cards to increase sales by only 2,5%, and the struggle to use the card is part of the reason why. Also, if you take the rate you hand out business cards, you might think of paper business cards are more of a case of hit and miss. If this isn’t worrying to you, you likely still know the feeling of reaching into a pocket or bag only to realize we’ve forgotten our cards, or worse, run out completely at a crucial moment. This isn’t just inconvenient; it can be a missed opportunity. Spoiler alert, that is not the case with virtual business cards. Traditional business cards are, however, not only not optimal for you and your organization. They are also frustrating for your new contacts. Creating Unnecessary Friction for Your New Contacts The challenges of traditional business cards don’t stop with your internal operations. They also create hurdles for the very people you’re trying to connect with. They are easy to misplace; just as you might lose a card, so too can your new contact, allowing your valuable connection to easily slip through the cracks. It’s difficult for contacts to remember you, as a small piece of paper with text offers little to help someone recall your conversation or your unique value proposition amongst a sea of other cards. Think about it. Studies show that approximately 88% of paper business cards are either thrown out or lost within a week, meaning a significant portion of your networking efforts simply vanish into thin air. While a paper card provides contact details, it offers little to make a lasting impression in a competitive market where every interaction needs to count. Further, it’s a hassle to get your details into their systems. Manually typing contact details from a paper card into a CRM system or phone is a tedious, error-prone process, and this friction can deter follow-up. That is a shame if you had a great talk about what you could help each other with. When life happens… Lastly, paper business cards are only useful while you and your connection are both at the same company and with the same responsibilities. The moment life happens, and one of you gets a new job, the business relationship is a dire risk of decaying. If contact information changes, your new connection has no easy way to get updated details, likely spelling the end of a relationship with potential. It’s simply too cumbersome to get back in touch. This is not good news of your business depends on strong relationships to prospects, customers and partners. The costs of traditional paper business cards likely hold the growth of your company back. If you agree that there is a problem that needs a solution, read on to see how your organization can benefit from moving to a more effective, flexible and environmentally friendly digital business card. How Stinto Works Differently: Bridging the Digital Divide If your company still relies on paper cards to represent your company, it is also costing you valuable time, efficiency, and adding to your carbon footprint. Unlike the lead times for printing physical cards, you can get started with Stinto right away, immediately enhancing your team’s networking capabilities. The idea behind Stinto is simple. Enable great business relationships by making the exchange of contact details, knowledge sharing and administration straightforward in the moment and after connecting. We built our digital business card solution with the needs of your organisation, your individual employees and your new valuable contacts firmly in mind. We empower your team to represent your company and turn new contacts into long-term business relationships. With Stinto, you can issue digital business cards to your employees in minutes. They’re ready to make connections instantly with anybody (new contacts do not need to have the app). And the cards are dynamic and always up-to-date. If details change, your employees simply update their information in the Stinto app, and their entire network on Stinto is then automatically updated with the correct, real-time contact information.
Digital business cards and how Stinto can enable Relationship Success
Digital business cards and how Stinto can enable Relationship Success for your team By Niels Wee // 22nd of November 2024 The good old business card has remained the same over decades, while the rest of the world has seen leaps in utility and functionality. You can see this as a testament to the quality of print, and it truly is. Yet there are also significant downsides and missed opportunities that come with the traditional business card in contrast to digital business cards. In this article you’ll learn the potential of going digital, what you need to consider before finding your provider, and finally how Stinto enables ‘Relationship Success’ in your organisation. Especially, if you want to improve your teams’ ability to create long-lasting relationships with prospects, clients and partners, you have good reason to look into digital business cards. Making the switch can help you form authentic and trusting relationships more easily. This in turn translates into increased customer lifetime, which is central to most successful businesses. Your organisation should therefore explore how a digital business card solution could boost your teams’ performance. 80-88% of traditional business cards get thrown away within a week. (Adobe and Soocial) But what are digital business cards anyway and what advantages do they offer my employees and my company? This article will tell you. Welcome. What are digital business cards? A digital business card is easy to understand; it is a business card that has been digitised. What makes digital business cards exciting, however, are all the not-so-obvious options and benefits that naturally come with it. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s first take a closer look at what a digital business card entails and how it works. A digital business card serves the same purpose as a traditional card. You use it to create connections and exchange contact information with new contacts you want to strike up a professional relationship with. In most cases, the exchange starts either by the new contact scanning a QR code in the app/wallet or by you tapping an NFC card on their phone. The simplest solutions simply download your information to your new contacts phone, while other providers open up a business card with your picture and rich information in the browser of the recipient’s phone. Via the browser window you can quickly exchange contact data. All digital business cards share some common advantages: Beware of solutions that simply let your new contact save your information to the phonebook. It’ll be difficult for new contacts to remember your name, and therefore find you in their phonebook. You also need their information, so consider a solution that helps both you and your new contacts to exchange info and remember each other. Flexibility and versatility Most digital business cards are flexible and versatile, because you can always update your details anytime. It makes it effortless for you to be ready for any occasion. Convenience and accessibility The digital approach also makes it significantly easier for both you and your new contact to manage and utilize the exchanged information after your initial meeting. Unlike traditional cards that can be easily misplaced, digital contact details are securely stored and readily accessible. When compared to physical business cards, digital versions eliminate the need for manual data entry, saving time and reducing errors. The greener choice Many providers also boast that they are an environmentally better choice as you don’t need to order new cards each time you change jobs, adjust company branding, or get a new phone number. Instead, you can use the digital business card again and again. Common use cases for digital business cards Conferences and events We all know how conferences and events are unique chances to encounter your next big client and build a unique bond. Using a digital business card that represents both you and your company, can help you in this case. A normal paper card says little about what you offer so it is hard to make a lasting impression. Connecting with your LinkedIn profile instead can be problematic too, if you think about it. It doesn’t have your direct contact details and you don’t really present yourself as a company employee. A digital card, on the other hand, is tailored to you as a company representative and has ready-to-use digital information for everyone’s benefit. Find a provider that has a good quality business card scanner so you can quickly grab the information if your contact hands you a traditional card. Digital business cards are not limited to real-life events. With links and QR codes, you can share your digital business card in video meeting chats, email signatures, profiles, calendar events and posts. Existing customer, new contacts The same goes for new people you meet through customer meetings. While you may be well connected to the primary customer contact, these meetings are your chance to get to know other people in the organisation. Too often we neglect to broaden our connections with important client organisations. So if the main contact leaves, you risk losing contact with the organisation as a whole. Partnerships Partnerships can mean a world of difference to your business. These relationships should, therefore, be attended to with the same level of intention like any other relationship. Having multiple access access points and relationships with several people in your partner organisation will be a valuable resource. Recruitment As your business grows you can dig into your network of relationships and find that person that left you with a good impression, and who you know will boost the team. Being able to contact them directly on the phone or email sends an invaluable signal, in contract to a chat message on a social platform. Similarly, if that one dream employee becomes available, they know where to reach you. In short, any relationship that is valuable to your organisation should have access to you (and vice versa). Your
