Sansan Global was recently featured in a Nikkei Asian Review story – Business card culture fades in Asia as COVID spread cuts contact.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made businesses reexamine the need and role for traditional face-to-face practices we’re so used to. Business card exchange is no exception.
Despite the article’s somewhat dark title, business card culture is simply taking a page out of the digital transformation manual. It’s transitioning to online channels with new opportunities. It’s evolving and innovating.
With the temporary absence of physical meetings and events, business professionals continue to adapt to video conferences, virtual exhibitions, and other digital ways of doing work. Why stop exchanging business cards when we meet a new prospect online or make a business connection online? Just do it a bit differently.
Environmental savings aside, digital business cards have significant advantages over their physical counterparts.
1. Digital business cards deliver boundless reach
The ability to easily let large audiences connect to you at scale with virtual business cards is something physical cards cannot do.
Webinars and other digital marketing campaigns are now abundant, and virtual cards allow your audiences easy access to your virtual card simply scan a with a simple QR code scan. (For our Singapore friends, it’s refreshing to have a QR code lead to something other than a Safe Entry check-in!).
2. Stand out from the online crowd
Think about it – since this pandemic, how often have you experienced a virtual business card exchange online?
Start doing so and you stand out from the rest of the digital crowd, and make a stronger impression on your new business connection. All parties also walk away with a tangible proof of the meeting, which can then be used to further more, and deeper conversations.
Not only that, but your virtual card can be integrated with your CRM data and with your personal contacts. This benefits you and your company’s network of contacts.
3. The first step toward a centralized and digitized database
By collecting business contact information in an already digitized form, you are well-prepared to build your organization network for the new digital economy.
Even if you’re still managing your contacts in spreadsheets, digital business cards eliminate manual data-entry error and provide accurate business contact information. This is first-party data – the best kind of data because it’s yours.
Sansan has rolled out Sansan Virtual Cards for our customers. Combined with key integrations with major platforms such as Microsoft 365 and HubSpot, we’re making sure our customers are well-equipped to adapt to the ever-changing business environment, and continue to drive productivity and opportunities.
Btw, real-life business cards aren’t going anywhere
Physical business cards will still have their place post-COVID.
Nothing quite matches the personal bonds from face-to-face meetings, from in-person trade shows, conferences, and events, and from swapping that accurate and personalized proof of contact.
Digital business cards are an excellent complement to physical cards. They offer their own set of benefits as the business world shifts toward a hybrid of traditional and remote work cultures.
Learn more about Sansan’s features and how we can help your adjustment to cooperative work, internal referrals, and digital transformation.
