Are Business Cards Dead?

Due to social distancing and safety procedures, many businesses are having virtual meetings more than ever out of necessity than choice. Meeting clients over a lunch meeting is not an option anymore, unless you are fully vaccinated , and thus many are still using video calls with popular free online meeting rooms such as Zoom and Google Meet.

In Malaysia, with face to face meetings and networking events dramatically being replaced by virtual business meetings and virtual media events, what are business people doing with their physical business cards?

Susan Verghese, a communication and soft skills trainer, says, “I used to hand out 300 cards a year during meetings and at networking events to expand my network.”

“I would take some cards with me wherever I would go,” says the Seremban based trainer and educator. “It is just a quick and easy way to remind people of your details.”

Then coronavirus arrived in March of last year, and over the past 18 months Susan hasn’t handed out a single one. “All of my work has been online,” she says.

Now, her business cards are sitting under a pile of dust in her office drawer, waiting for the light of day when she will be able to hand them out again at a physical meeting.

Even as we return to workplaces, or get back to networking face-to-face, will the networking habit, or for some – the ritual of handing over a paper business card become a thing of the past?

Even though Covid-19 has made many of us more nervous about spreading germs, not everyone has stopped using their physical business cards. Jude Gregory, founder of CBS Academy, a training company, says that he recently printed a new batch of business cards at the printers.

“Now that restrictions are easing, and we get to dine out, I am able to conduct face-to-face meetings with clients and hand them my business cards once again,” he says.

Yet, what about sharing contact details over a virtual meeting? What technology could fill the gap? How are business people introducing themselves these days on the virtual platform?

One would think that a simple line in the chat area of the virtual presentation would suffice, but then one could argue that it takes away the elegant and almost honouring ritual of exchanging business cards, especially in Asia where the exchange of business cards carries great significance.

Lionel Lee, a web consultant who advises new start-ups in developing their online platform, recently gave a webinar talk about digital entrepreneurship. He introduces himself by sharing a deck exhibiting a QR code for his audience to scan for his contact details. The QR code sends people directly to his contact information and Facebook page.

He says,“Showing the QR code on my presentation deck helps viewers to easily scan it via their mobile phones if they are using their laptops during the virtual meeting. It helps people focus on what I have to say without getting distracted and directly helps them save and refer to my details using technology.”

He agrees that using the QR code these days seems to be a classy way to share contact information like a virtual business card and it’s completely free – it takes nothing to generate a QR code with the relevant information.

And, at the same time, one get to practice good business etiquette and professionalism- virtually.

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