But to be on the safe side, it’s best to always have a pen or pencil handy whenever you’ll be meeting a lot of people and exchanging business cards. So on every card you receive, quickly write the following things before you meet the next person:

1. Where you met the card owner (e.g. @OilTradingAndLogisticsExpo2018)
2. Opportunities discussed (e.g. Communication Handling).
3. How the card owner prefers to be contacted (so your call doesn’t get ignored because the card owner doesn’t have your number and specifically asked you to send an email, not place a call)
4. Secret clues – you know, just like you save people’s numbers on your phone with clues. For example, “Met her when I went to use the ladies”, “Met him on the last day @wimbizng roundtable”, “We both know @peterkajovo”, etc.

I know some cards can be so pretty, you don’t want to write on them. But of what use is a pretty business card that serves no profitable purpose? I’m aware that you can use your phone to capture the aforementioned information instead, but what if your battery is unavoidably low or drained? Besides, that plan may slow you down and you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to land a game-changing deal!