The sharp point on the light-up frog pricks my thumb as I fish it out from under the couch, so instead of handing it back to my wailing three year old, it gets tossed.
Into the trash.
No fanfare.
I didn’t realize that the tail on the
Cool marketing swag light up frog
That I gave to my daughter
Comes to a razor sharp plastic point.
Oops.
I distract my daughter with a different toy
With rounder edges.
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because I get rid of the inappropriate toy.
Immediately.
Yet so many people
Hang on for dear life
To the stack of business cards
They collect at networking events
As though there’s some magic
In what’s essentially
Worse than a list of cold calls.
Really.
When was the last time you
Made a call
From one of those cards?
More importantly
When was the last time you
Had a productive conversation
From a call you made
From one of those cards?
Throw them out.
Right now.
I’m not kidding.
Just sweep them off your desk
Into the trash.
Hey, it’s no big deal.
You’ll get plenty more at the next event.
But here’s difference.
After your next event
Make sure you
Throw out all the cards you collect
Except three.
Reach out to those three people
To sit down for a one-on-one.
There are two big benefits.
1. Your desk will be cleaner
2. You’ll get better leads
That stack of business cards
Is like a light up frog
With a sharp point for a tail.
It keeps poking you
A painful reminder
Of the task you haven’t done.
Yet here’s the really important point:
It’s the wrong task.
Just throw the business cards out already
And instead of avoiding cold calling
Focus on connecting with people
One-on-one.