What Are Online Business Cards? Explaining the Benefits and Considerations of Digitization!

What You Can Do with Online Business Cards

Exchange Business Cards During Web Meetings and Online Negotiations

With remote work becoming standard, many companies are increasingly conducting internal meetings and client negotiations online. By implementing online business cards, you can exchange contact information digitally during web meetings and online negotiations.

Attach Online Business Cards to Email Signatures

Since online business cards can be accessed via URLs or QR codes, you can easily include them in your email signature. This allows you to share your contact information effortlessly, not only when sending emails for new business development but also with clients you may not have the opportunity to meet via web meetings or online negotiations.

Include Multimedia Elements Such as Photos and Videos

While paper business cards have limited space for corporate information, online business cards can host data such as photos and videos. By including product or service videos, you can convey extensive corporate information in an easy-to-understand format. Additionally, you can easily add links to your corporate website and social media, serving as a tool to increase traffic. You can also use various designs and photos to help employees express their professional identity.

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Latest Trends in Business Card Digitization

According to a survey on "Usage Status of Business Card Management Tools" by Keyman's Net conducted between July 13 and July 26, 2022, the current state of business card management in companies is as follows:

◯ Physically managed individually in business card folders (1st place, 49.5%)
◯ Managed using company-introduced business card management tools (2nd place, 25.9%)
◯ Individually managed using smartphone apps (3rd place, 16.5%)

Compared to the October 2020 survey, the percentage of "physically managed individually" has decreased by 8.7 percentage points. However, it is clear that online business card management has not yet fully permeated the market, and offline management remains deeply rooted.

Benefits of Digitizing Business Cards

Subtly Share Company Promotional Information

Paper catalogs and brochures can only be shared through in-person handovers or mail. With online business cards, you can share not only PDFs and static images but also videos that explain your products clearly. By consistently attaching your online business card to your email signature, you can enhance your company's credibility.

Serve as a Communication Tool with Existing Customers

Online business cards can serve as a conversation starter during online negotiations or visits to existing customers. By including links to social media or showcasing photos, you can facilitate better communication with your counterparts.

Facilitate Icebreaking During Online Negotiations

Icebreaking is intended to ease tension and build rapport. During online negotiations, it is often difficult to engage in icebreaking compared to in-person meetings, as information is limited, small talk before the main agenda is often skipped, and self-introductions can be overly brief. With an online business card, you can use information such as office location or social media links to spark conversation about local topics, helping to create a more relaxed atmosphere.

Share Information Beyond the Meeting Participants

By using a business card management system that integrates with CRM and SFA, you can smoothly share information obtained during online negotiations within your company. Recently, "knowledge sharing" has gained attention as a means to improve operational efficiency and eliminate reliance on specific individuals. To achieve effective knowledge sharing, data-driven management is essential rather than paper-based information. By digitizing customer information and negotiation details, you can create a repository that is easily accessible, thereby realizing effective knowledge sharing. This leads to improved team data analysis and sales activities that are not dependent on individuals, ultimately contributing to corporate revenue growth.

Avoid Overlapping Approaches with Other Departments

There are often issues where multiple sales representatives approach the same prospect without knowing. By sharing digitized business card information internally, you can check visit history and negotiation status in advance, helping to avoid overlapping sales efforts.

Points to Consider When Introducing Online Business Cards

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Accuracy of Information

There are various types of online business card systems, and some require manual data entry. Manual registration is time-consuming and carries the risk of input errors and duplicate entries. Input errors can significantly impact corporate credibility, while duplicate entries create unnecessary administrative burdens. It is essential to introduce a high-precision system that can instantly digitize data to manage and utilize business information quickly and accurately.

Manage Paper Business Cards Digitally

It is advisable to introduce a business card management system that allows you to utilize paper business cards received in person alongside online ones. We recommend a system that can import paper business cards and integrate them with information exchanged via online business cards. This enables smoother information management and searching, contributing to improved operational efficiency.

Choose a System That Integrates with CRM and SFA

When selecting a business card management system, it is crucial to ensure it integrates with CRM and SFA to drive efficient sales activities. Systems with limited functionality or data capacity constraints hinder knowledge sharing and make it difficult to pursue a team-based, organizational approach.

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mSonar: The Corporate Information and Business Card Management App for Integrating Online and Offline Customer Data

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Capture Business Cards Quickly and Accurately

mSonar digitizes business cards instantly when captured via camera or scanner. You can also register cards from previously saved photos, allowing you to digitize them without stress during sudden online sales meetings or web conferences.

With the business card deduplication feature, there is no need to worry about duplicate entries. Corporate information is also updated automatically, ensuring that your sales activities are always based on the latest data. Additionally, you can register up to six business cards at once, making the digitization process highly efficient.

Identify Prospective Companies Without Prior Business Card Exchange

By leveraging one of Japan's largest corporate databases, mSonar allows you to search for prospective companies with whom you have not yet exchanged business cards.
You can also view pathways to key decision-makers in an easy-to-understand format, which helps facilitate speedy sales activities. Furthermore, you can manage not only the information of contacts you have personally exchanged cards with but also business card exchange information across companies.

Integrate with CRM and SFA

mSonar enables efficient business card management through integration with MA and SFA tools. By centralizing business card management in a single tool, you can access accurate information quickly. By sharing transaction status and meeting information openly and smoothly, you can advance the sharing of data-driven know-how and never miss a business opportunity. This leads to effective strategies that meet customer needs.

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• Corporate Information & Business Card Management App "mSonar"

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Customer Success Stories: Achieving Results Through Business Card Digitization with mSonar

mSonar (formerly Meishi Sonar) allows you to maximize sales results by leveraging business card information.

Case Study: JTB Corp.

Challenges Before Implementing mSonar

• Customer information was managed individually by each sales department and representative.
• There were challenges regarding the productivity of corporate sales activities.

Reasons for Implementation

• It allows for easy business card capture and the ability to link valuable corporate attribute information.
• The richness of industry and corporate information, as well as the ability to understand connections between corporate groups and business locations starting from business card information.

Implementation Results

• Monthly business card registration volume increased dramatically from approximately 3,000 to 7,000 cards.

For more details on this case study, please click here

Summary: Online Business Cards Are Tools That Accelerate Business

By utilizing online business cards, you can engage in a wider range of interactions compared to traditional paper-based business cards. By simultaneously leveraging the valuable corporate information obtained through these interactions as data, teams can share expertise, which leads to improved corporate productivity. Advancing the digitization of information streamlines communication with customers and enhances business efficiency. Let us aim to accelerate and expand corporate growth through the use of online business cards.