Business cards vs. elevator pitch: which one do I lead with at a networking mixer?

Honestly, I went to this startup mixer in Austin last month and had to pick what to use first. I had 50 fancy cards printed and a 30 second pitch I rehearsed in the car. I led with the pitch and people just nodded and grabbed a card anyway. Nobody actually looked at the card till I texted them later that night. Has anyone else found that just skipping the card and asking a question works better?

3 comments

3 Comments

henderson.oscar12h agoMost Upvoted

Yeah leading with a question changed everything for me at those things. Just ask "what brought you here tonight?" and the conversation does the heavy lifting. Then when you hand over the card later it feels like an afterthought not a sales move.

emmawood16h ago

So you're saying asking a question first just works better because it gets people talking instead of pitching at them? Maybe the card is just a backup for later when they actually want to remember you...

taylor_miller1013h ago

Oh yeah, I actually watched a video from a sales trainer last week who said the exact same thing! She did this test where she handed out cards right away vs asking an open question first, and the question group had way more people follow up later. Makes sense because nobody likes feeling like they're being sold to right off the bat. The card just becomes a reminder after you've already had a real conversation, which feels way more natural. That's probably why it works better than leading with a pitch.