Guide · Events and trade shows
How to digitize a stack of business cards after a trade show
Write a line on each card while you still remember the conversation, sort the stack before you scan it, photograph the cards in batches, check only the fields that break things, and send the best follow-ups within the week. Removing the typing is the easy part; the notes and the follow-up are what make the cards worth keeping.
Meishio editorial team
For anyone back from an expo, conference or trade fair with a stack of cards, on their own or as a team. At the end you have every card as a contact in the address book or CRM you already use, each with a note, and a short list of follow-ups that went out this week.
At the show: note why you kept each card
A card tells you who someone is. It does not tell you why you kept it. After each conversation, write one line: what they asked about, what you promised and how warm the lead is.
- What they need: "quote for 200 units", "wants a plant visit"
- What you promised: "send the catalogue", "introduce our Pune team"
- A rough grade: A to follow up this week, B this month, C to keep on file
The same evening: sort before you scan
A sorted stack means the A cards get scanned, checked and followed up first, and the C cards never hold them up.
- Make three piles: A, B and C
- Put cards from the same company together; they often share an address and switchboard number you only need to check once
- Pull out the people you already know: you are updating them, not adding them
Photograph in batches, not one by one
Scanning apps, like any camera, do best with flat cards, even light and no glare. Lay several cards on a dark, plain table with a little space between them and photograph them together, one pile at a time, starting with A.
- Use daylight or a bright room, and turn the flash off: it leaves a glare spot on glossy cards
- Keep every card fully in the frame, not overlapping
- Photograph the back too when it has a second language, a mobile number or a map
Check the fields that break things
Card-reading software gets most fields right, and makes the same few kinds of mistakes: a 0 for an O in an email address, a fax number saved as the mobile, a department read as the company, a name in capitals. Check these four before you save, and let the rest go:
- The email address, letter by letter: one wrong character and the follow-up bounces
- Phone numbers, with the country code (+91 for India, +81 for Japan, +65 for Singapore): a number saved without one fails when you call from abroad or the contact syncs to a phone in another country
- The company name, as the company writes it
- Name order and spelling, especially on Japanese and bilingual cards, where the family name comes first
Merge with the people you already have
A trade show is where you meet existing contacts again with a new title. Add their new card as a new contact and you end up with two half-right entries. Match on email and phone first, then on name and company, and update the existing contact instead of adding a second one.
Keep the old title or company as a note if your tool does not keep history. It tells you the person was promoted or moved, which is a good reason to get in touch.
Tag the event, then follow up within the week
Tag every new contact with the event name and year, so you can find "everyone from IMTEX 2026" later. Then send the A follow-ups first. A short message that mentions what you talked about works better than a generic "nice to meet you".
- Mention one specific thing from the conversation
- Send what you promised, or say when you will
- Suggest one next step: a call, a visit or a sample
Put the contacts where you work
A scan that stays inside a scanning app is half done. Move the contacts to where you already work: your phone's address book (Google Contacts on Android and in Gmail), your CRM, or a shared team list. For a CRM, import a CSV laid out in its columns instead of retyping.
Then decide what happens to the paper. Keep the cards until each contact is saved and checked, then file them or shred them; they carry the same personal details as the contacts.
With Meishio
Doing this in Meishio
Meishio reads up to 12 cards in one photo, in English, Japanese or both, joins fronts and backs, and asks only about the fields it could not read clearly. Cards scanned at the same time and place are grouped as one event, so you can check them together, add a note and set a follow-up.
- People you already have are flagged, not added twice
- With Google Contacts connected, new people reach your phone and Gmail, and fixes you approve go back to Google
- Follow-up drafts open in your own Gmail, WhatsApp or LINE; Meishio cannot send messages itself
- In a team workspace, share the cards you choose and give each follow-up an owner and a date
- Export a CSV in Outlook, HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Salesforce, Pipedrive or kintone columns, or a vCard file
Questions
What is the fastest way to scan a lot of business cards?
Sort them first, then photograph several at a time on a dark, plain table with an app that splits one photo into separate cards. Meishio reads up to 12 cards per photo and asks only about the fields it could not read.
Should I keep the paper business cards after scanning them?
Keep them until each contact is saved and its email and phone are checked. After that, file them or shred them: they carry the same personal details as the contacts.
How soon should I follow up after a trade show?
Your best leads within the week, while they still remember the conversation; the rest within the month. Mention one specific thing you talked about, and send anything you promised.
Is it safe to use a business card scanning app?
Check where the app sends the photo, where it stores the contacts and whether people ever type cards in by hand. Meishio sends a card photo to an AI service only to read its text, nobody keys in your cards, and contacts are stored in Singapore. Its data page lists each service and what it receives. How Meishio handles your data →
About these guides
Meishio editorial team
The Meishio editorial team writes these guides: how to keep a business network in order when cards pile up, teams change and people move on. Every fact about another product is checked on that product's own pages, and the sources are listed on each page.