This month we’re delighted to announce the launch of our Business App of the Month.
The focus of this is to give you guys a review of a mobile app that we have been using to help us in business.
Now by help that can be anything from increasing productivity, efficiency or just making our lives a tad easier.
This month we have been taking the mobile app, Haystack for a spin.
About Haystack
For those of you who don’t know about Haystack keep on reading.
Haystack is a completely free, and only business card app that automatically updates the contact details of any cards that you have scanned.
The app can be found in both the App Store for iPone and iPad users as well as in the marketplace for those on Android.
An end to losing business cards
We’ll be deadly honest we loved this app, it made organising and keeping business cards a doddle, and certainly meant that we could ditch our old business card organiser.
How many of us have a stack of business cards just sat in the cupboard waiting for us to remember they are there and organise?
If, like me, you’ve been meaning to get round to sorting them I highly recommend sitting down one afternoon and just going through them and adding the ones that are current to your Haystack app.
You show me yours, I’ll show you mine
No it’s not a rude pun, far from it.
Traditionally business card swapping involves a bit of conversation, a small amount of coffee and of course a good firm hand shake.
However, with the Haystack App rather than handing over a business card you simply scan the card and it gets saved into your Card Pool.
Once scanned you can then send the person your details via email, meaning there really is no need for you to worry about them losing your card or you losing theres.
It’s also, and we’re not encouraging anyone to be a tight arse here, but it does help you save money. I mean how much do you spend on business cards annually?
So as a bi-product of using the app, yes you can save money and increase productivity in one easy swoop.
Feels a little alien
For me, and I’d assert that I am an exception to the rule, getting out my smartphone when someone handed me their business card felt a little alien.
Like a lot of business owners, nothing fills me with happiness more than being given a business card that feels, high in quality, beautifully designed and just gives you that feeling you’ve made a new connection.
A lot can be said from a person and their business card, so getting them spot on is an important exercise for any business.
Guess Who
Can you remember the names of every person you meet at your local networking group?
If you can’t then this beauty is for you, not only does the app, store the business card information but it also allows you take a photo of the person that gave you the card.
So get those smiles on and deliver that electronic business card with a grin.
CRM Integration
Now we didn’t explore much of this, however, the app claims that it can sync all of your contacts and add them as a new contact or lead directly from your corporate CRM.
Indeed, on our iPhone we can see an option to sync all of our contacts within our phone book. A useful feature if your smartphone is the only one you use for work.
Eco Benefits
Ensuring we all limit our carbon footprint is a big thing for us all.
Which is why those that use this app are reducing their carbon footprint.
If your company employs 100 people your company would save two trees every single year. Sure it doesn’t sound a big deal but we certainly can see the benefits for those who are majorly eco conscious.
Conclusion
Although we have been using Haystack for around a month now, would we recommend it as an alternative to the traditional business card?
For us, its not something that is going to replace our traditional method of handing over a business card at a networking session.
That said, we can well for see a lot of the younger entrepreneurs, certainly those classified within the Generation Z demographic as being a top user of the app.
So we will be keeping the app on our smartphone, as we do like to be current, and think of ourselves as young and upcoming.
