Sealing
The Deal Over The Business Meal
Doing
business over meals is a ritual that has existed
for centuries. Taking clients to breakfast,
lunch or dinner has long been an effective way
to build relationships, make the sale or seal
the deal. These business meals are essentially
business meetings. Knowledge of your product or
your service is crucial to the success of the
meeting, but so are your manners. Too many
people jeopardize an opportunity because they
fail to use good dining etiquette. Here are a
few basic rules to make the experience
pleasurable and profitable.
Know your duties as the host. You are in charge.
It is up to you to see that things go well and
that your guests are comfortable. You need to
attend to every detail from extending the
invitation to paying the bill.
Plan ahead when you issue the invitation. Allow
a week for a business dinner and three days for
lunch. Be certain that the date works for you.
That might sound obvious, but if you have to
cancel or postpone, you can look disorganized
and disrespectful of your clients' time.
Select a restaurant that you know, preferably
one where you are known. This is no time to try
out the latest hot spot. Being confident of the
quality of the food and service leaves you free
to focus on business.
Consider the atmosphere. Does it lend itself to
conversation and discussion? If you and your
clients can't hear each other over the roar of
the diners and dishes, you will have wasted your
time and money.
When you make your reservation, let the staff
know that you will be dining with clients. If
your guests suggest a restaurant new to you
(perhaps you are hosting clients out-of-town),
call ahead and speak with the maitre'd. Make it
clear that you will be having an important
business meal and picking up the check.
Confirm the meal appointment with your clients
the day before if you are meeting for breakfast
or that day if you are having lunch or dinner.
Things do happen and mix-ups occur.
Arrive early so you can attend to last minute
details. This is the perfect time to give your
credit card to the maitre'd and avoid the
awkwardness that seems to accompany the arrival
of the bill.
Take charge of the seating. Your guests should
have the prime seats-the ones with the view. As
the host, take the least desirable spot-the one
facing the wall, the kitchen or the restrooms.
Beyond being polite, where you seat your guests
is strategic. When you are entertaining one
client, sit next to each at a right angle rather
than across the table. With two clients, put one
across from you and the other to your side. If
you sit between them, you will look as if you
are watching a match at Wimbledon as you try to
follow the conversation.
Allow your guests to order first. You might
suggest certain dishes to be helpful. By
recommending specific items, you are indicating
a price range. Order as many courses as your
guests, no more and no less, to facilitate the
flow of the meal. It is awkward if one of you
orders an appetizer or dessert and the others do
not.
As the host, you are the one who decides when to
start discussing business. That will depend on a
number of factors such as the time of day and
how well you know your clients. At breakfast,
time is short so get down to business quickly.
At lunch, wait until you have ordered so you
won't be interrupted. Dinner, the more social
occasion, is a time for rapport building. Limit
the business talk and do it after the main
course is completed.
When you know your clients well, you have more
of a basis for small talk. However, because you
have established a business friendship, you can
eliminate some of the chitchat when time is an
issue. When you don't know your clients well,
spend more time getting acquainted before
launching your shoptalk.
Sometimes you simply need to use your own
judgment about when to get down to business,
realizing that if you wait too long, your
clients may start to wonder why they were
invited. If you begin too early in the meal,
your guests might suspect that you are more
interested in their money than you are in them.
Keep an eye on the time, but don't let your
guests see you checking your watch. Breakfast
should typically last an hour; lunch an hour and
a half. Wrap up your business dinner in two to
three hours, no more.
Handle any disasters with grace. With all your
attention to detail, things can still go wrong.
The food may not be up to your standards, the
waiter might be rude or the people at the next
table boisterous and out of control. Whatever
happens, make sure you are not the one to lose
control. Excuse yourself to discuss any problems
with the staff. Your guests will feel
uncomfortable if you complain in front of or to
them.
Limit the amount of alcohol you drink at the
business meal. The three Martini lunch is mostly
a thing of the past. However, cocktails and wine
are still part of the business dinner. Since
alcohol can have the same effect as truth serum,
keep your consumption to one or two glasses.
When guests are drinking liberally and you sense
trouble, excuse yourself and discreetly ask the
server to hold back on refilling the wine
glasses or offering another cocktail.
Your conduct over the meal will determine your
professional success. If you pay attention to
the details and make every effort to see that
your clients have a pleasant experience, they
will assume that you will handle their business
the same way. Before long you could have them
eating out of your hand.
Author
Bio
Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert,
professional speaker, corporate trainer and
author of MANNERS THAT SELL - ADDING THE POLISH
THAT BUILDS PROFITS. She has been quoted or
featured in The New York Times, Investors'
Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Inc., Real Simple
and Woman's Day. For more information about her
programs, products and services, e-mail her at
lydia@mannersthatsell.com or visit her web site www.mannersthatsell.com
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