You will find yourself attending many business dining events during your career and you may find that you are (or will become) the host of your own business meetings as well. The key to a successful and smooth get-together over a meal lies in your pre-planning.
The Initial Planning
Generally, lunch and breakfast are the more common meals around which business gatherings are planned; lunch being the preferred. If you are inviting clients or colleagues to dine with you over a business meal, making sure that all is taken care of ahead of time will allow you to concentrate on the important aspects of your meeting and relationship building; with no unnecessary distractions.
After determining the type of meeting (breakfast or lunch) you would like to conduct—and that a one or two hour block of time will be sufficient (as you do not want to monopolize a table for longer than that)—then you can determine the place and time.
Who will need to be present? Will it be you and your client? Will it be you, your client, and another colleague—or more? After deciding on the number, invite those you would like to attend by phone or email. You may want to offer them a choice of establishments in the invitation, as they may have a strong personal or dietary preference. If they know that their comfort is important to you and know that their needs have been taken into consideration, your relationship will be stronger from the outset.
If the restaurants that you initially have in mind are popular, you may want to make reservations at a few immediately—before inviting your guests. Once they have informed you that the day and time will work, confirm your reservation, and make sure to cancel any others that you made, but no longer need. At the time that you make the reservation, if you are familiar with the restaurant, you may ask if it is possible to request a particular table or area; one that you know will be conducive to business talk.
A day or two prior to the meeting, confirm with your guests and re-confirm with the restaurant. If your guest lives out of town and is unfamiliar with your city, it might be appreciated if you send a link to the restaurant’s Web site in an email. This way they can investigate it ahead of time, become familiar with the menu and get directions, if necessary, as well.
Handling the Bill
As the host, you want to ensure that there is no question of who is paying at the end of the meal, so arrange to pay the bill ahead of time. You can do this by speaking to the restaurant’s host or hostess and providing them with your credit card information over the phone or by arriving early on the day of the meeting. You will want to arrive early anyway, to ensure that you are able to secure the best table possible pre-sign the receipt and include the tip for the waitperson. Attach your business card that includes your full mailing address, phone, and email to the host/ess at that time. Request that the final receipt be mailed to you and follow-up with a phone call to ensure that your receipt has been sent.
As a rule:
- If you are the host of the meeting, you pay the bill.
- If you are the invited guest, you are not expected to pay.
- If there is any confusion—maybe it is a meeting that involves superiors, subordinates and clients—it should be discussed ahead of time to allow for smooth event.
- Depending upon a company’s expense policies, business meals are often, if not always, expensed, so who pays is often not an issue.
Since you have arrived early, you will be in a position to greet your guest upon their arrival—just as you would if they were a guest in your home. Greet them warmly and with a firm handshake.
