Dining for Dollars – Successful Business Entertaining

By Terry Pithers, Style for Success Inc.


Uh-oh, I was starting to feel like a contestant on The Apprentice reality show and I could already hear Donald Trump decree, "You're fired".

 

It was early in my career and I had been assigned the seemingly simple task of setting up a nice lunch for the visiting out-of-town executives. When we were all seated at my choice of restaurant, I glanced around and noticed there was hardly anyone else in the place. This did not look good.

 

I had been to the restaurant before, but unhappily for my upward career aspirations, I had not been there recently. New owners had taken over the establishment and the change was definitely not for the better. While the executives endured poor food and mediocre service, my own meal consisted of abject apologies and a double serving of humble pie.

 

I survived, my job didn’t, but I learned an important business lesson. With more than a third of all business deals, hiring and promotion decisions made over a meal, business dining is too important to leave anything to chance.

 

A successful host should resemble a movie director, seamlessly taking charge of all the details of the location, cast and crew. Sure your table manners have to be on target but there are a lot of other things to consider before you even begin to eat.

The Invitation

 

It all starts with extending the invitation and choosing the right restaurant. Make sure to frequent a couple of good restaurants regularly so you're familiar with them, their ambience, their food, their service and the staff or owner is familiar with you.

 

Try to include at least one mainstream restaurant in your repertoire along with any other more exotic or ethnic ones. This way when you extend the invitation you can offer your guest a choice suitable to either conservative or more adventurous tastes. It's also a good idea these days to come right out and ask your guest if they have any special dining needs. This should take care of most accessibility issues or surprises such as ... your guest turns out to be vegan!

 

Other items to address are timing to avoid the lunch rush, parking availability, where you'll meet and don’t forget to exchange your cell phone numbers. Believe me, these will eventually come in handy.

 

Try to offer the invitation one week or a minimum of three working days in advance. To avoid slip-ups, always remember to reconfirm the day before with the guest and also with the restaurant. By the way, it is generally assumed that the person doing the inviting will pay the bill. Never dine without your credit card because very now and then you will run into someone who seems unaware of this protocol.


Location, Location, Location


When it comes to choice of table, the realtors are correct. It is location, location, and location. This is always easier if you have a favourite table that you can request when reserving. Undesirable tables are those near drafts or high traffic areas like the kitchen and restrooms or near people who spend their meal loudly talking to their cell phone.

The good tables may have a view, are quiet or private and should be in your favourite server’s area. Patios, although appealing because of our fleeting summers, are not really a good choice for business dining because of sun and shade issues, distractions, documents blowing away and intrusive noise or traffic fumes.

Endeavour to always seat yourself so that you can easily get your server’s attention with out the need to whistle or use of semaphore. One of the reasons for the host to arrive first, besides good manners and seeing to last-minute details, is so you can choose your seat and direct your guests to theirs.


Ordering – last but not least


Finally we come to ordering. As host make a menu suggestion. Your guests will appreciate this for two reasons. First, this lets the guests know what's good, but more importantly it also gives them a clue as to appropriate price range.

A savvy host always orders last for tactical reasons. Remember how awkward it feels if you are eating and no one else at the table is. You need to accompany and pace your guests’ eating, course by course. That means if the guest orders a salad, you order either a soup or a salad to accompany them. The good news is the same applies with dessert.

Whew, after all that you must be famished. When the food arrives let's hope your cutlery handling skills and table manners are as good as your dining strategy. If they are, you'll soon be eating in the executive dining room, otherwise … you're fired.

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This article was provided by Terry Pithers and Joanne Blake, business dining, image and etiquette experts, speakers and creators of the Dining for Success Video Online Training Program.
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Copyright © 2008 Style for Success Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.