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Business eating is not just a business - it's an art. There is no
better place to conduct the art of business than at a business
breakfast, a power lunch, or a client dinner. The rule of thumb for
business eating is: if you have an hour, make it breakfast. If you
have two hours, go to lunch. If you have all night, go to dinner.
It's important to
schedule and plan your client meals a month ahead of time so tht you
ensure that you get them on your calendar. On the days that you are
free of any lunch, it's important to still get out during lunch time
- you can take a walk outside of your office, walk through a
bookstore or walk up and down the aisles of Banana Republic. You
have to reconnect yourself to the outside world so that you can
handle the inside world more effectively. Please remember that when
you treat yourself well it becomes easier to treat others with
kindness.
As mentioned above,
business eating is not just a business. It's an art. And the thing
to know is which meal to choose for your hosting. Let's begin our
day with a Power Breakfast:
Power Breakfast
It's always
appropriate to invite out of town visitors to breakfast. It adds
profitability to their working day, and since almost all of us are
powered by the Puritan ethic, we are comfortable with the thought
that we begin the day with a business breakfast, however, its a bad
time for any arts meetings. People in creative businesses rarely
make decisions involving taste (this includes decision about
programming, design, fine arts, food) before 10:00 am.
Overall, there is
an unspoken urgency to the breakfast date. Its hard to say no when
somebody wants to get up early in the morning just to see you.
Breakfast is also great when both parties have busy schedules
because they are usually kept to one hour and always end on time so
that we can get back to our offices to start the day.
Generally diners
(I'm certain that one of my uncles has one in your area) and the
dining rooms in the best hotels in any city are the best meeting
places for our morning meal.
Meeting for coffee
is always appropriate when a sales manager wants to meet with their
sales- person. The breakfast table is well designed for a cup of
coffee accompanied by laptops, files, paper, etc.
On the subject of
dinner, remember this: If you are considering extending a dinner
invitation to someone you do not know well, think again. The client
dinner should never be a first invitation - start with breakfast!
Please remember to
stay focused on conducting business and building rapport with your
contact. Therefore, avoid getting caught up in the menu and the way
the food tastes - eat a banana beforehand so that you stay focused
on business! |
